"Religions and Health Care" is available to you in any of three different ways:
· You can visit the Trauma and Chaplaincy web site at http://www.jmahoney.com for the most current information. Additional issues will be added for discussion in the future.
· You can use the computer version (inquire about system requirements).
· You can use the printed "Religions and Health Care: A Clinical workbook" and personalize it by adding information that you find helpful.
I’m including what I consider the most significant information I’ve found
for each of the religions or groups listed. The main source for factual data as
well as for the descriptions of the development of the various religious
groups, and the source for using a structure of “families” of religious groups,
is the Encyclopedia of American
Religions, 6th edition, 1999, published by Gale Research,
centered in Detroit. The work by Dr J Gordon Melton and those associated with
him is truly unique, and often I’ve borrowed the same wording, with the
knowledge of the publisher. Their text has been, and the new edition continues
to be, an invaluable resource. I would strongly encourage its purchase as a
reference. Gale Research may be contacted at (800)877-4253.
My focus is on material that may be clinically helpful in health care
settings. Religious groups with reported or estimated membership over 100,000
in the United States have been included in this text. Information on the
"Catholic Churches" and especially on the Roman Catholic Church
(Latin Rite) is placed in a separate section at the end of the text.
Each "family" description provides a general orientation to
related religious groups. This is followed by a listing of specific groups with
additional details. Often, religious groups do not in fact have clearly stated
and generally accepted positions on health care issues. However, even when a
stance is clearly stated there may be significant differences between the
stance taken by a religion or denomination, the position taken by a particular
local congregation and clergy, and the degree to which an individual patient
may follow that stance. The information contained here should be considered
merely a starting point in dealing with various health care issues and religious
groups.
In working on this project I’ve posted
information on the Internet, inviting comments, criticisms, and opinions from
anyone who cared to offer them. All comments have been taken seriously, and
some have been included in the text or quoted in “Comments Received” sections
scattered throughout the text.
It is expected that, due to the nature of this
project, there will continue to be many areas in which I don't have sufficient
information, where my information is outdated, or where a new issue should be
considered. Your help is very important to this project. Please pass on
information that you may come across.
Thank you for your help. I hope you find this
resource helpful.
Fr J Mahoney
frjmahoney@earthlink.net (Phone 810-573-8244)
