Faith and Health: Religion, Science, and Public Policy
- ISBN-10
- 0881460850
- ISBN-13
- 9780881460858
- Category
- Christian ethics
- Pages
- 293
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2008
- Publisher
- Mercer University Press
- Author
- Paul D. Simmons
Description
The sad and tragic case of Terri Schiavo forms a backdrop for the concerns of the Faith and Health. Religion, politics, law, and science converged in the public debate concerning whether Terri might be disconnected from life support systems. Years after she experienced severe brain damage, her husband carried out her wishes that she not be sustained medically should she have no reasonable chance for recovery. The debate involved every branch of government and seized the public's attention. The heart of her story, however, was a matter of personal faith and how it relates to health decisions at the end of life. Faith and health are the two points of reference that define this book, figuring prominently in the divisive and often acrimonious social debates about bioethics, as the Schiavo story shows. How should religious beliefs be related to public policy? Should religious groups try to force their moral opinions on all Americans? The issues are too important to ignore. They affect personal choices as well as social relations. Faith needs the informing and analytical perspectives of science. Faith that is severed from basic information is like a heart without a head. This book brings science and faith together in the task of discerning the will of God and responding to the challenge of human pain and suffering. Commitments to religious liberty are also necessary to civil discourse and legal resolutions of complex issues. The First Amendment is a vital factor in discussions of issues in medical ethics. Relating religion, ethics, and science in matters like evolution, embryo stem cell research, elective death, and abortion call for careful attention to both establishment and free exercise questions. Book jacket.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Faith and Mental Health: Religious Resources for Healing
By Harold G KoenigMeticulously researched and documented, Faith and Mental Health includes: •Research on the relationship between religion and positive emotions, psychiatric illnesses, and severe and persistent mental disorders •Ways in which religion ...
-
Handbook of Religion and Health
By Michael E. McCullough, David B. Larson, Harold George KoenigIn answering this question, this book reviews and discusses research on the relationship between religion and a variety of mental and physical health outcomes, including depression and anxiety; heart disease, stroke, and cancer; and health ...
-
The Link Between Religion and Health: Psychoneuroimmunology and the Faith Factor
By Harold George Koenig, Harvey Jay CohenIt focuses on how mental states and beliefs affect physical health. This book examines topics relating to religious faith and behaviour.
-
Dust and Breath: Faith, Health — and Why the Church Should Care about Both
By Kendra Hotz, Matthew T. MathewsIn this book Hotz and Mathews articulate the theological significance of the Church Health Center and other church ministries like it.
-
God, Faith, and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Healing Connection
By Jeff LevinIn this groundbreaking book, Dr. Jeff Levin explores the latest compelling evidence of the connection between health and an array of spiritual beliefs and practices, including prayer, attending religious services, meditation, and faith in ...
-
How God Becomes Real: Kindling the Presence of Invisible Others
By T.M. LuhrmannThe faithful accomplish this through detailed stories, absorption, the cultivation of inner senses, belief in a porous mind, strong sensory experiences, prayer, and other practices.
-
Faith, Health, and Healing in African American Life
By Stephanie Y. Mitchem, Emilie Maureen Townesstruggle for Mother Earth and the health and healing of human beings long before the popular public forays of Greenpeace and other such organizations. For instance, African Americans have been engaged in the movement around ...
-
Is Faith Delusion?: Why religion is good for your health
By Andrew SimsMostly, psychiatry and faith are heading in the same direction and can work together. Christian belief is good for your mental health. Delusion is a psychiatric term. I have investigated whether faith can ever reveal delusion, ...
-
Christian Faith, Health, and Medical Practice
By Hessel BoumaChristian Faith, Health, and Medical Practice
-
Medicine, Religion, and Health: Where Science and Spirituality Meet
By Harold G KoenigA. Kesselring, M. J. Dodd, A. M. Lindsey, and A. L. Strauss, “Attitudes of Patients Living in Switzerland about Cancer and Its Treatment,” Cancer Nursing9 (1986): 77–85. 9. R. D'Souza, “Do Patients Expect Psychiatrists to Be Interested ...