Religion and Health: Should Doctors Prescribe Religion?

There is now a substantial body of research literature that claims to show the generally positive effects of religious involvement on a wide range of health outcomes. Many academics therefore follow the rationale that, as there is scientific evidence indicating the health advantages of religion, then it is the clinicians’ role to support and encourage patient spirituality. Numerous research papers have recently explored the clinical implications of the religion and health link. Larimore, Parker and Crowther (2002: 70) argue that “there are sufficient, research-based reasons for clinicians to provide basic spiritual interventions.” Religion and spirituality are therefore viewed by these supporters of spiritual care as an “adjunct of therapy” (Lawrence & Smith 2004: 626). These contentions argue that physicians should prescribe religion. However, there is a theological problem with this approach.

From a theological perspective, there is a major problem with doctors’ prescribing religious activities. Take the practice of prayer for example. Studies seeking evidence of prayer’s curative powers are grounded in a misunderstanding of the role of prayer in Western theistic traditions (Cohen et al 2000: 40). According to the work by Dr Herbert Bensen (1997: 126) on the relaxation response, by partaking in prayer, one consciously relaxes the mind and body, decreasing blood pressure and heart rate. Framed in this way, the ecclesial practice of prayer is understood as a kind of treatment modality (Cohen et al 2000: 40). In this sense, prayer becomes “one more in the arsenal of weapons available to medicine to fight against disease” (Cohen et al 2000: 40). However, prayer is not a strategy for controlling the outcome of events or an intervention whose effectiveness can be tested (Cohen et al 2000: 41). There is no way to prove a connection between prayer for recovery and the desired effect (Cohen et al 2000: 41). Prayer is therefore not a form of medical treatment and should not be used for extrinsic ends (Cohen et al 2001: 32).

No person can sincerely practice a faith solely for its health benefits (Cohen et al 2000: 41). A union with God can never be forced and, therefore, prayer is by no means the simple activity that it is assumed to be (Lawrence 2002: 76). It is not a sure means of getting God to give humans their way (Cohen et al 2000: 43). It is first and foremost an encounter with God. Adherents engage in prayer because that is where they enter into an intimate relation with God (Larimore et al 2002: 72). It is therefore from the perspective of faithful Christian discipleship fundamentally wrongheaded to view religious practices as detachable from faith (Cohen et al 2000: 45). According to Cohen et al (2000: 41), prescribing religion for health benefits reflects a “tendency to treat God merely as a means to human ends rather than as the one End.” Attempting to improve one’s health by means of religion therefore manipulates and moulds worship of the sacred into a self-serving exercise (Vandecreek 1999: 201). The very idea of doctors prescribing religious activities therefore trivializes, demeans and degrades religion (Lawrence 2002: 76).

References

Bensen, H. (1997). The Relaxation Response. In Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief. New York: Fireside.

Cohen, C. B., Wheeler, S. E., Scott, D. A. & the Anglican Working Group in Bioethics. (2000). Prayer as therapy: A challenge to both religious belief and professional ethics, The Hastings Center Report 30, 40-47.

Cohen, C. B., Wheeler, S. E., Scott, D. A. & the Anglican Working Group in Bioethics. (2001). Walking a fine line: Physician inquires into patients’ religious and spiritual beliefs, The Hastings Center Report 31, 29-39.

Larimore, W. L., Parker, M. & Crowther, M. (2002). Should clinicians incorporate positive spirituality into their practices? What does the evidence say?, Annals of Behavioral Medicine 24, 69-73.

Lawrence, R. J. (2002). The witches’ brew of spirituality and medicine, Annals of Behavioral Medicine 24, 74-76.

Lawrence, R. T. & Smith, D. W. (2004). Principles to make a spiritual assessment work in your practice, The Journal of Family Practice 53, 625-631.

VandeCreek, L. (1999). Should physicians discuss spiritual concerns with patients?, Journal of Religion and Health 38, 193-201.