Necessary to believe in God?

Nurses General Nursing

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Okay, I did a search for GOD and came up with 200 pages of 5492 threads. Perhaps what I am looking for was somewhere in there, but WOW! The closest I have come were these posts which clearly show than an abundance of people DO believe in God:

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42467&highlight=God

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43035&highlight=God

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38758&highlight=God

I am curious about the number of people who do NOT believe in a traditional Higher Power.

What brought me to this was a recent theological discussion with my Jewish girlfriend. We are basically on the same wavelength (so I suppose thats good for us), where she believes in the God who created everything but doesnt care about what happens in the world, only about the outcome, (sort of like a science experiment), and I believe only in the POSSIBILITY of such an entity but not in the context of any organized religion which I have come across thus far. (Satanism is the closest I have found to what I believe, though even that seems to not be all encompassing. I do not prescribe to any religion so please don't get hung up on a particular reference or lack of here and miss the point of my question.)

I DO BELIEVE RELIGION IS NECESSARY TO MAINTAIN CIVILIZED SOCIETIES!!! I just have no faith in the whole omnipotent, omniscient, loving God thing to whom we should devote our lives, depriving ourselves of certain experiences that seem to be the very nature of our existence, spending time on our knees seeking guidance from and worshiping. I AM NOT CRITICIZING ANYONE FOR PRACTICING RELIGION!!!

My question is this: do you all feel it is necessary for a care provider to believe in and/or have faith in God or does it matter if he/she believes there might not be a second chance in "Heaven" and have only one FINITE life to live so therefore it is mandatory to ensure everyone gets the best possible chance to be happy and make our marks (so to speak) the only time around?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

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Originally posted by Eddye

My question is this: do you all feel it is necessary for a care provider to believe in and/or have faith in God or does it matter if he/she believes there might not be a second chance in "Heaven" and have only one FINITE life to live so therefore it is mandatory to ensure everyone gets the best possible chance to be happy and make our marks (so to speak) the only time around?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Yes, this has been debated a lot recently.

No, I don't think it's necessary for a health care provider to believe in God. I think we all need to have a basic respect for life, and to care about what happens to people. Neither of those things necessitate a belief in God.

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Oh Lord, this subject just got defibbed.

To each their own on what they believe, as long as it is not forced on another, or as long as no one is put down for what they believe.

On that note i'm heading to my Maternity class.

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Maybe not necessary but I personally couldn't survive without my faith. I think your attitude is a big plus. If all caregivers in particular but people in general, would just embrace the fact that we all have different views on this subject and respect the difference..we might not even be fighting wars in Muslim countries.

On another note as a caregiver, I think it is important that we at least basically understand the belief systems of the people we contact daily. If someone of a different faith is dying and they want me to pray with them-say a jewish person. I certainly would do so but I wouldn't be praying to Jesus and the Trinity. It wouldn't be respectful of their beliefs. I also wouldn't want to back off and not help them in their final minutes. ( Iwork ER so it could be minutes) hope thsis helps>

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do you (all) feel it is necessary for a care provider to believe in and/or have faith in God

No

or does it matter if he/she believes there might not be a second chance in "Heaven" and have only one FINITE life

There are many who do not believe in the FINITE life.

bob

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what 2nd career said.

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NO, though I have a hard time imagining anything other than a belief in a higher intelligence behind the creation of life when you have a good understanding of the body's systems and the way they compensate for each other - and healing...I personally can't imagine that happening entirely by accident...

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Necessary....No....but faith has gotten me through many a shift from "hell"...can't count the times I've prayed to myself "Lord give me strength to make it through this shift". I'd never judge a nurse/pt/or anyone for that matter because of his/her beliefs.I'll leave that one to a higher power :)

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It's not really necessary to believe in God but I think it's necessary to really believe in yourself.

-R

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To not believe in God is inherently lonely. I don't believe in any one set religeon, I like the phrase 'all roads lead to the same house'

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I have let myself down so much that it is comforting to me to know some ONE else is in charge.

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Originally posted by redshiloh

To not believe in God is inherently lonely.

Please speak for yourself. I'm a very happy, well-adjusted atheist. Definitely NOT lonely.

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