Christian and Buddhist Philosophies Towards Providing Health Care
The practice of health care providers at all levels brings you into contact with people from a variety of faiths. This calls for knowledge and acceptance of a diversity of faith expressions.
The purpose of this paper is to complete a comparative analysis of two faith philosophies towards providing health care, one being the Christian perspective. For the second faith, choose a faith that is unfamiliar to you. Examples of faiths to choose from: Sikh, Baha'i, Buddhism, Shintoism, etc.
In a minimum of 1,500-2,000 words, provide a comparative analysis of the different belief systems, reinforcing major themes with insights gained from your research.
In your comparative analysis, address all of the worldview questions in detail for Christianity and your selected faith. Refer to chapter 2 of the Called to Care for the list of questions. Be sure to address the implications of these beliefs for health care.
In addition answer the following questions that address the practical and healthcare implications based on the research:
What are critical common components to all religions/beliefs in regards to healing, such as prayer, meditation, belief, etc.? Explain.
What is important to patients of the faiths when cared for by health care providers whose spiritual beliefs differ from their own?
In your conclusion, describe your own spiritual perspective on healing, what you have learned from the research and how this learning can be applied to a health care provider.
Support your position by referencing at least three academic resources (preferably from the GCU Library) in addition to the course readings, the Bible, and the textbooks for each religion. Each religion must have a primary source included. A total of six references are required according to the specifications listed above. Incorporate the research into your writing in an appropriate, scholarly manner.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
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Christian and Buddhist philosophies towards providing health care
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Christian and Buddhist philosophies towards providing health care
Health and disease are common experiences in the lives of a human being; something that makes them special concerns of religion. In all societies, religion upholds the value of health and well-being as essential for a meaningful life. It also provides its followers with ways and means of enhancing their health and enabling them creatively deal with vulnerability to disease, suffering and pain. This essay looks at the philosophies of two religions towards providing health care: Christianity and Buddhism.
Simply put, expanding healthcare is the Christian thing to do. It is not exclusive to Christianity as people of all faiths, as well as those of no faith at all, also think that caring for the sick is essential to their faith or philosophy. The bible’s gospels are full of stories about Jesus caring for sick people. For instance, healed so many people at a go that it was impossible to count, according to Luke chapter 4 verse 40. If Christians were to take Jesus seriously, then it is their obligation to take care of the hungry, the suffering, the vulnerable and the beaten. This is not something new as Christians have known this duty for centuries. It is the reason the earliest hospitals in the western world were founded by religious communities. Also, so many physicians and nurses were also monks, priests, nuns, lay members or ministers (Ferngren, 2014).
To understand healing and provision of healthcare from the Buddhist perspective, it is a good idea first to look at the Buddhist concept of mind. The nature of the mind is pure, pervasive and limitless. It is non-physical, shapeless, formless, genderless colorless and is able to know or cognize. The sicknesses or ill health that human beings experience can be equated to clouds in the sky that cover the sun. The same way these the clouds obscure the sun but cannot be equated with the sun, human sickness is temporary and what causes them can b deleted from the mind. From the Buddhist angle, ill health is created by the mind. This means that the cause of diseases and poor health is internal as opposed to being external (Fraser, 2013).
In the Bible verse Matthew chapter 10 verse 7, Jesus commanded his disciples to cure the sick. As disciples and the body of Christ, Christians should be doing their best to ensure that the lame, blind, paralyzed and leprous of modern times receive care. Jesus did not favor affluent people, societal insiders, those with the best-paying jobs, or VIPs. However, this is exactly what the current healthcare seems to do. A significant number of people become bankrupt each year due to medical costs. Others are being sidelined from charity care as physicians and medical centers cannot afford to be generous anymore. Many more are refused health care or delay accessing the care because they do not have the right or adequate healthcare. According to the Bible, Jesus took care of any individual who needed attention the most irrespective of wealth, employment or status. The parable of the Good Samaritan as found in Luke chapter 10 highlights the responsibility that people have for caring for strangers and paying for their bills.
Most people, even non-Buddhists, most likely know about Karma, which means what goes around comes around. All human actions leave imprints on people’s mind stream that gets back to them in the future. Such actions can either be positive, neutral or negative. The consequences of karma are never lost as the positive ones are grow into health, success or happiness; while the negative ones turn out to be either sickness or problems. In order to heal present ill health, individuals have to take part in positive actions. They have to clear or purify negative karma imprints that are still in their mind streams so as to prevent sickness from occurring again.
In the bible...