Fifteen Fortune 500 companies and dozens of smaller national and regional corporations have announced a press conference for 11:00 am (EST) on Thursday. They are expected to announce that they are formally embracing the teachings of the Church of Christ, Scientist. The full details of how this belief system has been woven into the various articles of incorporation remain to be seen, but the main reason for the switch is believed to Christian Scientists' views on medical interventions. With their belief that healing is best accomplished by God in response to prayer, traditional medical interventions are viewed as antithetical to true healing. A draft of the statement scheduled for release tomorrow included the following passage:
Rather than keep the religious views of the CEO and Board private, bottling up the revulsion they feel every time their company is forced to pay for insurance coverage for traditional medicine for one of their employees, we have decided to take a stand. We are urging law makers both at the state and the national level to push back against Big Government's efforts to interfere with the freedom of religion. The government ought not be able to force us to act against our deeply held religious convictions.
Large shareholders for several of the companies were contacted about whether the move had been duly submitted for a vote. Most of those contacted did not share the religious commitments of the Board, but voted in favor of the changes for purely economic reasons. As one remarked, "healing prayer is cheap as dirt, we'll save a bundle."