Turn To Religion

Religion And Healthcare Should Mix, Study Says
ScienceDaily (Oct. 24, 2007) — Research shows that religion and spirituality are linked to positive physical and mental health; however, most studies have focused on people with life threatening diseases. A new study from the University of Missouri-Columbia shows that religion helps many individuals with disabilities adjust to their impairments and gives new meaning to their lives.
According to the study, persons facing impending death may use religion to help them accept their condition, come to terms with unresolved life issues, and prepare for death. However, the study suggests that religion may be an equally, if not more important, coping mechanism for persons with chronic disabilities such as traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, stroke and arthritis.
“Although many individuals with disabilities turn to religion to help them deal with their situations, to date, religion is infrequently discussed in rehabilitation settings and is rarely investigated in rehabilitation research. To better meet the needs of persons with disabilities, this needs to change,” said Brick Johnstone, professor of health psychology in the MU School of Health Professions.
The study notes that few practical suggestions exist for how to address religion in health care. Heath care providers should encourage religious practices important to individuals, such as yoga, reading of religious texts, meditation or laying on of hands. Students should be taught about various religious beliefs and how they might be used to the patients’ advantage in a rehabilitation setting.
“Although some professionals may feel uncomfortable obtaining information about patients’ religious beliefs, it is no different than inquiring about their sexual, psychological, substance use and legal histories,” said Johnstone, who also is the director of the MU Spirituality and Health Research Project at the MU Center on Religion and the Professions.
Praying with patients may be appropriate in some cases, according to the study. Rehabilitation psychologists, counselors and chaplains also should work together to initiate forgiveness interventions. Patients who were injured as the result of the actions of others may be better able to work toward recovery if they can use their religious beliefs to work through emotions surrounding the cause of the disability.
“It is also very important that rehabilitation professionals be aware of the different religious customs that should be considered when evaluating and treating patients, including information regarding the appropriateness of physical touching by others, preferences regarding gender specific services, dress and hygiene customs,” Johnstone said.
The study has been published in the journal Disability and Rehabilitation. It was co-authored by Bret Glass, of the MU College of Education’s Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology and Richard Oliver, dean of the MU School of Health Professions. The study was conducted under the MU Center on Religion and the Professions, a $1.5 million center funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Adapted from materials provided by University of Missouri-Columbia.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071023104134.htm


I choose to post this article because people have a tendency to turn to religion when all else fails. For example I used to work in a funeral home for over a year and I saw many different religious funerals and in some circumstances God was the last thing people turned to. One family in particular sticks out in my mind. We had a young woman around the age of 21 die and her mother blamed God. She actually walked up to me and asked me why did God this to her. She said “I go to church, I donate to different organizations, I pray everyday, why did God do this to me.” Unfortunately, her daughter died in a car accident, but by the end of the entire funeral I think she realized that God wasn’t punishing her, but religion was the last thing she wanted to think about. I felt so bad for this woman but the longer I worked there the more common this became.

BIG Questions

Hinduism

Hinduism is a religion that has many different beliefs. They are devoted to three major Gods. They get attention from the Gods when they worship at temple, offer sacrifices, praying, supporting the priests of temples and more. They believe strongly in reincarnation and life after death. They are born into a caste system which they can not get out of until rebirth. The only way they can get out of their caste system is if they fulfill their duties in their previous life; they will be reborn into a higher class. They are all trying to reach samsara. If they are able to accomplish that they have reached moksha. They think what they do in the life before will determine what caste system they will be reborn into in the next life. Karma is a big part of their religion. They believe in it very firmly, and they try to not build up any bad karma.

Jainism

Jainism is one of the few religions that does not have a God/leader. They believe in dual nature. They feel that the world is split into two parts; one being the jiva, meaning the soul (eternal) and the other is ajiva, which is matter (useless). They live by five vows: ahisma (non-injuries to all creatures,) always speak the truth, take everything that is given to you, renounce all sexual desire, and renounce all possessions and attachments including your family. They don’t believe in harming any creatures so they walk with a broom and sweep away any bugs they may have the chance to kill, this also goes with out saying they are vegetarians. Which also means that they are non-violent people all of the time. In addition they believe in karma and reincarnation. If they build up any karma they are bound to comeback in another life. They are responsible for their own actions and they must control themselves at all times



Sikhism

Interestingly this is one of the rare Indian religion that allow their followers to eat meat and cause harm to animals. However they also believe in karma and reincarnation. They believe that there is one and only one God. As well as they consider men, women and children to be equal, which most religions don’t recognize.

Buddhism

Buddhism is the largest and fastest growing religion in the United States. Buddhism practices the teachings of Buddha. He was at one time a very wealthy man that preferred to leave his home and practice Buddhism. While he was practicing he decided that there is no soul. There are two types of Buddhism. One example is Zen, which is based on meditation and the other is Tendai. Buddhism depends a lot on ones self. For example don’t trust what you hear, find out for yourself. There are also the four noble truths: life is dukkha, dukkha is cause by tanha, nirvana, and the eightfold path. Similar to other Indian religions this religion they also believe in reincarnation and karma. They believe that any bad karma from a pervious life will follow them into the next life. Considering they believe strongly in karma they constantly have to think positively.

