Faith and health are the two points of reference that define this book, figuring prominently in the divisive and often acrimonious social debates about bioethics, as the Schiavo story shows. How should religious beliefs be related to public policy? Should religious groups try to force their moral opinions on all Americans? The issues are too important to ignore. They affect personal choices as well as social relations.
Faith needs the informing and analytical perspectives of science. Faith that is severed from basic information is like a heart without a head. This book brings science and faith together in the task of discerning the will of God and responding to the challenge of human pain and suffering.
Commitments to religious liberty are also necessary to civil discourse and legal resolutions of complex issues. The First Amendment is a vital factor in discussions of issues in medical ethics. Relating religion, ethics, and science in matters like evolution, embryo stem cell research, elective death, and abortion call for careful attention to both establishment and freeexercise questions.
About the Author:
Paul D. Simmons is clinical professor, department of Family and Geriatric Medicine, and adjunct professor in the department of Philosophy, University of Louisville
Overview