Sanctity Of Life Research Articles

Clergy religious beliefs and ICU utilization at the end of life.

223 Background: High religious community spiritual support is associated with greater aggressive interventions at the end of life (EOL). At EOL, half of U.S. patients are visited by clergy. The relationship of clergy religious beliefs about EOL care to dying congregants’ EOL medical decisions is unknown. Methods: This is an NCI-funded study of 1,665 U.S. clergy randomly-selected from a comprehensive database of 368,408 U.S. congregations and administered a survey 8/2014-2/2015; 1,005 responded (60%). Clergy reported endorsement of religious beliefs about congregants’ EOL care (RBEC), including miracles, sanctity of life, divine sovereignty, and redemptive suffering. Clergy reported on their last experience in spiritual caregiving to a dying congregant, including congregant’s care location in the final week. The primary outcome was any ICU care in the final week of life. Multivariable analyses (MVA), controlling for clergy age, gender, race, region, and congregational income, assessed the relationship of clergy RBEC to any congregant ICU care in the last week. Results: Most (86%) clergy affirmed belief in a miraculous cure; 54% agreed that the congregant should accept every medical treatment out of religious obligations. A minority of clergy affirmed that belief in divine sovereignty relieved congregants of future medical decisions (28%) and that they should endure medical procedures because suffering is God’s test (27%). In MVA, higher RBEC scores were associated with a greater likelihood of any ICU utilization in the last week (AOR=1.28, p=.02), with belief in divine sovereignty being the strongest predictor (AOR 2.1, p=.005). Predictors of having greater RBEC scores included being Hispanic (AOR=3.35, p<.001) or black (AOR=3.0, p<.001), as compared to white, and being Pentecostal (AOR=3.54, p<.001) or Evangelical (AOR=2.12, p<.001) as compared to clergy self-identified as liberal. Conclusions: A majority of clergy endorse religious beliefs regarding their dying congregants’ EOL medical care; these beliefs are associated with greater ICU care in the final days of life for congregants. Future research is needed to determine religiously-consistent approaches to clergy EOL education to mitigate aggressive interventions at the EOL.

응급구조학과 대학생들의 죽음의식과 심폐소생술 금지(DNR)에 대한 인식 및 태도

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate paramedic students' awareness and attitude toward a do not resuscitate (DNR) order and death. Methods: This research was conducted among 421 students from the Department of Emergency Medical Technology in a 4-year college located in the Chungcheong and Daejeon districts, from May 14 to 22, 2014. Data were analyzed by using IBM SPSS 21.0. Results: The mean level of attitude toward death was 2.17. The paramedic students with clinical experience showed a positive attitude toward death, of whom 72.0% answered that a DNR order is necessary. The mean level of attitude toward DNR was 2.88. The paramedic students with clinical experience showed a positive attitude toward a DNR order. They indicated that sanctity of life should be respected rather than extending ineffective treatment and that patients' decisions on DNR should be respected. The students who had more knowledge about DNR and felt the necessity of DNR had a positive attitude about death and DNR. Conclusion: Paramedic students need systematic education for proper recognition and values establishment about death and DNR.

Regina v. Howe (1987): Heroism, Terrorism and Competence

In Howe (1987) the House of Lords held that duress is no defence to murder. The Lords relied upon three main arguments:1. The Heroism Argument: citizens can legitimately be expected to sacrifice their own lives heroically, rather than take an innocent third party’s on the orders of a duressor.2. The Terrorism Argument: duress must be unavailable lest terrorists or organised criminals cajole innocent citizens into carrying out murders.3. The Competence Argument: courts should defer to the legislature when developing the common law in an area where doctrine is relatively clear, and the issues raised are viewed properly as controversial.Textbooks tend to focus on Lord Hailsham LC’s endorsement of the Heroism Argument, and its reliance on upholding the sanctity of life. The Lords are chastised for endorsing a ‘blueprint for saintliness’ (as JC Smith put it). This chapter – for a forthcoming collection on landmark cases in English criminal law – seeks to rehabilitate the decision in Howe by arguing that it should be seen as a landmark endorsement of the Competence Argument. Given the relatively stable nature of the law on duress and murder before Howe, the inherent epistemic and deliberative limitations placed on criminal courts (even at the highest appellate level), and the fraught issues of morality and politics involved in decisions about when killing is not criminal, the Lords’ decision is defensible.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Ethical Views of Buddhist, Hindu and Catholic Leaders in Malaysia.