My Community

I live upstate about an hour and a half away and in my town my father held a political office for over eight years. Unfortunately when he was up for re-election the following term he was defeated. However he is up for election again this November and my entire family has been devoted to getting him re-elected. I don’t know if anyone is familiar with political terms but he lost due to a block vote.
Where I live the town is extremely divided. There are the people that live there all year round and than there’s the people that are only there for the summer months. The people that are there during the summer are Orthodox Jews. This causes a huge problem for the people in the town. When summer comes traffic increases, along with garbage there are more accidents and they also build more. This would normally be a good thing but considering they are taxed exempted the taxes for the other year round residents dramatically increased to the point that working families can barely afford it.
There is no problem with them coming upstate during the summer it’s the problem of the unbalance ness of the town. The year round residents don’t feel that they get the same privileges that that particular group gets. They are allowed to vote, buy and build on tax exempt land, and the like. This causes the summer months to have a lot of tension in the air.
I personally don’t have a problem with this group. However I don’t felt that they should get all of the advantages that they do.
But getting back to the election my family is working hard to get him elected again so that he can help bring these problems to a close. Although this election we are possibly facing another block vote we are going to continue our hard work and hopefully it will pay off.
During that rough time in my town Buddhism would help greatly. The teaching would unite all the residents and the summer visitors to one understanding. As of right now my town is cold (dead) and something needs to change. Hopefully with this election coming up and new people being elected (rebirth) it will unite the town and make the residents and the summer residents see eye to eye on some of the disagreements they’ve been having (reincarnation). Maybe Buddhism is what we need!

Mohandas Gandhi

Last class as you all know we watched Gandhi, and we were able to see first hand how he worshiped instead of having to imagine it. He was born on October 2, 1869 in Purbandar in Gujarat. He was at one time before he became a preacher a lawyer. Mohandas Gandhi was able to untie his religion without using any type of violence. He practiced civil disobedience and non-violence to overcome the British. He was known as the “Father of the nation“.
He was an extremely religious man who believed in the higher power, as did most Hindus. One problem however in the Hindu religion they believe in the caste system; which Mohandas Gandhi did not. In fact he tried to do away with the system altogether. He believed that everyone is equal and it shouldn’t matter the class your in. For example in the movie he told his wife to set an extra place setting for a man she considered to be an “untouchable” and she refused. But Mohandas Gandhi didn’t see it the same way he simply viewed him as a man/person instead of an untouchable.
Mohandas Gandhi was a very powerful man, although he never used his power for his own benefit nor did he abuse his power or take advantage of it. Instead he tried to bond both the Muslims and the Hindus together.
He often would put the needs of others before his own. For example he fasted for a long period of time due to the fact that there was a violent protest causing the death of a police officer, causing him to want to end the protests altogether. He was a very determined man and refused to eat until everything was completely stopped. He did this for both self-purification and the protest. He nearly died of starvation and was willing to do it again if need be.
When everyone finally surrendered and he began to recover the British police arrested him as they’ve done in the past and took him to jail. He spent many days, nights and years in jail for what he believed in; and regardless of all the time he spent there, away from his friends, family and followers he never got discouraged or gave up, he merely continued his fight.
Although he was treated horribly at times he never stopped preaching non-violence. I think that he would consider himself a good Hindu considering the only thing he really disagreed with was the caste system. I too think he was a good Hindu. Gandhi had the opportunity to travel all over to educate people about his beliefs, and truly try to bring everyone together.
Unfortunately due to the his pure dedication to his religion it cost him his life. He was assassinated on January 30, 1948 in Delhi by a Hindu extremist. To leave behind his strong beliefs and well educated followers.
Hinduism is a very hard religion to follow and practice from day to day. Mohandas Gandhi was a well respected man that many Hindus looked to for guidance. He never took the respect he gained for granted and would never guild his people to harm. He was a committed leader to his followers and to his own beliefs.

Adapting to Peoples Needs

Hinduism adapts to the needs of all people. For example there are four different types of yoga. They consist of action yoga (karma), and risk takers yoga (raja), reflective yoga (jnana), emotional yoga (bhakti). They allow the person to express themselves in a way that works for them. Also this religion is large enough that there could be people devoted to practicing their religion faithfully like every minute of every day, day after day, while others may not be as devoted. Whereas, they believe in some but not all the beliefs Hindus believe in. I feel that I fit in the action yoga also known as Karma yoga. I must say I have a lot of respect for people that can practice their religion practically all day because I know that it would not be able to be one of those people. At least I don’t think I would be able to do it. Would you?

Hinduism

In the last class we talked about the different type of yoga there was. The four types were reflective yoga (jnana), emotional yoga (bhakti) , action yoga (karma), and risk takers yoga (raja). The majority of the class emotional yoga also known as jnana yoga. Hinduism is a very large spread religion. In fact it is one of the larges religions in the world. I think I am more of the Karma yoga. Yoga is a way that helps Hindu people manage certain situations. Although I am a Catholic I don’t believe in all the things that they do but I feel that is religion is very open to other religions. The people that practice this religion seem to be more laid back and they appear to handle some circumstances better. I know a girl that practices Hinduism and she very easy going and solely turns to her beliefs when ever something doesn’t go the way she expected. But the best part is she never blames anything or anybody for something going wrong she simply says she’ll do it better next time. I find that to be amazing and nearly impossible for me. I defiantly look up to her in that manner.