Things Worth Considering

Modern medicine as we know it today is about 200 years old. Some medical traditions like Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine date back 3,000 and 4,000 years. Medicine and science are not stand-alone entities, as some may portray, but are intricately connected to our religions and spirituality. As modern medicine was in its fledgling years, many people are unaware that the 1800’s experienced a very active spiritual renaissance. A number of religions were founded, many of which, in today’s world are not mainstream religions, but most held strong beliefs around health, medical practices and rituals. As medicine has grown so too has the influence of religions and their conflicts beliefs and technology. The upcoming US Supreme Court challenge of the 1973 Roe vs Wade decision giving women the right to choose to have an abortion, is a perfect example of the influence of religion in medicine. While science informs and defines medical practices, it is religion which defines the practitioner as caring, serving h