Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Do you feel it is right or wrong for people to proselytise in hospitals?

My husband had the same experience. He is a police officer who was shot in the head in the line of duty. It rendered him paralyzed and unable to speak. It was noted on his chart that he is Catholic. A protestant minister came into his room and started lecturing him about how he and his deceased mother (info. also on his chart) were going to hell because they hadn't been baptized correctly. This happened 25 years ago, and to this day, he becomes extremely agitated about the incident. The minister was complained about, by a nurse who entered the room and overheard him. He was removed from that area of the hospital. It seems that there has to be several complaints over a period of time before a minister's hospital privileges can be taken away. It is one thing to go into a patient's room and pray with them for freedom from pain and for recovery, and quite another to go into railing about a person's beliefs. I did not read Diego's response because it was hidden, but if he stated that proselytising is all right, then I totally disagree. When the patient is helpless and unable to respond, that is only making the situation worse because the patient is not able to defend him/herself. Offering words of comfort and prayer are one thing, but attacking a sick person and making false statements (re: saying that a child is ill because of the sins of its parents) is totally unacceptable.

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