An Analysis on Religion, Healing and Death Essays

An Analysis on Religion, Healing and Death Essays An Analysis on Religion, Healing and Death Paper An Analysis on Religion, Healing and Death Paper The attitudes of religion are more towards health and methods to gain health after the individual are sick. When death takes place, the question of ever gaining health is over, and in that respect, death has put an end to all religion. On the other side, when a man regains his or her health, the religious practices are recalled and it is said that they have succeeded in gaining health back for the man, and then death just has to walk away from the scene. Analysis: Let us look at the way different religions look at the essential requirements for regaining health. Starting with Judaism, we know that there are three groups among them Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. The differences among the sects depend on their strictness of adherence to ancient laws and practices. The first point is that among all Jews, there will be attention paid to a sick person and family members will ensure that someone stays with the patient. In general, Jews are very interested in diagnosis, treatment and personal care for the patient and thus health is though to be very important by them. At the same time, they observe certain restrictions and these are like not accepting surgery or medical procedures on Sabbath or holy days which begins at sunset on Fridays and ends at sunset of Saturdays; some Jews of the orthodox group will not touch money, will not sit down to write, make use of electrical appliances like hospital bed controls, elevators, call buttons, automatic door openers, cars, light switches, etc; most also fast on Yom Kippur, bit it can be explained that fasting is not required on Yom Kippur for sick people; and shaving of facial hair is also not done by the orthodox group. (Multicultural Health Generalizations) Thus it is clear that along with regaining their health, a Jew would still like to observe certain religious matters. However all this observance will naturally end when death would arrive. If on the other hand, with health, all this will be felt to have contributed to the recovery from sickness, and thus healing will convince that death is not essential. Looking at Buddhists, they think of good health as a balanced interaction between the mind and body as also life and environment. When the balance is lost, according to Buddhists, sickness comes, and the efforts of their theory and practice are to restore the balance. When there is a treatment of any illness, Buddhism does not avoid the available modern medicines along with its array of diagnostic and therapeutic methods. Their explanation is that these can be best used for treatment of all illness, while at the same time; there is a requirement for a deeper understanding of the inner and subjective procedures in life. Thus one can say that the central attitude is a stress on spiritual strength along with a feeling of the requirement of a sense of purpose in life and this is best achieved through compassion for others. The science of medicine does not accept that these have anything to do with recovery from sickness, but according to the religion, these help individuals to recover from difficulties that one faces due to sickness and also provides a chance for developing personal qualities during the period of sickness. (Multicultural Health Generalizations) We know that this is also an old religion; the effects here stress more on the mind than on physical actions. It is also known that about half of our diseases occur from the mind, so in certain cases, these attitudes can help. On the next item is the attitudes of believers in Islam, and one of the oldest practitioners of that religion are the Arabs. Their attitude is a lack of patience and even on the first visit a patient may expect to receive medication and immediate relief of pain. If they are not given medication or asked for laboratory tests, they may need an explanation. When the patients are suffering from mental distress they would not describe the matter fully but give only vague explanations. Often they would like somatic treatment as leaving a patient in a hospital is viewed as abandonment. The sense of their privacy is high and they do not like to provide any detailed information about themselves, and this is worse with women who do not like to talk about their private lives, but are easier when they talk with female doctors. (Multicultural Health Generalizations) It is clear here that the attitude to sickness comes from the area of origin rather than any specific religious taboo. This is clearer when we see the attitude of Hindus and they are ready to accept sickness without any feeling of guilt, and the entire family is ready to assist and they relieve the individual of responsibilities for that period. At the same time, they have strong family relationships and this stops them from using long term facilities. Since the religion involves a lot of stoicism, the exhibition of pain is low and it is also felt that pain is due to the wrath of God. This gives them the concept that pain has to be endured with endurance, and thus to really understand the real amount of pain, the treatment has to be carried out based on direct examination. There is also a high practice of self medication and these cover up the symptoms of the disease till health conditions deteriorate and make treatment more difficult. The providers of healthcare are viewed as elders in the family and though the general attitude is fatalistic, the details are generally stated. (Multicultural Health Generalizations) Here again there is a certain amount of acceptance of death being an inevitable conclusion, yet when the person regains health, there is a feeling of happiness. In a way, regaining of health puts death a couple of notches down. Getting back to Western beliefs, death is not faced up to. There is a general tendency to hide the fact of death from ourselves and children. No one likes to tell children how items like fried chicken, hamburgers and bacon are made. When the family has an old dog, it is put to sleep, and not put to death. This makes death a very difficult experience, though it will come to everybody. We try to have the funeral homes turn the occasion into one of reunion of family and its friends. The event is not given any religious colors, and this concept is also passed on to children. There are many religious stories where even virtuous people are called home with the meaning that they die. (Aging and Death in Folklore) To a certain extent this is different from the attitudes of the Chinese who feel that healthcare providers are authority. It is their duty to decide on the methods and types of treatment, it is the duty of the family to ensure that it is carried out. Even when they do not agree with the doctors decision, they generally do not argue, but just do not follow the instructions. The main reason for this is that they feel when the medical provider is contradicted, the person will lose face. In general when Western practices are carried out, they do not like the pain of treatment and direct invasive nature. (Multicultural Health Generalizations) Yet, they also come for treatment with the expectation of regaining health, and when death loses out, it loses face. Some sections among Christians like Jehovahs Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions and always ask for alternative forms of treatment. They carry with them a durable power of attorney for heath care document that clearly states their choice and wishes. Regarding even auto-transfusion techniques like hemo-dilution and cell salvage are decided by individuals. (Multicultural Health Generalizations) Their attitude towards accepting blood is difficult and often causes a lot of difficulties in their treatment. On the other hand they believe a lot on prayer, and some say that it helps in healing. In spite of all the claims, there have been no cases where this has reached a level of confidence to show that a real effect is being seen. Many of such studies have been affected due to defects in their organization and the results have been stated to be due to the bias of the researcher or the subject. Independent studies have only shown that prayer neither helps nor hurts healing. (Effectiveness of personal prayers: Used in addition to medical treatment) This shows to an extent that religion probably does not have a role to play in the process, yet when healing takes place, it is an occasion of joy. At the same time, in many instances, it has been seen that the religions of the world have caused a lot of violence, and are causing it even today. At the same time, individuals feel very secure within the realms of their religion, and when any threats are seen to it, they take up the matter as an affront to the group. (A Look at the Future) These cause more deaths and resultant unhappiness. Death is the ultimate form of lack of health and such wars stop us from putting death in its place using the weapon of health. Conclusion: While death is inevitable for all of us, and one of the promises of religion is that the particular religion will lead us to a place of everlasting happiness if we follow the religion, it should not be the cause of death, as that will harm our existence in this world which requires health. Bibliography : Ashliman, D. L.  Aging and Death in Folklore. Retrieved from pitt. edu/~dash/aging. html Accessed 9 December, 2005 Effectiveness of personal prayers: Used in addition to medical treatment. Retrieved from religioustolerance. org/medical4. htm Accessed 9 December, 2005 Keating, Thomas. A Look at the Future. Retrieved from centeringprayer. com/better/better07. htm Accessed 9 December, 2005 Multicultural Health Generalizations. Retrieved from med. umich. edu/multicultural/ccp/bmhg. htm Accessed 9 December, 2005a