Religious believes expressed in nursing theories. For or against

Published

Hello everybody,

I am a BSN student taking a nursing theory class at the moment. I was wondering what is everybody's opinion regarding expressing religious believes in nursing theories. Does it offend you to find the word "God" when reading about certain theories. Example : "Persons have mutual relationships with the world and God" (Quote from my theory book re works of Sister Callista Roy)

I am Catholic myself so I do not find such statements offensive...I am just wondering what others think on this topic

Thanks:heartbeat

Not to completely change the topic of the thread, but I'd encourage you to study this more.

As a student of history, I have never encountered a "founding father" who was an atheist or an agnostic. Now, there some Deists, proto-pantheists, and various unorthodox "Christians," and the majority were Protestant Christians of some stripe.

Not trying to start a debate--maybe you were joking?

Are you my son? :D :yeah: Because you sure sound like him.

steph

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you so much for your input on the topic. Truly appreciate your time to express your thoughts

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in TBD.
i think it is as dishonest and academically lazy to pretend that relgious/spiritual dimensions are not present in nursing theories as it would be [regardless of one's own faith]to ignore how the relgious beliefs of the founding fathers influenced our nation and it's laws.

how true blueridge. this nation was founded by christians which is a truth that has been clouded by history revisionists.

so as not to stir others up, i am glad that we as americans (and health care providers and patients) have a choice in what we believe. i do think we should be honest with history though.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.
How true BlueRidge. This nation was founded by Christians which is a truth that has been clouded by history revisionists.

Now you've gone and made me do it.

From Article 11 of the Treaty of Tripoli, ratified unanimously by the Senate and signed by President John Adams in 1796-7:

As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion;

The reality is this nation was founded by Christians of all stripes, including Quakers, and a bunch of other people who were anywhere from pantheistic to deistic to Unitarian to even likely agnostic. Regardless of affiliation, it's clear they had no desire for religious influence on government as evidenced by such things as the above-quoted Treaty of Tripoli.
Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

I'm not sure why people get offended by hearing the word 'God'. I never could grasp what is so offensive about it, but it seems to drive some people bananas.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I echo the general sentiment expressed in this thread about the inclusion of religion and spirituality in nursing theories.

A theory is simply a structured developed to represent and express ideas. If those ideas include thoughts about religeous/spirituality, then it is right to include them in the theory. If not, that's OK, too. We are all free (or should be free) to choose the theories that are most compatable with our own beliefs about the specific situations that face us.

Those who choose to base their scholarly work on theories with a strong bias towards specific religious beliefs need to understand that such a choice may limit the applicability of their work to those people who share those religeous beliefs. Potential users of the theory will either be attracted to that theory because of its spritiual content or not. When included in a theory, spiritual concepts become "fair game" for evaluation and critique just like all the other elements of the theory. A mainstream religious belief may still find wide acceptance. A minority spiritual beleif may lead some to people to consider the theory "weird" "a crock" "fluff" "hokey" etc.

Hmmm... Another factor to consider is whether or not the spiritual belief is foundational to all the other concepts within the theory ... the extent to which the topic of the theory is the nature of humanity, spiritual beliefs, etc. versus a scientific theory of a specific physical or behavioral process, etc. ... whether or not the spiritual content refers to spirituality in general or advocates a specific religious belief, etc.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
the example the op gave, was usage of the word "God".

that sounds pretty generic to me, and would be more conducive to implementing that in a spiritual component.

i can't see a theorist endorsing a specific religious practice.

but if this is happening, there are many theorists out there.

we always have the choice in relating to these theories, or not.

leslie

I'm not trying to be argumentative and I basically agree with you.

But, just for the sake of discussion, this shows how wide a range of opinions and sensibilities there are in this area -- to me, the identification of a specific entity/being named "God" is exclusive and identifying with a particular set of religious beliefs. Talking about "God" (by name) is is, to me, talking about religion rather than spirituality.

Again, I'm not saying that's necessarily wrong, and there are plenty of nursing theories from which to pick and choose.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.

[quote=methylene;president john adams in 1796-7:

quote]

wow, and i got all "a"'s in history. would have sworn the nation was founded in the 1770's!

who knew??:eek:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg and Wound Care, PACU.

if it is the only theorie there is i would be against it, as long as you learn about other "gods" and therories fine.

nici

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care.
[quote=methylene;president john adams in 1796-7:

quote]

wow, and i got all "a"'s in history. would have sworn the nation was founded in the 1770's!

who knew??:eek:

what exactly is your point? the treaty of tripoli was merely nine years after the constitution was ratified, and it's safe to say a good portion of those that signed it were still in the government at the time of the treaty's ratification.

are you somehow claiming this group of men, including john adams and thomas jefferson were out of touch with the founding fathers' intentions? if so, i ever so kindly rebut by pointing out these were the founding fathers.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Home Health, Geriatrics.

When I am teaching nursing theory classes, I bring up religion and culture, but I don't bring up the actual word God. I always say creator, maker, whatever one believes in. I don't want to offend my students that may be of a different religion, belief, or non belief than myself.

Hope this makes some sense :nuke:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.

what exactly is your point?

that you are astonishly predictable, and amuse the heck out of me! :yeah:

if not for parts of your bio, i'd swear i gave birth to you!!:smokin:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion