Preaching Word of God to Gain Deathbed Conversions : Doctors, Religion: Uproar in Singapore

When teacher Thubten Chodron visited a student dying of cancer, she found a physician not administering medication but exhorting the youth to convert to Christianity in time to save his soul.

“Don’t confuse me,” cried the distraught boy, who died moments later in a ward of Singapore General Hospital, sparking an uproar over evangelistic physicians resorting to religion when medical options run out.

“It was pitiful that my student spent his last moments agitated like that,” said Chodron. “Am I wrong to think that the purpose of a doctor is to treat a person’s body, not to preach, especially when the patient does not want to hear it?”

Government health officials deplore the practice and have ordered an end to attempted deathbed conversions. But hospital administrators wonder how to enforce the order, and some zealous doctors say they are ignoring it.

No Religious Counseling

“While doctors should counsel and give psychological support, they should not discuss and counsel patients on religion,” the Ministry of Health said in a directive to all nine government hospitals.

“There should be no preaching in the wards,” said Health Minister Yeo Cheow Tong, threatening disciplinary action against those who do.

But other medical leaders said the issue is not clear-cut and questioned whether proselytizing doctors were overstepping the boundaries of their profession.

Prof. Lee Hing Peng, vice dean of the National University of Singapore Medical School, said there is a thin line between administering solace and actually preaching.

‘Human Touch’ Urged

“We want our students to develop a human touch in dealing with patients,” Lee said. “So all we can do is to tell them not to preach openly or speak of a religious matter against the patient’s wishes.”

Complaints are mounting.

Nicholas Jayaram said his elderly sister-in-law was confined at Alexandra Hospital when “the staff gave her pamphlets and tried to convert her.” With the ailing woman becoming increasingly angry, the outraged family demanded an end to the flood of literature and sermonizing.

“They always pick on the very sick or the dying when they are most vulnerable and confused, which is not fair,” said Jayaram. “Imagine my sister-in-law’s state when told people were trying to convert her to Christianity when all these years she has believed in another faith.”

A Final Plea

“Let me die as I am, please,” she finally begged.

Despite the outcry, the Singapore Medical Assn. has no guidelines or prohibitions against such harassment.

“This is something that happens all over the world,” said Dr. Tan Yew Ghee, the secretary. “Doctors are on their own in this area.”

Medical students who are members of Christian organizations acknowledged organizing visits in teams to hospitals “to help the patients through prayer.”

“We do not forbid such groups because if they cheer up the patients and help them to recover, then it is fine,” said Prof. Edward Tock, dean at the medical school.

The students contend that religion is a powerful psychological tool which supplements medicine. Some said they will not stop trying to convert the terminally ill.

‘I Can Bring Them Hope’

“I see people who are sick, some dying and some really hopeless cases,” one physiotherapist said, on the condition of anonymity. “By speaking to them as a Christian I can bring them some hope. If I don’t do it, it is as if I see a house on fire and I don’t ask the people to get out.”

Private hospitals prohibit attempts to pester patients under the guise of religion.

“We don’t allow any solicitation for goods or religious reasons,” said Dennis Brown, administrator of the American-owned Mt. Elizabeth. “We prohibit missionaries and only allow clergymen if the patient requests the visit.”

Even a facility run by a Roman Catholic order of nuns and another operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church were against open preaching.

“It’s not the job of doctors, especially if patients are critically ill,” said Yeo. “We will take all steps to discourage this.”