Abstract
The paper entails different worldviews of end of life. It analyses the situation of George and the way different worldviews approaches it. The paper uses Christianity and Buddhism to explain some complexities occurring in day to day activities. There is detailed analysis of these two religious groups and the way they view the issues relating to the matters of end of life. The worldview of Christianity is handled in this paper as well as the Buddhism and what the two groups believe in. The paper also deal with principles of medical ethics, this is as a result of physicians facing situations which force them to make decisions which requires ethical decision making. They are expected to work by all means to try and save the lives of the patient. These principles make them uphold the standards of their profession, as they guide the physicians in their day to day actions in practicing their career.
Introduction
In a personal perspective, the idea of the existence of some form other than the current state of life has a significant attribution to one’s worldview and their beliefs. The thoughts and knowledge regarding our true identity can influence the way someone approaches the society, our relationships, and the healthcare system at large. These issues have complexities in situations where the patient lives in such a pluralistic and multicultural society ( Taylor, 2013) . In such a scenario, where there are different values of culture and religion, there ought to be a guideline on how to solve the complexities in such a way that is acceptable across cultures, including religious and nonreligious factions. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the situation of George and how it can be approached from different worldviews; Christianity and Buddhism. To explain the difference in the worldviews, it is imperative to discuss the different questions that define them and then analyze the different understanding of the two religious groups.
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Christianity and Buddhism Worldview
A worldview is a technique for looking world and how we interpret these conditions in our regular day to day existence. James Sire recognized seven questions that make up the structure of a viewpoint. These issues are what is a prime reality, what is the nature of our general environment, what is a human, what happens at death, why do we know anything by any methods, how might we understand what is right and what isn't, and what is the hugeness of humanity's history ( Sire, 2015) .
Christianity Worldview
The Christianity worldview acknowledges the existence of reality as an infinite being called God. There is only one true God who is all powerful and able. He has holiness, and everything below Him should worship and is inferior to Him. He has existed for eternity. This worldview of reality is personal, and God himself exists as a Trinity (called the Holy Trinity). That is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three have been living in an ultimate love relationship. According to the Bible (Genesis 1:27-28, New King James Version), the world and everything in it was created by the one God including humans. The beginning of all the material beings on the planet is also the work of God, and one day it will end. The existence of the universe is also dependent on Him to exist ( Dockery, 2012) . This worldview has given the notion that God himself shared a physical experience through Jesus Christ. The fellowship between Him and us is important, and when we acted in a wayward manner, He sent Jesus Christ to mend the torn relationship (Luke 19:10, New King James Version). Thus we are tainted with sin. Christianity worldviews believe in life after death, regardless of our relationship with God. This depends on the life choices. This worldview has a sense of material life hence suggests that our bodies will resurrect just like Jesus did, on his Second Coming. Christianity worldview bases the rationality of humans to God. Humans were created by an all-knowing God whose knowledge is beyond our measure. Being that we are created in the image and likeness of God, we tend to have a copy of His knowledge with us.
Buddhism Worldview
In Buddhists worldview, there is also a belief in God as everything. This view is based on the unity of all things by a means known as Monism. Buddhism shares the same essence of reality, which is spirituality. However, in contrast to Christianity, it describes reality as a Force, Consciousness, Being, Energy, Essence, and Principle (The Buddha, 1998). In other words, there exist different forms of gods that affect various aspects of realism. Buddhism suggests that the material world is unrealistic, and fantasy. This world means nothing, and it is valueless. Hence, for the soul to be saved, it has to escape from the matter. Buddhism connects humans to God directly and states that it is a sleeping God. According to the worldview, the unity with the reality is emphasized. In Buddhism, life is a continuous cycle of rebirth to reincarnation. In this context, we are reborn after we die. We escalate to the next stages of life after the current life where we endure the consequences of the previous suffering and eventually if we succeed, we escape to Nirvana where the Ultimate Reality will absorb the personality. This is like a wave being absorbed back into the sea. In such a case, history has no meaning for Buddhists. Learning comes as a result of finding the oneness with the divine reality, and withdrawing one’s self from the world. In this perspective, the evil is indefinite and is believed to be an ignorance if the knowledge about the true Divinity. There is no standard to measure what is right and bad, and they form two parts of the same whole.
Principles of Medical Ethics
In daily endeavors of the healthcare provision, physicians are confronted with situations that prompt them to apply ethical decision making to save the patient while upholding the standards of practice, such as the case of George. These issues have complexities in situations where the patient lives in such a pluralistic and multicultural society. Due to the existence of several variables that affect the health care practice, four principles guide the ethical decision making ( Taylor, 2013) . However, these principles are not in any way absolutes, but purely guides of action in the clinical medicine.
One of the ethical issues in medicine is autonomy ( Taylor, 2013) . This is the freedom that the patient is bestowed to choose and decide, without any influences from the outside, of what best suits them regarding healthcare practices. The patient is allowed to reason and make an informed, voluntary decision. The autonomy is available especially when there are alternatives in place, and the physician has to choose which one to use. The patient is advised on both of them, the advantages and the dangers in selecting either then left to make their choices in line with their beliefs and culture.
