Mike - you keep forgetting that I always take your side on those debates. Read Verdeboy's thread.
Lee - keep bugging us. It's when you don't ask more questions, that I get nervous.
(did he misunderstand? Is the reason we haven't heard from him, that he's getting electrocuted?)
If it helps - this is wildly innacurate, but works for me - I picture electricity as a closed water system, like a hydronic heating system.
The switches are valves. Any load (the fan, the light, etc) is a little water wheel that turns when the water runs through.
The main panel is a pump, it only circulates water through the lines. Every circuit must return to the source if it's going to work.
Any dead ends, water can't move.
Black wire (before the load) is under positive pressure, getting pushed by the pump; white wire is under negative pressure, getting sucked by the pump.
Like I said, it's wildly innacurate, but it helps clarify these kinds of problems.
The light/switch circuit has a pipe coming into it, supplying pressure; but it only loops back on itself, there's no return line back to the pump. The whole circuit is basically a dead end.
You need to add a line going back to the source.
Hope it helps, rather than confusing you worse.
If that doesn't, check this drawing: