The Bible, Poverty and Modern Medicine
The Bible mentions poverty 3000 times. Christ personally talked about helping the poor on many occasions. If one were to sum-up the Bible's main message it would necessarily be to" help the poor". Christ was relevant to the people of his time because of that connecting message. Poverty is a quality of life issue.
This brings me to the question of poverty in the modern age and the issues of life prolonging medicines and the resulting issues of quality of life and termination of life.
Modern medicine has a two sided impact on the quality of life. From fertility drugs that enhance conception through antibiotics that fight life-threatening diseases to questionable life prolonging techniques that can prolong life for an indefinite period-Terri Schiavo was on life support for about 15 years ( no quality of life).
The other aspect of modern medicine is the overcrowding and the resulting pressure on natural resources. We live on a zero sum planet. One species gain is anothers loss. Creationists or evolutionists would have no argument on that fact.
This is the question. Does modern man do god's work when he helps people have an improved quality of life? Whether you believe in god or the golden rule one would answer yes. But on the flip side, does modern man do god's work when he encourages child bearing, provides life saving drugs and prolongs life artificially without consideration to the quality of life? Fifty percent of childhood deaths are caused by malnutrition.
If modern man and his medicine want to fight poverty and provide quality of life at the same time then it becomes an imperative for medicines two-sided impact to be addressed.
This brings me to the question of poverty in the modern age and the issues of life prolonging medicines and the resulting issues of quality of life and termination of life.
Modern medicine has a two sided impact on the quality of life. From fertility drugs that enhance conception through antibiotics that fight life-threatening diseases to questionable life prolonging techniques that can prolong life for an indefinite period-Terri Schiavo was on life support for about 15 years ( no quality of life).
The other aspect of modern medicine is the overcrowding and the resulting pressure on natural resources. We live on a zero sum planet. One species gain is anothers loss. Creationists or evolutionists would have no argument on that fact.
This is the question. Does modern man do god's work when he helps people have an improved quality of life? Whether you believe in god or the golden rule one would answer yes. But on the flip side, does modern man do god's work when he encourages child bearing, provides life saving drugs and prolongs life artificially without consideration to the quality of life? Fifty percent of childhood deaths are caused by malnutrition.
If modern man and his medicine want to fight poverty and provide quality of life at the same time then it becomes an imperative for medicines two-sided impact to be addressed.
posted by Barry Leonardini at 7:59 AM
1 Comments:
Actually, I think Jesus summed up the bible when he said you can sum the whole of the law with two commandments, Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind, etc, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is a far cry from a rather one-dimensional "help the poor." One of Jesus' comments re: the poor was that we will always have the poor among us. This is not an excuse for apathy, but it is a reality nonetheless.
Keep on Bloggin'!
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