Embryonic Stem Cell Research (ESCR) raises ethical issues. In the process of research, embryos may be destroyed and, to some, such an act entails the 'killing of human life'. Past studies have sought the views of scientists and the general public on the ethics of ESCR. This study, however, explores multi-faith ethical viewpoints, in particular, those of Buddhists, Hindus and Catholics in Malaysia, on ESCR. Responses were gathered via semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Three main ethical quandaries emerged from the data: (1) sanctity of life, (2) do no harm, and (3) 'intention' of the research. Concerns regarding the sanctity of life are directed at particular research protocols which interfere with religious notions of human ensoulment and early consciousness. The principle of 'do no harm' which is closely related to ahimsa prohibits all acts of violence. Responses obtained indicate that respondents either discourage research that inflicts harm on living entities or allow ESCR with reservations. 'Intention' of the research seems to be an interesting and viable rationale that would permit ESCR for the Buddhists and Hindus. Research that is intended for the purpose of alleviating human suffering is seen as being ethical. This study also notes that Catholics oppose ESCR on the basis of the inviolability of human life.

Deconstructing and Expanding Gender Roles: Theological Reflections on Women and Local Disaster Response

The situation of women during and after local disasters may, at first, seem unrelated to feminist theology, but this article argues that a critical reflection on the matter helps the Church further understand the relationship between men, women, and the rest of creation. In the context of two Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) documents entitled “What is Happening to Our Beautiful Land?” (1988) and “Upholding the Sanctity of Life” (2008), this article will analyze and articulate the gender ideologies that seem to underpin how women and nature are understood, using the reflections on the situation of women in disasters as well as a reconstructionist feminist liberationist framework. From there, recommendations will also be given as to what the Church can do further for everyone, given this article’s analysis and reflection.

Book Review: With Joyful Acceptance, Maybe: Developing a Contemporary Theology of Suffering in Conversation with Five Christian Thinkers: Gregory the Great, Julian of Norwich, Jeremy Taylor, C. S. Lewis, and Ivone Gebara

With Joyful Acceptance, Maybe: Developing a Contemporary Theology of Suffering in Conversation with Five Christian Thinkers: Gregory Great, Julian of Norwich, Jeremy Taylor, C. S. Lewis, and Ivone Gebara. By Molly Field James. Eugene, Ore.: Wipf & Stock, 2012. xiii + 213 pp. $28.00 (paper).Molly Field James is an Episcopal priest and professor who teaches ethics and pastoral care at Hartford Seminary and University of St. Joseph. With Joyful Acceptance, Maybe is her first book-length publication. James's contemporaiy theology of suffering is influenced by her professional experience as a hospital chaplain and parish priest, as well as her personal experience as a cancer survivor.James's book offers a typology of theological responses to grief and suffering, drawing on work of Gregory Great, Julian of Norwich, Jeremy Taylor, C. S. Lewis, and Ivone Gebara. James's focus is not questions of evil and theodicy, but experience of suffering in of Christian. When is suffering redemptive, and therefore to be accepted? When is suffering not redemptive, and therefore to be resisted? Each of five thinkers deals with challenge of suffering theologically and from personal experience. Along way, five themes serve as touchstones: human condition, God's providence, Christ, salvation, and eternal life. After analyzing and comparing thinkers, James proposes a fusion of five, concluding that Christian theology requires a nuanced of suffering (p. 192). On one hand, Christians are bound to experience suffering and must learn to endure it with faith and hope. On other hand, such acceptance does not rule out pursuit of human flourishing, which must include opposition to sin and injustice that leads to suffering.With Joyful Acceptance, Maybe begins by offering a working definition of suffering and grief, a discussion of typologies, and a review of major works that overlap with James's project. In chapter 1, James then introduces Gregory Great and his handbook on pastoral care. For Gregory, Christians should greet all suffering as a gift from God that pushes one to engage in reflection, repentance, and amendment of life (p. 26). The next chapter discusses Revelations of Julian of Norwich, who views experience of suffering as a primarily good thing because it is the path to reward of blissful union with God in Christ (p. 73). James then reviews work of seventeenth-century divine Jeremy Taylor. In his manual Holy Living and Dying, Taylor suggests that suffering should be embraced as an opportunity to live a more holy through practice of patient forbearance, looking to reward of eternal (p. …

