It Ain’t Necessarily So: The Messy Reality of Religious Practice and Belief

Healthcare and Religion Lecture Series

Dena Davis, JD, PhD
Presidential Endowed Chair in Health Humanities and Social Sciences
Professor of Bioethics
Lehigh University

Abstract: America is an amazing smorgasbord of religious groups, which makes the search for “cultural competence” a seemingly impossible task. It is easy to fall into the trap of “Jews do this, Catholics believe that, Jehovah's Witnesses don't do that....” But if we look at our own lives, and our friends and families, we immediately see that life is a lot more complicated. This is especially true in a country like ours, where the state plays no role in defining religion. How do we educate ourselves about basic religious beliefs and practices, while staying alert to the astonishing diversity within religious groups?

View online here.

Co-sponsored by the Center for Bioethics & Health Law, Department of Religious Studies, and Palliative and Supportive Institute of UPMC