Diversity of Faith

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Diversity of Faith Prof. James A.
Beckford Department of Sociology
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Diversity of Faith

• Concepts
• Diversity
• Case-studies Jehovahs Witnesses Scientology
• Chaplaincy
• Religious discrimination

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Concepts

• Culture
• Spirituality
• Religion
• Faith community

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• R P Sloan, E Bagiella T Powell
• Religion, spirituality, and medicine
• The Lancet vol 353 February 20, 1999 664-67

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Religious diversity

• Number of faith communities
• Number of religious organisations
• Number of individuals who combine different
  religious identities

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Breatharianism

• Breatharianism is physical perfection.  Man
  came into physical existence a perfect
  Breatharian. The breath of life supplied all the
  requirements of animation. God breathed into his
  nostrils the Breath of Life, and man became a
  living entity (Gen 27). Nothing was lacking, and
  nothing more was needed. The Breatharian needs
  air and Sunlight only, and nothing more to
  sustain his body.

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Jehovahs Witnesses

• Founded in 1880s in USA
• Scripture-based
• About 6 million worldwide
• Controversial

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Blood transfusions

• Avoid serum inoculations and vaccinations as
  they pollute the blood stream with their filthy
  pus.
• (Awake! 1929)

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Current policy of JWs

• For Bible-based reasons, Jehovahs Witnesses
  refuse blood transfusions. But they do accept
  medical alternatives to blood.
• (Awake! 2000)

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Church of Scientology

• Founded in 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard
• Spiritual technology
• Perhaps 1 million worldwide
• Opposed to psychiatry

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Citizens Commission on Human Rights

• Psychiatry Destroying Religion
• Psychiatry Manipulating Creativity
• Psychiatry A Human Rights Abuse and Global
  Failure

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Health care chaplaincy

• Ministry of Health (RHB4876) 1948
• Patients Charter (1992)
• Your Guide to the NHS (2002)

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The Patients Charter

• National Charter Standard One
• All health standards should make provision so
  that proper personal consideration is shown to
  you, for example by ensuring that your privacy,
  dignity and religious and cultural beliefs are
  respected.

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Your Guide to the NHS

• NHS staff will respect your privacy and
  dignity. They will be sensitive to, and respect,
  your religious, spiritual and cultural needs at
  all times If you need to stay in hospital your
  nutritional needs and dietary requirements will
  be assessed (for medical, religious or cultural
  reasons).

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Responses to religious diversity

• Appoint more chaplains
• Create multi-faith rooms
• Multi-faith co-ordinators

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Tensions around chaplaincy

• Disputes over access to multi-faith rooms
• Resistance of patients and relatives to the
  services of chaplains
•  
• Exclusion of religious groups deemed unacceptable
  by chaplains

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Ways forward

• Need to recognise
• Importance of religious faith to some
• Link between faith and collective identity
• Reality of religious discrimination

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Difficulties with religious discrimination

• Identifying real religion
• Why accord religion any privileges?
• Some minority faiths alienate majority
• Lack of statutory monitoring
• Lack of special legislation

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Questions for discussion

• How does religious diversity affect health and
  healing?
• How can you measure the association between faith
  and health?
• Is it only minority faiths that challenge some
  medical treatments?
• How does religious diversity affect health care
  chaplaincy?