Sanctity of Life and Human Dignity as Human Rights Values Vis-À-Vis The Death Penalty: A Religio-Ethico Reflection

The paper aims to presents a consistent argument and ideology of life. The study proposes capital punishment as an earthly creation, born out of man’s attempt to find justice according to his own standards – in complete opposition to what God’s perfection intends. Capital punishment is based on the conviction that man must set the ultimate standard of what is right and what is wrong, and that God’s authority is irrelevant to these moral decisions. The paper opted for an exploratory study using literal sources, which the author generated and on which he draws. The article is based on a serious inquiry of original data on the issues of the death penalty, sanctity of life and human dignity. The paper presents a strong, current and relevant theoretical or conceptual framework within which the inquiry is located. The opposition to capital punishment reflects a consistent ethic of life that is evident throughout the Scriptures. The paper finds that sanctity of life and human dignity have become the central argument against the death penalty. It suggests that these two concepts (sanctity of life and human dignity) establish a line that humans or states cannot cross. Every other kind of means which brings human life to a premature end would therefore count as wrong. The research results may lack generalisability in that it focused mainly on a Christian framework. But it can also be viewed as an opportunity for other researchers to test the proposed propositions further, to expand it to the domain of other denominations. But subject to the condition to make this ethic of life that this research holds dear part of their own views.

Religious, Ethical and Legal Considerations in End-of-Life Issues: Fundamental Requisites for Medical Decision Making.

Religion and spirituality have always played a major and intervening role in a person's life and health matters. With the influential development of patient autonomy and the right to self-determination, a patient's religious affiliation constitutes a key component in medical decision making. This is particularly pertinent in issues involving end-of-life decisions such as withdrawing and withholding treatment, medical futility, nutritional feeding and do-not-resuscitate orders. These issues affect not only the patient's values and beliefs, but also the family unit and members of the medical profession. The law also plays an intervening role in resolving conflicts between the sanctity of life and quality of life that are very much pronounced in this aspect of healthcare. Thus, the medical profession in dealing with the inherent ethical and legal dilemmas needs to be sensitive not only to patients' varying religious beliefs and cultural values, but also to the developing legal and ethical standards as well. There is a need for the medical profession to be guided on the ethical obligations, legal demands and religious expectations prior to handling difficult end-of-life decisions. The development of comprehensive ethical codes in congruence with developing legal standards may offer clear guidance to the medical profession in making sound medical decisions.

