Reason Not Religion
Observations and inferneces from real life perceptions: My entire life
I have been a Catholic and have attended Church regularly with my
family, always believing in God and the stories and tales of the Bible
as pure fact that happened long ago, and of Jesus being the savior,
etc.
Just this past month I attended a Presbyterian church service with my
elderly grandmother in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The church was small to
begin with, and only about one-third of the seats were filled. I would
have to say that at least 95% of the people were all over 65, with very
few young couples at all. My grandma made a comment on the lack of
young people who attend the masses now, and she kept referring to the
fact that recently less and less young couples and families ever
attended church.
At first I thought that this church would then seriously have to close
its doors when the current majority of the parishioners died, but then
I realized another aspect of human behavior and psychology.
The characteristic that I see and hear so much about that many humans
tend to possess and practice, is the fact that they become "closer to
"god"" the older they get. Why is this? It is because of one of the
same big reasons that we even have to have religion in the first place:
fear about death and what happens to us afterwards. These people seem
to be turning to the kind of thinking that inspired the dichotic idea
of PASCAL^S WAGER. Even if these people were not very religious during
their younger years, we can now see a trend of a large section of our
country^s population starting to attend church more and more and become
more "religious" as they grow older. What inspires this shift?--plain
and simple, the fear of uncertainty.
"QUESTIONING" ONES BELIEFS MUST GO BEYOND JUST WONDERING
When I used to attend Church regularly their was a priest who was an
extremely good speaker and extremely
intelligent. Even though he was a Catholic priest, serving as the pastor
of an extremely large church, he had the
courage and brains to disagree with some of the rigid dogma setup and
enforced by the Vatican. I remember one
sermon he gave that has greatly influenced me since, and I am very happy
I was fortunate enough to hear it. In
this certain sermon he talked about his thoughts on it being good for
teenagers and youth to question the
existence of a God in their world. He talked at length about this
FOOD Inc. is a film that goes deeper into the food that we consume every single day, and also gives us insight on the origin of our food from the average farmer to the corporations that have almost made a monopoly in agriculture. However, Robert Kenner exposes the corrupt ways food companies treat animals and the way food is being produced, and overall, the need to make our voices heard that we need to make a change when it comes to what we eat and how we eat. Therefore I agree with the documentarian on his point of view on the way animals are being treated, the way our food is really being made, our health, and its effect on our lives.
In today’s hospital environment, technology is starting to take over the patient’s role. Physicians are starting to place more importance on Abraham Varghese’s iPatient and using the patient only to create an iPatient. An example Verghese provides his audience is the difference in how physicians conduct their rounds during rounds when he was training and now. Back then, a group of training physicians would be surrounding a patient in his bed because the focus was around the patient. Today, training physicians are seen in a different environment. The discussion takes place “in a room far away from the patient. The discussion is all about images on the computer, data.” The patient has been completely replaced by the iPatient in today’s hospital environment. Because of this, the patient is essentially tossed aside wondering what is going and can only hope the physicians will make the best decision. By attending to the patient over the iPatient and keeping them informed of their condition the patients assured that his or her caretakers are doing what they can to improve the patients
The modifications of existing building and the construction of new ones under the most recently proposed building codes would be too costly to implement. The billions of dollars would be required into order to perform the suggested renovations. Marolyn Davenport, a vice president at the Real Estate Board of New York and a member of the task force, states that, “Burdensome restrictions would make construction too expensive.” He goes on to say, “While you want to incorporate safety features, at the same time we have to compete with surrounding areas” (Qtd. in Chan 1). Buildings that would fall subject to the new building codes would be given an unfair advantage in the competitiv...
Doctors are well respected within the realm of American society and are perceived with the highest regard as a profession. According to Gallup’s Honesty and Ethics in Profession polls, 67% of respondents believe that “the honesty and ethical standards” of medical doctors were “very high.” Furthermore, 88% of respondents polled by Harris Polls considered doctors to either “hold some” or a “great deal of prestige”. Consequently, these overwhelmingly positive views of the medical profession insinuate a myth of infallibility that envelops the physicians and the science they practice. Atul Gawande, in Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science, provides an extensive view of the medical profession from both sides of the operating table
In 1993, WTC stood as twin tower and was the second largest building in the US. Its base covered 16 acres of land mass and had a basement of seven floors. It was a home for many businesses. All these features added up to qualify the complex as an ideal target for a terror attack of which it really happened though not to the magnitude expectation scale of the terrorists.
Traditionally, the physician was expected to use all of their talents and training in an effort to save the life of their patient, no matter the odds. More recently, the physician’s role has been redefined to preserve the autonomy of the patient. Now physicians must give life saving care only in so far and to the degree desirous of the competent patient.
