My friend (she's really religious) said that she doesn't believe in medicine, meaning that if she had any kind of disease/illness (cancer and AIDS count too) she would not take any medicine because she believes that she could heal (even from AIDS) with god's help. I mean, I respect people no matter what their beliefs are (all you Christians out there, I know I'm mean sometimes, but I love you all, you know that), but I find it really hard to understand as well as respect her belief. Does anyone agree with me? I mean if one of your relatives/friends had a disease they could die from but they didn't believe in medicine so they die faster than they would if they actually used medicine, wouldn't it be ignorant? Plus, if god could actually heal people like some people say, then what's up with all these people dying. I'm sorry, I was trying really hard to understand what her point was but I just don't see it. Comments?
2007-01-25 12:43:05 · 35 answers · asked by Alterna 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
You don't need to respect an opinion that flies in the face of fact and reason. In fact, you should speak up about it.
If your friend said she thought the moon was made out of green cheese, would you "respect her belief", or tell her she was an idiot? If her father believed in female circumsiscion, would you respect his right to do that to your friend?
To often we give religious beliefs a pass, out of the idea of trying to "respect their beliefs". Beliefs where there is no contrary evidence is somewhat reasonable, but to believe as a fact something that has absolutely been proven false is moronic, and need not be tolerated.
There are hundreds of studies showing prayer doesn't heal people, and there are millions of people that have been healed by modern medicine. Seriously, don't be afraid to speak up and tell her that her beliefs are wrong. She likely simply inherited them from her family anyway, so maybe she's willing to look at evidence and reason.
Anyway, here, there, everyone...question ridiculous beliefs.
2007-01-25 12:54:31 · answer #1 · answered by QED 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Good question!!!
it is a hard thing to think of, but god can perform miracles....
if i was diagnosed with cancer, im not going to just sit there and let the cancer spread, but i will go to the doctor and have faith that god will heal me of this.... Healing is a process, and you cant just sit there and expect it to vanish without any sort of treatment.
Its the same with other dieases... so in other words yes it is ignorant, but no because thye have enough faith....
it jsut depends on the situation, but god gave us medicine and things like that to help heal us....
and for the last question, its all about faith.... first the faith that the person with the sisease will be healed and the faith of others that they will be healed also.
2007-01-25 13:04:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Faith and belief heals and believing that God can heal you is real. Reason being that some say they believe and yet doubt in their inner being and can prevent healing depending on what level they are on. Now God blesses us with Doctors to help us with healing and one should know spiritually the way that God is leading them. God reason for healing some and not others are beyond the understanding of mankind.
2007-01-25 12:58:19 · answer #3 · answered by JoJoBa 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually, I'm the same way but the difference is that instead of depending on "God" I go to Mother Nature; all medication does is (most of it) is cure the symptoms, put you at risk for side effects, and you almost always end up dying with what you started with; the only difference is that the pharmaceutical drug companies just made a load of cash off of you
2007-01-25 12:53:03 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
If she doesn't take medicine and she's never been sexually active, then she's not at risk for contracting AIDS. Cancer maybe, but not AIDS.
If your friend is an adult, she's entitled to commit this form of passive suicide. I hope at some point she'll realize that the reason that life expectancy is longer in the western world than in Africa is because we have medicine and good food, not because Africans lack faith.
2007-01-25 12:50:00 · answer #5 · answered by NHBaritone 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
she sounds like a Jehovah Wittness.So many people have needlessly died because of this erroneous belief. I can see not running to the doctor for every little thing and doing preventative things like eating nutritiously, exercise and natural herbs and vitamins.
There is a story about a guy being in a bad flood. He had to go on to the roof. The boats and planes kept coming to save him. He kept saying he wouldn't go with them because he was trusting God. He drowned and when he saw God he asked why God didn't save him. God replied, I tried to, I sent many boats and planes to rescue you, but you sent them away.
2007-01-25 15:45:40 · answer #6 · answered by sapphire_630 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that does sound a bit ignorant to me. However, it's not your place to try to change her beliefs, and it's certainly not worth getting into an argument over.
Then again, it might just be better to refrain from medicine so you CAN die faster. I'd rather find out what's next than suffer here on Earth.
Just as a quick anecdote, that is probably way off topic...my great-grandmother had Alzheimer's for years, and t he entire family knew that she wouldn't have wanted to live like she did the last few years of her life. she died on Christmas, and I, for one, considered it a Christmas present for her...because she did stop suffering, as far as we know.
2007-01-25 12:53:49 · answer #7 · answered by gobblededook 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
If a person choose to rely only on faith for their own healing--that's fine. My personal opinion is that if God made it possible for lpeople to learn how to cure diseases, etc. then that's the way He makes the healing possible--and we can and should be thankful for it.
But--in general (meaning I'm not including your friend, per se) I do not have much respect for people who adopt tha tview--because most o fthem try to impose it on others. And when they try to force that view on children (even their own) then as far as I'm concerned that's where freedom of religion stops and the right of the child to life and proper medical care take over. Nor do I think such parents should be allowed to retain custody of a child. Choosing that paath for oneself is--and should be--a matter of personal choice. Choosing it for another is not .
2007-01-25 13:01:56 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
People die all the time from assuming god is going to heal them. Tell her that her god made medicine like he made food. She has to obtain it and eat it herself. He won't put the food in her body for her.
2007-01-25 12:51:51 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
i am a christian but i do believe in medicine. why would God put doctors on this earth if he didnt want them to heal you? i respect you for loving christians by the way thats really cool.
2007-01-25 12:51:44 · answer #10 · answered by cool person 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