Paradise Regained and the Restoration Church of England: Pieties in Dialogue

Paradise Regained and the Restoration Church of England:Pieties in Dialogue Edmund Christie White Piety manuals were bestseller material in Restoration England. The vast appetite for such books in the decades following the return of the Stuart monarchy in 1660 is exemplified by the case of The Practice of Christian Graces; or, The Whole Duty of Man. Published anonymously in 1657 and heavily influenced by previous popular manuals written by Henry Hammond (Practicall Catechisme, 1644/45) and Jeremy Taylor (Holy Living, 1650), it is estimated that The Whole Duty of Man “enjoyed the greatest number of editions [of all contemporary piety manuals] between 1660 and 1711, perhaps forty-five in all, again probably enough copies (135,000) for every tenth family.”1 On top of this there were three well-received sequels: The Gentleman’s Calling (1662), The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety (1667), and The Government of the Tongue (1667). These books presented practical guidance in an easily comprehensible style on how to live a life of devotion, and they were structured to promote methodical, repeated reading. The Whole Duty of Man was carefully divided into 17 partitions: “One whereof being read every Lords Day the Whole may be read over [End Page 273] Thrice in the Year.”2 It is little wonder that such books were valued so highly as gifts for confirmation candidates, the young, and the deserving poor.3 Despite their apparently innocuous, pious content, such manuals were not politically inert. They were written and endorsed by senior clergymen in the restored Church of England; it has been proven almost beyond doubt that the author of The Whole Duty of Man was the clergyman Richard Allestree, an active royalist during the 1640s and 1650s, who was elevated to the position of Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford in 1663.4 More controversial publications written by Conformist clergy argued explicitly that the piety espoused in The Whole Duty of Man ought to be emulated in thanksgiving for the miraculous return of the Stuart monarchy and episcopal government in 1660. Words from a sermon delivered to the congregation of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on the Sunday following the coronation of Charles II suggest the preacher’s indebtedness to such manuals and the ideals of “holy living” that inspired them: “For the whole Duty of a Christian doth consist in two things; first (by way of privation) in casting off the works of Darkness, in denying ungodliness and worldly lusts; next (by way of Acquisition) in putting on the armour of light; Living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Tit. 2. 12.”5 As another passage in this sermon makes clear, pious living was to be central to the new political settlement, which would consist of the king and his bishops (“untill our Bishops receive their Right, though we are glad to have our King, we may rationally fear we shall not hold him”), working in harmony to correct the deleterious effects of the previous rebellion and “tyranny.”6 In arguments such as this, “religious and political duty … became indistinguishable (just as religious dissent became indistinguishable from sedition): good Christians are loyal subjects.”7 The ideological concerns of the piety manuals themselves, however, are harder to pin down. They do consider loyalty to the magistrate to be crucially important, but not solely so: it was only one part of the “holy living” phenomenon, and to focus on it reduces such works to the status of mere Conformist propaganda. [End Page 274] Indeed, the number of popular Nonconformist imitations of these ostensibly Anglican piety manuals is testimony to the breadth and depth of their reception in Restoration England.8 Paradise Regained also participates in this context of politicized piety, exploring the concept in both form and thought.9 In the poem, Jesus acts in accordance with a notion of pious living that is bound up with his burgeoning awareness of his messianic vocation. Milton’s Jesus declares the cessation of all oracles with the statement that God has sent “his spirit of truth henceforth to dwell / In pious hearts, an inward oracle / To all truth requisite for men to know.”10...

The Dilemmas We Face Today: Assisted Dying, Life, Death, Technology and Law

Ethical debates on controversial issues often prove intractable because society's dominant discourse contains unrecognised contradictions, producing blind spots of which few are aware. The article argues that the current debate about assisted dying is hindered by four blind spots: the sanctity of life, the spookiness of death, the cult of technology and the tension between ethics and law.

An Assessment of Long-Term and Contemporary Attitudes towards ‘Sanctity of Life’ Issues amongst Roman Catholics in Britain

The Roman Catholic Church has long-standing and steadfast positions on ‘sanctity of life’ issues. This article examines the views of Catholics in Britain on two of these issues: assisted suicide and abortion. It looks at whether Catholics still retain distinctive views on these issues compared to wider society and then examines which socio-demographic and religious factors underpin their attitudes. Catholics tend to be more likely than the general population to oppose assisted suicide and abortion in particular circumstances and to view them as less morally justifiable. Amongst Catholics, socially-conservative views on these issues are associated with various socio-demographic factors and both believing and behaving aspects of religiosity.

