God and Medicine
The Deseret Morning News of this week ran an article mirroring a recent Newsweek story on how medical clinicians use religion in their practice to benefit their patients. -dr
Dear Editor:
I enjoyed the local perspective on the recent Newsweek topic: God and Health as presented by Ms. Jarvik in the Religion and Ethics section of the Morning News. When considering this subject, some obvious red-flags should not be ignored. There are dangers in matriculating the two very different concepts of faith based spirituality and religion, and the empirical science of medical practice. Both may play an important part in healing and health, but allowing or believing science and religion to be interchangeable opens the door to pseudoscience, mysticism, charlatanism, and fraud.
Many concepts in so-called alternative medicine require a belief in life-force, energy-pathways, and other ideals that are not, and perhaps can not, be demonstrated scientifically. They, therefore, require faith. Any medical practitioner using treatments based on these concepts is imposing their own faith-based (religious) ideals upon their patients, a serious breech of ethical practice. It becomes more serious when the practitioner expects society (Government programs or private insurance) to pay for treatments that rely on religious-like concepts. In essence, this becomes state sponsored religion. Easy to see how important it is to keep our practice of medicine and our practice of religion separate, and to know the difference.
Some would argue that using scientific clinical studies to "prove" the benefits of intercessory prayer is to tempt God. My comment would only be that society's limited resources would be better applied toward more practical investigation, like a cure for cancer or aids. Physicians graduate from medical school, not a ministry, not a seminary. Few if any are set apart by clergy as ministers of religious rites. We are foolish to expect our doctor to address our spiritual ailments along with our physical ones. We are wrong to look to our healthcare system to fill our spiritual needs.
Dear Editor:
I enjoyed the local perspective on the recent Newsweek topic: God and Health as presented by Ms. Jarvik in the Religion and Ethics section of the Morning News. When considering this subject, some obvious red-flags should not be ignored. There are dangers in matriculating the two very different concepts of faith based spirituality and religion, and the empirical science of medical practice. Both may play an important part in healing and health, but allowing or believing science and religion to be interchangeable opens the door to pseudoscience, mysticism, charlatanism, and fraud.
Many concepts in so-called alternative medicine require a belief in life-force, energy-pathways, and other ideals that are not, and perhaps can not, be demonstrated scientifically. They, therefore, require faith. Any medical practitioner using treatments based on these concepts is imposing their own faith-based (religious) ideals upon their patients, a serious breech of ethical practice. It becomes more serious when the practitioner expects society (Government programs or private insurance) to pay for treatments that rely on religious-like concepts. In essence, this becomes state sponsored religion. Easy to see how important it is to keep our practice of medicine and our practice of religion separate, and to know the difference.
Some would argue that using scientific clinical studies to "prove" the benefits of intercessory prayer is to tempt God. My comment would only be that society's limited resources would be better applied toward more practical investigation, like a cure for cancer or aids. Physicians graduate from medical school, not a ministry, not a seminary. Few if any are set apart by clergy as ministers of religious rites. We are foolish to expect our doctor to address our spiritual ailments along with our physical ones. We are wrong to look to our healthcare system to fill our spiritual needs.
posted by nawledge at
7:39 PM
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