Religious support for assisted dying: moral anchors are rooted outside faith traditions

Reading the act of creation as written or spoken narrative seems to have gained currency across the faith traditions from very early on. The Muslim tradition is no exception. As the ‘pen and ink’ verse in the Qur'an shows, the notion of creation as an assemblage of divine words is as old as Islam itself. It was not until the advent of Muslim mysticism, however, that writers began to build on the image's revelatory foundations. The present study is an introductory analysis of extended metaphor in the work of the Ottoman theologian Bediüzzaman Said Nursi, with particular reference to the use of the ‘graphological trope’ in his six-thousand-page exegesis of the Qur'an known as the Risale-i Nur (‘The Epistles of Light’). The aim is to draw attention to Nursi's use of a particular literary conceit that is deserving of further study. Of the few works on Nursi and his teachings that stand up to serious academic scrutiny, nothing of substance has been written about the language of the Risale-i Nur. It is hoped that this exploratory article will spur other scholars on to a more extensive survey and analysis of imagery in Nursi's oeuvre.

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Resurrected Bodies

Bulletin for the Study of Religion ◽

10.1558/bsor.v39i1.002 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 3-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Arlene Macdonald

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Organ Transplant ◽

Transplant Recipients ◽

Ethical Considerations ◽

The Public ◽

Professional Activities ◽

Faith Traditions ◽

Anthropological Literature ◽

Religious Actors

The anthropological literature on transplant, though theoretically and ethnographically rich, does not address religion in any substantial way. And while bio-ethical considerations of transplant regularly address religion, treatments are generally circumscribed to a list of various faith traditions and their stance toward organ transplant. Such a presentation reduces “religion” to the world’s recognized faith traditions, “religious actors” to the official spokespersons of these traditions, and “religious belief” to moral injunctions. The objective of the thesis was to illuminate the prominent place of religion in the lived experience of transplant recipients and donors, in the public policy and professional activities of transplant officials, and in the transplant discourses of North America

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Communicative practices in talking about death and dying in the context of Thai cancer care

Communication & Medicine ◽

10.1558/cam.v10i3.263 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 263-271

Author(s):

Pairote Wilainuch

Keyword(s):

Conversation Analysis ◽

District Hospital ◽

Death And Dying ◽

Family Members ◽

Religious Support ◽

Communicative Practices ◽

Health Centres ◽

Third Person ◽

Thai People ◽

Depth Interviews

This article explores communicative practices surrounding how nurses, patients and family members engage when talking about death and dying, based on study conducted in a province in northern Thailand. Data were collected from three environments: a district hospital (nine cases), district public health centres (four cases), and in patients’ homes (27 cases). Fourteen nurses, 40 patients and 24 family members gave written consent for participation. Direct observation and in-depth interviews were used for supplementary data collection, and 40 counselling sessions were recorded on video. The raw data were analysed using Conversation Analysis. The study found that Thai counselling is asymmetrical. Nurses initiated the topic of death by referring to the death of a third person – a dead patient – with the use of clues and via list-construction. As most Thai people are oriented to Buddhism, religious support is selected for discussing this sensitive topic, and nurses also use Buddhism and list-construction to help their clients confront uncertain futures. However, Buddhism is not brought into discussion on its own, but combined with other techniques such as the use of euphemisms or concern and care for others.

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