More Thoughts on Link of Science, Medicine

Re: “Divining Spirituality’s Place in Medicine” (Jan. 28). Is there a place for spirituality in medicine? Let me register a resounding no. Dr. David Larson forgets the days when religion, faith and spirituality pervaded all major institutions, including medicine.

The first 1,000 years of the Christian era came to be called the Dark Ages because science, knowledge and progress virtually stood still.

Larson complains that “psychologists and psychiatrists have a higher level of skepticism and atheism than the general population. Of course they do. Psychologists and psychiatrists are also better educated and more broadly knowledgeable than the general population.

Thus, they are less likely to be in need of mysticism, magical thinking, religion and other fantasies that make life more tolerable for some people in the short run, but also are a serious drag on society in the long run.

LOUIS REGALADO

Huntington Beach

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The problem with Dr. Larson’s theory that prayer can be of healing value in medicine is that patients will sometimes delay proven medical treatment while waiting for a prayer to work--and then it’s too late to save them.

But there is no harm in praying, as long as you don’t count on it. Because in the entire history of the world there is not one proven instance where a prayer caused a healing.

GEORGE WOOD

Malibu

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David Larson reproaches doctors for being generally less religious than their patients. He suggests that the public should question the spiritual and moral competence of someone whose vocation is formed by something other than religious faith.

I draw quite the opposite conclusion. There is a strong correlation between education and intelligence on one hand and absence of religiosity on the other. Fortunately, even in this era of greed and managed care, most of our physicians continue to be well-educated and intelligent.

We are not told how much time the praying doctors actually spent with their patients. I doubt that it was a matter of quickie prayers on the run. Why should we conclude that it was the act of praying that was beneficial to patients, rather than the extra time and attention that such prayer required? Most doctors today spend very little time just being with their patients and expressing concern for them. Perhaps we should study the effects of periods of extended, open-ended, compassionate contact between patient and doctor.

Prayer is cheap, much cheaper than high-quality medical care. Incorporation of prayer into standard medical practice could save enormous amounts of money. Furthermore, religion is self-supporting. Once people are hooked, they tithe like crazy. Greater use of prayer in medicine could reduce the frequency of malpractice cases: It was God’s will. The consequences of religion in medicine are not all benign.

HENRYKA MASLOWSKI

Claremont