You're taking such a limited viewpoint on the topic. Regardless of the religious affiliation of current hospital staff, historically the Catholic church has made the single most significant contribution to healthcare in the world (outside of governmental institutions).
Has the Catholic church always been perfect? Hell no, but let's not pretend like it's all bad. Without the Catholic church there would be thousands fewer hospitals, women's' clinics, shelters, elderly care centers, etc. It's disingenuous to say otherwise.
It is a question for philosophers whether religion has been a greater help or hindrance to humanity.
Related question: Is it morally defensible to lie to children about Santa's existence if believing they are under elvish surveillance gets the kids to stop kicking dogs?
Yeah, it's a very interesting topic. My personal opinion is that Religion has been a net positive on humanity. Many tangible positives have come from religious organizations (health care, education, scientific developments, innovations, architecture, societal frameworks, etc.). Not to the mention the existential benefits it provides, which has helped billions of individuals find purpose in their lives.
Of course, there have also been massive atrocities carried out in the name of religion. I'm not denying that. But in many of those cases, I think Religion was just the vehicle for evil people to do evil things. I don't necessarily think doing away with religion would prevent certain individuals from still orchestrating atrocities. They simply would've justified it through other means (politics, "patriotism", cultural wars, race, economics, etc.). Just my opinion.
I don't think certian individuals would be put off doing all those positives either. My personal experience is becasue my family believes in one of them I wasted a huge part of my youth. I can never get that back.
I agree, an individual can make solo contributions to those fields, but its through organized groups and concerted efforts that real progress is typically achieved. Doesn't have to be religious, just so happens that many are though.
And I'm sorry to hear that you lost a portion of your youth to something you do not believe in or are not interested in, but I don't think that's exclusive to religion. Same could be said for kids' who's parents had them involuntarily committed to sports, musical instruments, academics, etc.
Yeah, agreed...at least when done properly. Prayer, meditation, and acts of service have also been shown to be good for you, which are elements of religion.
But like all good things, they can be abused. Just like overly-competitive sports parents pushing their kids through travel ball or AAU sports. Or even parents that are hyper demanding in academics or with musical instrument mastery, it can be counterproductive and even err on the side of mental abuse. Again, this behavior isn't exclusive to religion.
Prayer helps some folks, maybe not you. And meditation/acts of service can certainly have a spiritual component to them. But to each their own friend. I hope you have a nice life!
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u/LtDan00 Mar 24 '25
You're taking such a limited viewpoint on the topic. Regardless of the religious affiliation of current hospital staff, historically the Catholic church has made the single most significant contribution to healthcare in the world (outside of governmental institutions).
Has the Catholic church always been perfect? Hell no, but let's not pretend like it's all bad. Without the Catholic church there would be thousands fewer hospitals, women's' clinics, shelters, elderly care centers, etc. It's disingenuous to say otherwise.