Holy Spirit, Holy Living: Toward a Practical Theology of Holiness for Twenty‐First Century Churches. By Antipas L.Harris. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2013. Pp. xii + 181. $23.00.

Religious Studies ReviewVolume 40, Issue 4 p. 202-203 Theology Holy Spirit, Holy Living: Toward a Practical Theology of Holiness for Twenty-First Century Churches. By Antipas L. Harris. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2013. Pp. xii + 181. $23.00. Henry H. Knight III, Henry H. Knight III Saint Paul School of TheologySearch for more papers by this author Henry H. Knight III, Henry H. Knight III Saint Paul School of TheologySearch for more papers by this author First published: 05 December 2014 https://doi.org/10.1111/rsr.12171_8Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Volume40, Issue4December 2014Pages 202-203 RelatedInformation

John Henry Newman on faith and reason

The author explains how, in contrast with the risk “of the twin reduction of faith to a mere emotive principle and reason to a mechanical exercise”, Newman seeks to re-define and widen the concepts of reason and philosophy, so that, free from rationalism, philosophy and reason can again give sense to one’s lived experience. A reason so widened by the “experience of life” and by a living heart will be much more able to welcome a faith which is given to it not as a right, or as syllogism, or as a burden, but as gift of love. Thus, faith is no longer seen as something irrational, distant, accidental, as if it were a simple “private preference”. Instead, it becomes a very reasonable and warm impulse that changes man’s perspective over his existence and his Christian commitment, and transfigures him towards a life of holiness.

The duty-right to apostolate (remarks on canon 211)

The faithful have the native right o proclaiming the faith, right which concerns first of all the whole Church, as it was reminded by the II Vatican Council. As far as the faithful are concerned, this duty-right is connected with can. 210 about sanctity of life and can. 225 §1 on working to expand the divine message of salvation throughout the entire world. The Author deals also with the notion of proselytism, which is not always correctly understand.Part II of the present work present “the actors of apostolate”. To exercise their function in the Church and in the world, their right to associate must be recognized and protected so that they be able to do individual apostolate, which does not prevent them from participating in the apostolate organised by the hierarchy of the church. Canon 211 appears to be an essential norm in the Code, and is a direct consequence of secularity of lay people. Anyway, the faithful are subject to a certain control by the diocesan bishop as moderator of the entire ministry of the Word (can. 756 § 2).Concluding, the Author deplore that a true protection of the rights of the faithful is still largely missingin the church.

Challenging Dominant Discourses on Abortion From a Radical Feminist Standpoint

The article, which is based on the narratives of 15 women in the Durban metropolitan area, contests liberal feminist views of abortion resting on the free choice of women. Adopting a radical feminist standpoint, it locates the abortion decision within structural constraints on women’s lives, raising the relationship between socioeconomic freedom and women’s reproductive health choices. The article also contests the popular pro-life/pro-choice dichotomy, interrogates the influence of popular pronatalism and discourses on motherhood on women’s choices, and highlights feminist relational ethical thinking that underscores women’s choices even as they acknowledge principled ethical concerns around the sanctity of life.

Neonatal ethics in ELBW

The delivery of extremely low gestational age newborns and extremely low birth weight infants presents challenging ethical issues for caregivers and parents. Major concerns regard the high mortality and morbidity resulting in long term sequelae, the limit of viability as well as the conflict and difficulty in judgement involving “quality of life” and “sanctity of life” issues. Other paramount ethical concepts include the newborn’s best interest, the decision to initiate or withhold treatment at birth and the decision to withdraw treatment with the consequence that the infant will die. On the basis of the ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, justice and nonmaleficence we will discuss the best interest standards, the standard for the decision making process and treatment decisions, which should always be governed by the prospect for the individual infant. In this paper we propose that ethical questions should not be regulated by law and the legal system should not interfere in the patient-physician relationship. Continuous improvement in medicine over the last decades led to increased treatment possibilities, which on the other hand also resulted in more ethical dilemmas. Therefore, today more than ever, it is essential that the neonatologist becomes familiar with basic ethical concepts and their application to clinical reality. Proceedings of the 10 th International Workshop on Neonatology · Cagliari (Italy) · October 22 nd -25 th , 2014 · The last ten years, the next ten years in Neonatology Guest Editors: Vassilios Fanos, Michele Mussap, Gavino Faa, Apostolos Papageorgiou