Professionalism is an adherence to a set of values comprising both a formally agreed-upon code of conduct and the informal expectations of colleagues, clients and society. The key values include acting in a patient's interest, responsiveness to the health needs of society, maintaining the highest standards of excellence in the practice of medicine and in the generation and dissemination of knowledge. In addition to medical knowledge and skills, medical professionals should present psychosocial and humanistic qualities such as caring, empathy, humility and compassion, as well as social responsibility and sensitivity to people's culture and beliefs. All these qualities are expected of members of highly trained professions.
David had begun planning and pushing for the creation of the World Trade Center near the end of the 1950’s. His brother, Nelson Rockefeller, the current governor of NY, got the Port Authority of New Jersey and New York to look into the plans for the project. They had also already begun planning for a trade facility.
Professionalism initiative. (2012). Informally published manuscript, Medical Center, University of Kansas, Kansas City, KS, Retrieved from http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/fafd/professionalism-initiative.html
In the medical community there appears to be a divide between disease-centered care and patient-centered care. Both Charon and Garden, readily acknowledge this. Charon explains how although doctors can boast in their “impressive technical progress,” and “their ability to eradicate once fatal infections,” doctors often lack the abilities to recognize the pain of their patients and to extend empathy (3). Charon further adds that “medicine practiced without a genuine and obligating awareness of what patients go through [empathy] may fulfill its technical goals, but it is an empty medicine, or, at best, half a medicine” (5). Often, doctors fail to remember that their patients are more than just a person with cancer or a congenital heart defect — they are human, a whole person with dreams, aspirations, and fears. According to Charon, “scientifically competent medicine alone cannot help a patient grapple w...
Albert Jonsen, the author of “A Short History of Medical Ethics”, covers more than two thousand years of renowned medical history in a mere hundred and twenty pages. He covers many cultural customs and backgrounds involving medical discourse, beliefs, and discoveries which have led to the very formation of the distinguished society we live in today. However, throughout this brief tour, Jonsen exploits the fact that even though there have been many cultural differences, there are a few common themes which have assimilated over the years and formed the ethics of medicine. The most prevalent themes of ethics presented in Jonsens text, are decorum, deontology and politic ethics. Decorum is referred to as both the professional etiquette and personal virtues of medicine. Deontology refers to rules and principles, and politic ethics expresses the duties physicians have to the community.
Does your head hurt, does your body ache, and how are your bowl movements? After a head to toe assessments, touching and prodding, the physician writes up a prescription and explains in a medical jargon the treatment plan. As the short consultation comes to a close, it’s wrapped up with the routine “Please schedule an appointment if there are no signs of improvement”. This specific experience often leaves the patient feeling the “medical gaze” of the physicians. Defined by good and good, the medical gaze is the physicians mentality of objectifying their patient to nothing more than a biological entity. Therefore it is believed that the medical gaze moves away from compassionate and empathetic care, thus leaving patients feeling disconnected from their physicians. In order to understand how the medical gaze has stemmed into patient care, I begin with observations of a Grand Round, lectures for the progress of continuing medical education of physicians. There are expectations of physicians to be informed of cutting edge medical procedures and biotechnology since it can result in a less aggressive and more efficient treatment plan of patients. As I witness the resident physician’s maturation of medical competence in during a Surgical Grand Round at UC Irvine Medical Center, it has shifted the paradigm of the medical gaze and explains how competence is a form of compassion and empathy in patient care.
On September 11th 2001 at 8:45am the first hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Centre. American Airlines Flight 11 out of Boston, Massachusetts was the first out of four planes to be hijacked that day. As people looked on they saw how many people lost their lives in that short second. Many people looked on in shock and amazement at the same time. As they were looking at the first hijacked plane in the World trade Centre they saw a second hijacked plane Airlines Flight 175 from Boston, crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center and explodes at around 9:03am. The south tower of the World Trade Center collapses, plummeting into the streets below, and a massive cloud of dust formed and slowly drifted away from the buildings at 10:05am. As many people ran for cover the second World trade Centre collapsed at10:28.
Daniel Libeskind’s winning design for the new World Trade Center takes a sentimental and metaphorical approach. He claims that the completed WTC would become the representation of America’s belief in humanity, its need for individual dignity, and its beliefs in the cooperation of human. Libeskind’s original design focused on restoring the spiritual peak to the New York City and creating an icon that speaks of America’s vitality in the face of danger and her optimism in the aftermath of tragedy. The design considered the city’s neighborhood and residents, rather than simply the economic demands of the commissioners. However, Libeskind’s revised plan that revealed in September 2003 altered his original humanistic vision of creating buildings that respond to the neighborhood, and an environment that will have richness and openness. Pressured by the leaseholder of the WTC site Mr. Silverstein, Libeskind’s new plan added an emphasize on the commercial purpose of the site. The marketability of office and retail spaces has become the major concern of the project.
Religion is the one element of life that has connected the races and societies of the world for hundreds of years. It has given meaning to lives that may seem otherwise hopeless. Religion has provided for a universal language and culture among those who believe in a higher power. The spirit or being receiving the worship and praise may not be the same, but the practices are usually similar and serve the same purpose--to give direction, insight, courage, and a divine connection.