How to Answer a Patient Who Asks: "Does God Exist?"

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Many patients asked me if God exists.  I said, yes, but I failed to prove it to them? Can anyone help me?

1 hour ago, S.I.C. said:

Thank you very much for your answer.

"You become self aware! This sentience is what created religion. An extension of self. Insightful manipulative Individuals saw the possibilities of control and profit. Organized religions was born".

I do not know what type of religion are talking about. There are many religions in the world.  Do you think all of them started the same way?

 

I couldn't really say, however since religion is an esoteric concept at best, as evidenced by priests, rabbis, Imams etc etc who apparently need to teach us despite Christ's teachings and inbuilt cultural norms, it is possible that most religious activities have begun that way?

I analyze the purpose of religion and since all religions appear to be inherently rules based, I am quite sure that it is man made. I mean, why should there be rules to contemplate God? I grew up as an orthodox Presbyterian which is very different from the Presbyterianism I see practiced here. 

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
14 hours ago, S.I.C. said:

 

"What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything? The answer is 42.

Or... If you want to be more exact 0.007297351 which can also be written as 1/137. This the number that appears when you combine the speed of light in a vacuum, the electrical charge of one electron and Planck's constant. Known as the 'fine structure constant'"

You still remember physics and Chemistry?  You are surprising me.  Your reply is very philosophical.  Hard to understand!

Almost all philosophers agree that the ultimate end of all human action is directed toward HAPPINESS. Thank you for trying all you can to make the universe happy including yourself!  You are very well grounded!

Sorry, I was being a bit jokey there.

"The answer to life, the universe and everything is 42" is from "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" a set of books by Douglas Adams. Well worth a read if you have not read it already. There is also a film of it but the books are better.

The "Fine Structure Constant", or 0.007297351 is what I said it is. The number you get when you combine the three things stated.

Physics and Chemistry? I left school 50 years ago. Almost everything I learned then has changed.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
8 hours ago, S.I.C. said:

Christianity started with the coming of Jesus-Christ. Jesus Christ is God, the creator of heavens and earth, and the creator of mankind.  He has no beginning and no end.  He came in this world, in the form of a human.  Conceived and born from Mary. He grew up living with mankind.  He brought the gospel, preached the repentance from sin, forgiving sins, healing the sick and the lame, and resurrecting the dead people like Lazarus. He is the one who brought the highest morality in the world, teaching all of us to love even our enemies and to pray for them.  

Jesus Christ, started the Christian Church. So now, there are many Christians around the world.  Some good following His footsteps, and some bad, corrupt, and wicked. Do you agree with me?

Yeah, I'm not getting involved in that level of dogma. One of us would end up being banned from the site. ??

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical Nurse, Community Health Nurse.

I agree with you! ??

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13 hours ago, S.I.C. said:

Christianity started with the coming of Jesus-Christ. Jesus Christ is God, the creator of heavens and earth, and the creator of mankind.  He has no beginning and no end.  He came in this world, in the form of a human.  Conceived and born from Mary. He grew up living with mankind.  He brought the gospel, preached the repentance from sin, forgiving sins, healing the sick and the lame, and resurrecting the dead people like Lazarus. He is the one who brought the highest morality in the world, teaching all of us to love even our enemies and to pray for them.  

Jesus Christ, started the Christian Church. So now, there are many Christians around the world.  Some good following His footsteps, and some bad, corrupt, and wicked. Do you agree with me?

I respect your dogmatic convictions. Beliefs (unthinking doctrines) notwithstanding, Christianity did not start with Jesus Christ who by all accounts is the figment of ancient Palestinian imagination and mythology plagiarized from the Egyptians. Constantine propagated Christianity through propaganda and brutality. 

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Specializes in Medical-Surgical Nurse, Community Health Nurse.

Thank you for the answer. I agree with you about Constantine.  Constantine was fighting for his political survival and used Christianity to attract many people to him and he succeed with plans against his rivals. He was baptized on the deathbed, but throughout his leadership, he was only pretending to be a Christian.  I thought true Christianity came from Christ (Jesus-Christ), who was purposely born to be the savior of mankind.  True Christians follow Jesus-Christ, and not Constantine. 

 

GrumpyRN, NP is afraid of discussing about Christianity on this forum. 

He stated: "Yeah, I'm not getting involved in that level of dogma. One of us would end up being banned from the site. ??"

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Specializes in ED, Tele, MedSurg, ADN, Outpatient, LTC, Peds.

He allowed the devil to take 10 (free will?) but guess how the chapter ended----

10 "After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. 11 All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver[a] and a gold ring.

12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years."

The Lord giveth, the lord taketh, blessed be his name!

The trouble is we equate him to ourselves and look at his ways from a human point of view! I could never begin to understand everything that  happens in the bible, in the real world and sometimes just around me.

Faith is not something you can prove like science. Faith to me is trusting in a loving father, having a best friend and brother/lord  in his son Jesus and entrusting my life and tomorrows  to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. God's mercy is tempered with his justice. I have to become like a child in order to trust God and be open to him. You can't attribute everything bad happening to God not doing anything to stop it. He has chosen you and me to right the wrongs, to be the light, to take care of the sick, the marginalized without fame or glory.

