Center on Religion & the Professions

Improving religious literacy among professionals.

Prayerful Patient

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Mrs. Albert is 83 years old. She has multiple medical problems that are quite real and that produce chronic, progressive pain and weakness. She is on a number of medications, and she is faithful to the regimen her doctors prescribe. Nevertheless, nothing the doctors do seems to help her. On the other hand, her faith helps her to cope and to maintain independence and the church-related activities that are so important to her. She told her doctors, “Whenever you pray, you get healing from God.”

Mrs. Albert’s doctor is impressed by his patient’s fortitude, and he wants to understand better the relation of health to religion. He has read articles by Dr. Harold Koenig of Duke University, so he wrote to Dr. Koenig asking for some advice. Dr. Koenig’s answer regarding chronic pain and prayer has both medical and spiritual elements. Other doctors, however, disagree fundamentally with Dr. Koenig and explain differently the relation of Mrs. Albert’s prayer to her condition.

Issues and Study Questions

  • Based on the overview above, what are the beliefs and issues here?
  • If you were the doctor, what would you do differently?
  • Would the other doctor’s advice change how you treated your patient?
  • Is there an issue here, if Mrs. Albert is compliant in her care?
  • Was religion an issue in this situation?
  • What is the responsibility of the doctor in such a situation? What about other professions?
  • Do you think there is a “right” and “wrong” way to handle this situation? Why? Why not?
  • Have you faced similar issues in your own profession or personal life? If so, what were they? Were they resolved?
  • What can be learned?
  • Do you think education about religious literacy would have helped/harmed in this situation? How so?

Source: Religion and the Professions (General Honors 1030) taught by Dr. Jill Raitt, University of Missouri

Faithful Reporting

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Jeff Reynolds has been sent to do a follow-up article on an accident in Cairo, Ill. A school bus approaching a railroad crossing stopped as it must by law. A semi truck did not slow and struck the bus from behind, sending it into the path of an oncoming train. Eleven school children between the ages of six and twelve were killed and fifteen others were injured. The bus driver was also killed. The truck driver was slightly injured, was taken to the hospital, treated and released.

Jeff decided to interview parents of the dead and injured children. Several pairs of parents refused to talk with him; their pain was not a public matter, they said. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Buckton did agree to speak with Jeff. He went to their home for the interview. Mrs. Buckton showed Jeff a picture of Jenny, aged 8, their beautiful, intelligent, playful daughter, their only child. She wept and continued to speak about her wonderful, dead child. Mr. Buckton remained stolidly silent, arms crossed, eyes down. Jeff turned to him to ask what sustained him during this terrible tragedy? Mr. Buckton looked at his wife and then said that only their faith kept them from going to the truck driver’s house to confront him and perhaps, admitted Mr. Buckton, do him physical harm. He was angry, deeply angry, but he was controlling it and trying to find the strength to forgive the truck driver whom the Bucktons felt was responsible for their Jenny’s death.

“Where do you look for such strength?” Jeff asked.

Mrs. Buckton looked at her husband who said, “In our faith. Jesus forgave his executioners. I wonder if he could have forgiven them if they had killed his daughter?”

Jeff wasn’t sure what to do at this point. He knew that his editor was against any mention of God in the paper and especially against stories that seemed to support any particular faith. Jeff wrote the story of the Buckton’s struggle pretty much as they had told it to him.  The story appeared without any mention of faith, only of the Bucktons’ anger at the truck driver.

Issues and Study Questions

  • Based on the overview above, what are the issues?
  • What are the beliefs at issue here?
  • Should Jeff have mentioned religion in his story? If so, how should he have done so?
  • What could Jeff or his editor do differently?
  • What do you feel the newspaper/parents should do here?
  • Why was religion an issue in this situation?
  • What do you think the parents’/readers’ reaction was to this story?
  • What is the responsibility of journalists in such a situation? What about other professions?
  • Do you think there is a “right” and “wrong” way to handle this situation? Why? Why not?
  • Have you faced similar issues in your own profession or personal life? If so, what were they? Were they resolved?
  • What can be learned?
  • Do you think education about religious literacy would have helped/harmed in this situation? How so?

Source: Religion and the Professions (General Honors 1030) taught by Dr. Jill Raitt, University of Missouri

TREE program extending outreach – UPDATED

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tree-logoApril 30, 2009 – The Teen Relationship Education and Empowerment (TREE) program has had several successful events in its first four months. These include a workshop with 10 churches represented, drama performances and others.

A faith-based initiative against teen relationship violence, TREE was founded in December 2008 with a $50,000 grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. The grant went to a coalition of local churches, community health professionals and University of Missouri to create programming to help Columbia churches address teen relationship violence. Columbia’s Broadway Christian Church submitted the grant, with project development and administrative support from University of Missouri’s Center on Religion & the Professions.

The project kicked off with a Feb. 22 workshop with about 40 people gathering to learn about teen relationship violence, resources, and how religious communities can address the issue and help teens involved in violent relationships.

Recent local events include:

  • Rock Bridge Christian Church – Parent/teen program, March 29
  • Broadway Christian Church – Integration of “Choose Respect” video/curriculum into junior high “lock-in” event, April 4-5
  • Troubling Violence Performance Project performance for TREE members and supporters, April 15
  • Unitarian Universalist Church – Troubling Violence Performance Project performance for Our Whole Lives program, April 19
  • TREE participants attended Green Dot Prevent Strategy workshop with sexual and domestic violence educator Dr. Dorothy Edwards, April 21-23
  • Calvary Episcopal Church – Four-part series for their youth, April-May
  • Steve McMullen, RAVE (Religion and Violence E-learning) team leader from New Brunswick, Canada, presented on the RAVE project to participating TREE churches and supporters, April 25
  • Calvary Episcopal Church – Troubling Violence Performance Project visit to youth group, April 26

Upcoming:

  • Calvary Episcopal Church – Troubling Violence Performance Project performance, May 3
  • TREE representative speaks to the MU Council Against Violence Against Women, May 5, noon, Library Conference Room 159, University of Missouri

TREE representatives have additionally met with several church groups to talk about their event planning. Events are intended to grow from the February workshop and TREE resources, which include a lending library housed at The Communications Center, 1905 Cherry Hill Dr., Columbia. Participating churches and TREE representatives will meet again in June to share and brainstorm.

A Web site about TREE including links to resources will be available soon. New groups continue to want to be involved with the program, TREE Project Coordinator Kendra Yoder said.

The Missouri Foundation for Health grant was part of MFH’s Health Interventions in Non-Traditional Settings funding program, which provides two-year grants to faith-based and small secular organizations that address health needs in their communities.

Groups interested in building a TREE team for next year should contact Kim Ryan at (573) 489-2729 or kkgryan@juno.com or Kendra Yoder at klyd29@mizzou.edu.

Additional information:

Mason interviewed in Tribune

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Marmasonch 7, 2009 – CORP Director Debra L. Mason was interviewed about technology use by churches for an article, “PTL*: Praise the Lord, Local church invites prayer requests via text message,” appearing in the Columbia Daily Tribune on March 7, 2009.

An excerpt:

“I think faith communities need to use whatever technology exists to communicate with their parishioners,” said Debra Mason, director of the Center on Religion and the Professions. “As they try to engage younger churchgoers, they need to be on the technology that those churchgoers are using. And that means text messaging, Facebook or Twitter.”

Mason provided information about the role of technology in churches and faith outreach, types of technology and trends.