Relying upon faith-based idealism
by Bob Nemanich
Not long ago, I read a story in the Wall Street Journal
about a faith-based physician. Initially I was curious as to its placement
in the Wall Street Journal, so I was hooked. I found the article astounding
on many levels, most importantly because this religious article was
in the Journal, an embodiment of fiscal science in the world of business.
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The article described the U.S. Government's investigation
of a licensed California physician who has been marketing an herbal
concoction and over-the-phone prayers as medical treatment for patients
with advanced cancer. She sold this "medical treatment" on the Christian
Television Network for $10,000! Unfortunately the patients' outcomes
were devastating. One of her gullible patients was even a practicing
nurse, educated and trained in life sciences, further testifying to
the power of faith-based belief systems, even in dire and desperate
situations. |
This reading prompted me to conjure up two conflicting
sayings: "There are no atheists in a fox hole" versus a doctor's saying,
"Even the most religiously devout eventually come faithfully to science
when faced with a life threatening illness." As for the first, I am
acquainted with an atheist who "prayed" when he was forced to eject
from his burning jet over Iraq. He now maintains that it was NOT a
divine act that saved him but the technology developed by science
and applied by engineers. |
I also know an evangelical couple in which one partner
faced a deadly form of cancer. Standard treatments promised little
chance for cure, while cutting-edge stem-cell treatment offered a
hope. Unfortunately, stem-cell treatment conflicted with their life-long
faith. They chose science over religion and secretly received the
stem-cell treatment that was both out-of-state and out-of-pocket.
The sick spouse is in full remission, but the couple has kept the
treatment a secret from their church. |
Recently The American Heart Journal published the results
of a study that found having people pray for heart bypass surgery
patients had no effect on their recovery. Further, they found that
patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher
rate of complications, as compared to patients who only knew it was
possible that prayers were being said for them. One might conclude
from this study that seeking divine intervention following a heart
bypass surgery could complicate recovery. |
In all cases mentioned, the sick or threatened persons
desired to avoid death, a fundamental emotion in humans. As an agnostic,
I don't know or suppose what comes after death. As a student of science,
I do know that death is an integral part of life in the natural world.
So how do superstition, mythology and divine intervention change this
natural world? They don't. |
While knowledge of the natural world doesn't preclude
the existence of God, neither can it confirm it. Agnostics, atheists
or humanists don't reject traditional American values; in fact, their
values are traditional and have been around since the secularist foundation
of this nation. What agnostics, atheists and humanists do in this
post-modern world in which mythology and superstition have risen again
is to remind the world that relying only on faith-based idealism can
be quite deadly. |
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