NHS and Religion

Easter Thoughts It being Easter, I’ll leave you with a few thoughts about religion, provoked by Terence Blacker in today’s Independent.

Blacker argues that the main thrust of the National Secular Society’s argument – that hospital chaplains cost the taxpayer £40m a year and the NHS should not have to pay for a religious service - is nonsense. He says that any decent health service should see the emotional health of patients as a vital part of its duty of care. The great mystery is why, in a secular age, providing psychological comfort is still seen to be an exclusively religious matter. It is bizarre, and occasionally downright sadistic, that the grievously sick, the dying and the bereaved are forced into the arms of a priest, whether or not they happen to be believers. The £40 million of public money spent in our hospitals on spiritual comfort is money well spent, but only if it caters for all faiths, including those who have no faith at all.

Now it’s that point which I’ve put in bold which is key for all you sociology students. It begs the question of course; do we live in a secularised society and how do we interpret the continuing presence of religion. The pont about psychological comfort being a religious matter is particularly interesting, because some of those who argue that secularisation has occured would see this precisely as Blacker has; religion is watered down in modern society. It may look like religion carries on, but in fact it is a much weaker version of what used to pass for religious faith, so in fact, it is just further evidence of secularisation. A cunning piece of argument. But is it right?

Happy Easter. Back after the break with some revision ideas and plans.