An example , he sent was his son Jesus who knew what it was to be poor,rejected but still stood up to teach, heal ,comfort and be a rock in these turbulent times. 

At the end of the day, as nurses we are indeed lucky to be the one to comfort, heal and be the rock for others and each other! This is why I love being a nurse. Faith or no faith, religion or no religion, we are called for a higher purpose than ourselves!

A blessed, safe and healthy New Year to my nurse Family @allnurses

I love you warts and all!

 

 

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6 hours ago, S.I.C. said:

Thank you for the answer. I agree with you about Constantine.  Constantine was fighting for his political survival and used Christianity to attract many people to him and he succeed with plans against his rivals. He was baptized on the deathbed, but throughout his leadership, he was only pretending to be a Christian.  I thought true Christianity came from Christ (Jesus-Christ), who was purposely born to be the savior of mankind.  True Christians follow Jesus-Christ, and not Constantine. 

 

GrumpyRN, NP is afraid of discussing about Christianity on this forum. 

He stated: "Yeah, I'm not getting involved in that level of dogma. One of us would end up being banned from the site. ??"

Jesus Christ! Jesus was not religious. He did not create Christianity. Like all religions, Christianity is absolutely man-made -conceived, germinated, and maintained by humans, chief among them is the cartel known as the diabolical imperial Catholic enterprise. 

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2 hours ago, cynical-RN said:

Jesus Christ! Jesus was not religious. He did not create Christianity. Like all religions, Christianity is absolutely man-made -conceived, germinated, and maintained by humans, chief among them is the cartel known as the diabolical imperial Catholic enterprise. 

Wow! Never heard that viewpoint as a Catholic! Guess what! You make your choices, form your opinions and live your life. I wish you peace, happiness and good health always! May the same Christ whom Christianity is named after always be your guide and protector in these turbulent times! Peace always in your life from a catholic!

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12 minutes ago, spotangel said:

Wow! Never heard that viewpoint as a Catholic! Guess what! You make your choices, form your opinions and live your life. I wish you peace, happiness and good health always! May the same Christ whom Christianity is named after always be your guide and protector in these turbulent times! Peace always in your life from a catholic!

Have you heard of the syndicate pedophilia in the Vatican and other Catholic turfs? It’s an unrepentant and unmitigated epidemic.
Have a happy new year ? 

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Specializes in ED, Tele, MedSurg, ADN, Outpatient, LTC, Peds.

This is not just a problem within the Catholic church but within many other churches from other denominations, other religions and non religious institutions that market/prey on  young kids for sex all over the world. So to finger just the Catholic church would be unfair. Like I said before in previous posts-people make choices-to do wrong, to cover up wrong and that is not correct or fair to the innocent survivor.

I know now that the Catholic church is attempting to right a wrong  by the freedom of information act. Our church bulletin has a number to call in case of any suspected cases. As a volunteer teacher of religious education, I have to attend a class on sexual abuse and child abuse which is mandatory. Background checks are also done. I would never condone a person's wrong behavior clergy or otherwise but there are a lot of good clergy/people in the world in Catholic churches and otherwise. So be aware that this behavior is not condoned by the majority. I have interned as a adult and pediatric SANE Examiner and believe me, the abuse I saw were not from Catholic clergy. Abuse was cracked open with the me too movement and thankfully so.

I  am not looking to change your mind but would suggest be a bit more openness for the New Year! No one is perfect.

 As Jesus said, "Let the man without sin cast the first stone!"

 

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21 minutes ago, spotangel said:

This is not just a problem within the Catholic church but within many other churches from other denominations, other religions and non religious institutions that market/prey on  young kids for sex all over the world. So to finger just the Catholic church would be unfair. Like I said before in previous posts-people make choices-to do wrong, to cover up wrong and that is not correct or fair to the innocent survivor.

I know now that the Catholic church is attempting to right a wrong  by the freedom of information act. Our church bulletin has a number to call in case of any suspected cases. As a volunteer teacher of religious education, I have to attend a class on sexual abuse and child abuse which is mandatory. Background checks are also done. I would never condone a person's wrong behavior clergy or otherwise but there are a lot of good clergy/people in the world in Catholic churches and otherwise. So be aware that this behavior is not condoned by the majority. I have interned as a adult and pediatric SANE Examiner and believe me, the abuse I saw were not from Catholic clergy. Abuse was cracked open with the me too movement and thankfully so.

I  am not looking to change your mind but would suggest be a bit more openness for the New Year! No one is perfect.

 As Jesus said, "Let the man without sin cast the first stone!"

 

I think you are minimizing the rampant pedophilia and absolving the pedophiles and rapists who are prominent figures in the Catholic global enterprise. Pointing out what other churches and institutions do does not absolve or lessen the diabolical crimes (or what you choose to call sin) against humanity, children to be specific. The wanton disregard of morality among catholic priests with a fetish for underage rectums is very concerning and an abomination. 

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