Deconstructing dignity: a critique of the right-to-die debate

The right-to-die debate has gone on for centuries, playing out most recently as a spectacle of protest surrounding figures such as Terry Schiavo. In Deconstructing Dignity, Scott Cutler Shershow offers a powerful new way of thinking about it philosophically. Focusing on the concepts of human dignity and the sanctity of life, he employs Derridean deconstruction to uncover self-contradictory and damaging assumptions that underlie both sides of the debate. Shershow examines texts from Cicero's De Officiis to Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals to court decisions and religious declarations. Through them he reveals how arguments both supporting and denying the right to die undermine their own unconditional concepts of human dignity and the sanctity of life with a hidden conditional logic, one often tied to practical economic concerns and the scarcity or unequal distribution of medical resources. He goes on to examine the exceptional case of self-sacrifice, closing with a vision of a society - one whose conditions we are far from meeting-in which the debate can finally be resolved. A sophisticated analysis of a heated topic, Deconstructing Dignity is also a masterful example of deconstructionist methods at work.

India’s Missing Daughters: An Ominous Sign for Democracy

The continuing devaluation of women in economic and social domain, lack of property rights and the increasing scourge of dowry are found for strengthening son preference trends as reflected in the current census figures. The drop in girl child sex ratio may be attributed the notorious nexus of tradition and technology. The collusion between people, the medical fraternity and the administration has resulted in worsening of the sex ratio and failure of the Act to make a difference. Patriarchy is the root cause for the institution of male rule and subordination of female in the society. Bringing daughters is viewed as a liability and sons are preferred as the saviors of seven generation of ancestors. A hardened conscience and disregard for the sanctity of life is the reason for widespread abortion and female foeticide. The skewed sex ratio seems to impact both the treatment of Indian women in particular as well as the health of Indian democracy in general. Reversal of the declining trend is a must to ensure stable economic and societal growth. Progammes that aim to reduce the excessive son preference and increase the value of daughters to their parents should be given top priority. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n13p467

Identity and the Ethics of Tolerance

Our self-image is constructed in the interplay between man and culture. Religious traditions play a key role in this interplay; myths create meaning to the individual and to society at large. Sacred narratives provide man with patterns of behavior, how life should be lived. The other side of the picture is that identity and integrity may lead to intolerance, a dividing line between them and us: the most serious obstacle to peace and intercultural understanding. Religions can reinforce strong feelings of humiliation, of being a victim. This, in turn, may lead to the splitting of humanity into good and evil; one group demonizes the other. This coupled with an idealized, wrathful and punitive deity or leader may lead to violence, and violence is sanctified. Religion may encourage feelings of humiliation, but it can also deliver an antidote. There are theological resources that can counter terror and violence. A merciful and compassionate God can replace a wrathful and punitive deity. A stage of faith known as gerotranscendence is characterised by “an increasing feeling of belonging to the universe”. Representatives of ‘glocal’ spirituality reject claims of exclusivity. A glocal perspective is crucial. What we need today is that a greater number of spiritual leaders stand up and insist on values that touch upon the sanctity of life.

International Law, Sanctity of Life and the Right to Life: A Critical Analysis

The right to life is one of the most important provisions in International Law and is contained in different instruments at international, regional instruments as well as in national laws. What has courted controversy is the way the right to life has been perceived as well as presented in different countries. However, despite these anomalies with regards to the right to life, the obligation to protectcitizens rests with state parties which should in turn ensure the promulgations of appropriate law to safeguard life within their constituencies. It is the objective of this paper to elaborate on the provisions of the ICCPR in terms of the right to life