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:
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?
Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
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.
`I really don't see what the one thing has to do with the other and I don't think that the above makes much sense-am I missing something? It's a GOOD thing that" the belief in God" is NOT a pre-requisite to every medical professionals career...the shortage would be much worse...
No. Compassion, understading, nonjudgement, a good knowledge base of science and medicine, consideration for the patients and the family's culture and religion....all these are to me more important than the nurses spiritual beliefs.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Do I think it's necessary for a caregiver to believe in God? No. Do I understand how one can study the human body and NOT believe that we are truly "fearfully and wonderfully made"? Also no. I respect all points of view, and I am very much a proponent of the separation of church and State; but for me, faith is what allows me to witness incredible suffering without lapsing into despair. It also allows me to share my hope with patients as appropriate according to their individual belief systems. I don't wave banners proclaiming what a great Christian I am----I'm much more of a spiritual person than a religious one---and I NEVER try to impose my beliefs on anyone else. All I know is, it's a source of inexpressible comfort to me to believe that this life isn't all there is, and that someone much greater than myself is in charge of the universe.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
no, i don't believe that one has to believe in a diety to effectively practice nursing or to live. But I DO BELIEVE IT IS HELPFUL TO BELIEVE IN A CAUSE/POWER greater than OURSELVES and serve a good purpose on earth.
Not at all. It's about who you are as a person and how you are as a nurse, not about religion and spirituality. I am a happy (not lonely) atheist, the slight belief I have that God exists is caused by conditioning from birth by family and society.
For the purpose of your poll being taken: Yes, this nurse most definitely believes in Almighty God! It's my personal spiritual choice to believe, and because you posed the question...I'm simply giving you my personal answer.
Is it necessary for a nurse to believe in God to be a nurse? That too is an individual question that only each individual can answer. I wouldn't attempt to answer that question for anyone but myself, therefore..........my answer to that particular question is: If I didn't believe in God, I couldn't continue doing what I do in today's world of nursing the way it has become. It's definitely a "Hard Knock Life"!
Now, when you talk about "RELIGION"........that's too much like politics to me...........a lot of HOT AIR being blown, and I'm positive that God is sick of most RELIGIONS as they exist which I do NOT believe honor HIM....they tend to honor the person who found that particular religion and most of them have already "past on and left their judgemental marks behind! :rotfl:
no, i don't believe that one has to believe in a diety to effectively practice nursing or to live. But I DO BELIEVE IT IS HELPFUL TO BELIEVE IN A CAUSE/POWER greater than OURSELVES and serve a good purpose on earth.
Does that make sense?
No, not really. I would be interested to know why you feel that way, if you don't mind elaborating.
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN, SON THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON HIM SHALL NOT PERISH BUT SHALL HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ktwlpn, LPN
3,844 Posts