Secondly, there is the issue of not causing any harm to the patient. This is known as the principle of non-maleficence ( Taylor, 2013) . In this issue, it is required of the healthcare providers not to cause injuries or harm to the patients intentionally. The damage is addressed in two ways, commission, and omission. The risk can be due to neglect or imposition of a reckless or unreasonable risk of harm upon someone else. Thus, to address the issue, the providers should provide a standardized and proper care that minimizes or exposes the client to no risk. Despite the unavoidable occurrence of medical mistakes, non-maleficence is an ethical issue that articulates the necessary commitment on the part of health care providers to offer protection from harm to the clients.
Thirdly, there is the matter of beneficence ( Taylor, 2013) . It is the duty of the physicians to be of benefit to the patients and to remove any harm. This forms the basis of the relationship between the person who suffers from a medical condition (supplicant), and the one licensed to offer medical solutions to the problems, with the trust that the practitioner’s objective is to provide help to remove the suffering. This goal can be applied to one individual or the whole population. This issue is a challenge to the healthcare especially when the patients are many and need to be helped at the same time.
Finally, justice is another issue ( Taylor, 2013) . This is the act of providing healthcare to individuals in equal measure and proportions regardless of their societal niche. It also implies that the services and goods must be distributed equitably to those who deserve. The only setback with this principle is the fact that most of the resources required for fair distribution are limited. Thus some people have to miss out on the share.
Contextual Analysis
According to Christianity, George’s suffering is as a result of unbalanced profound wholeness with God. The human suffering can be attributed to a discipline of mistakes of sin. Often, God will demonstrate kindness and make the person recover if he (man) becomes holy again through the salvation of Jesus Christ. In a situation where a person suffers from a malady, other faithful would react by offering care and sympathy.
In Buddhism, enduring is man controlled. A man can alleviate their suffering by dealing with the yearnings that cannot be controlled. To this effect, Buddhism teaches Four Noble Truths (The Buddha, 1998); Dukkha, which means “All life is enduring.” Samudaya teaches that “expectation and connection cause torment.” Nirodha, suggests that stopping to fancy for reasonable closeness relieves a person. Lastly, the relief comes through after the Magga (Noble Eightfold Way), which captures on the right focus, right perspective, right discourse, right expectation, right care, right exertion, right lead, and good occupation (The Buddha, 1998).
As the ailment advances, George comes to terms with the fact that he will go from a powerful being, physically fit, wholly packed with family exercises, to a prisoner in his body. A Christian view would suggest that George is in the fall of his life and that the illness is the finisher of his Shalom (the means to God). Therefore, he should seek salvation through Christ to adjust his Shalom and get recovery ( McFarland, 2014) . In the Buddhists eyes, George should know that the life on this earth is a mystery and that everything else is interconnected. Even when he dies, he will be somewhere else to endure the suffering of this life. There is no I in this case, and the body goes through birth, age, illness, then death. George is in the second last bit.
The thought of voluntary euthanasia is viewed as unsuitable in the Christianity context. According to their beliefs, Christians maintain that despite someone suffering from a disease, trying to bail them out through extermination is considered killing. The act of Euthanasia is also against the logics of Buddhism, and it is awful to execute others and even oneself.
Ethically supported is the fact that George would require a palliative care when the time comes, but right now he is in urgent need for otherworldly care. Both religions have strong considerations of values that suggest not doing harm to others, including oneself. Also, there is a sense of eternity and life after death. Hence there is no need to create a damage right now. Like Shalom in Christianity, Buddhists believe in the adjustment of the body and mind through the reincarnations, and one is connected to another ( McFarland, 2014) . It is thus vital to make peace through reflections and meditation to adjust the mind and body, and this applies to Christianity as well. The balance between thoughts and body is required for eternity. This is the only moral option there is for George as resorting to euthanasia will just add to the burden of suffering in the afterlife.
On my view, it is evident that the worldviews have effects on the ethical practices of healthcare. It is my belief that things occur for a purpose. Being a Christian, I believe that God was the one responsible for George’s condition with ASL and it is through this he has to seek salvation to win his way back to God and be excused of his wrongs. Life is a precious gift, and the decisions we make with it affects us directly. Though we are ethically entitled to autonomy, the decisions also affect the ones we connect with, such as our relatives and friends. Therefore, the notion of euthanasia should be well thought and even engaged with the people who care about us. Christianity is against suicide and euthanasia is categorized as such, and makes someone to go to limbo (Catholic belief). So, it is imperative to analyze the effect of suicide on the expense of eternity before it is taken.
References
Dockery, D. S. (Ed.). (2012). Faith and learning: A handbook for Christian higher education . B&H Publishing Group.
Genesis 1:27-28, New King James Version.
Luke 19:10, New King James Version.
McFarland, A. (2014). Worldviews Comparison . Rose Publishing Inc.
Sire, J. W. (2015). Naming the elephant: Worldview as a concept . InterVarsity Press.
Taylor, R. M. (2013). Ethical principles and concepts in medicine. Handbook of clinical neurology , 118 , 1-9.
The Buddha, "Two Lessons," in Alfred Andrea and James Overfield, eds (1998). The Human Record: Sources in Global History, Volume I, 3rd Edition Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.: 74-79
