Religious (In)Tolerance

I realize that I am an extremist when it comes to religion, (I am an athiest), but I am a QUIET extremist, and I am respectful of other people's religious views. I believe strongly in the separation of church and state, and so I keep my religious preferences to myself in most situations.

My preceptor is also an extremist (evangelical Christian) who is quite loud about his beliefs, and will try to convince anyone he meets to convert to his ideals.

I knew this about him before going into the rotation, so I thought I was prepared. I thought I might be annoyed by his preachiness, but that we could easily and successfully work together as student and preceptor, and everything would be ok.

First off: my preceptor does not know I am an athiest. He asks EVERYONE he works with about their religious views on the first day of the rotation...but since he asked where I was from first (Ireland), he assumed I was a Catholic and left it at that.

In the last 4 1/2 weeks, I have seen this man preach his gospel to unsuspecting patients who were purely there for his medical opinion (on numerous occasions). He has also alluded to believing that an athiest is the same as a satanist. This man is so conservative that he refuses to perform vasectomies and once told me that birth control was responsible for the fall of our civilization.

I absolutely could not disagree with him more. Still I have remained true to my belief that (unless you're a church worker), religion has no place in the workplace. Therefore, expressing my own opinion on such matters would be hypocritical.

Today almost broke me.

A patient with severe gallbladder disease was in to discuss the possibility of having her gallbladder removed surgically. This surgery has been delayed time and time again due to her severe pulmonary and cardiac disease (COPD, CHF) which would make anesthesia very risky, and death during surgery not unlikely. While discussing her situation, she stated that she was told by a nurse that she should live with her symptoms because she would likely die if she had the surgery.

My preceptor: "well we all die at some point...the real question here is are you ready to meet your maker? Have you read the good book and changed what you need to change in your life? That is the real question...have you accepted God?" Obviously uncomfortable, the patient attempted to redirect the conversation back to her medical condition, but my preceptor was not to be deterred. He did not stop his questioning until she stated that she would start to read the bible more often. He then quickly went back to the issue at hand and promised to call around to see if surgery would be amenable to her other providers.

I wanted to storm out of the room in protest of his unethical behavior, but that would be dramatic and awkward, so I didn't. I kept my mouth shut, and stared at the ground, hoping the patient would not assume that I supported this man's hijacking of the appointment for his own personal desire to preach the word of God.

I mean, honestly...the world would be up in arms if every time a patient referred to God (which they often do) I challenged their beliefs and told them that their God did not exist. So why the double standard?

I find it ironic that my dear friend Curtis, a proud Christian, felt the need to vent on his blog about the media's left wing dismissal of religion, while I was facing the same prejudice on the other side of the spectrum. For the record, Curtis is a fantastic friend of mine and CJ's, and we have such a great friendship because we base it on our similar beliefs (ie: PA's are awesome, MMA fighting is too...), rather than our differences (Christian vs. Athiest, Beaver vs. Duck).

For the record, I believe that what you think exists, does. I think that since my preceptor believes in God and Heaven, he will be invited through the pearly gates. I also believe that the Buddhist who believes in reincarnation will find themselves reborn again. What does that make me?? Great compost....and I'm ok with that!!!

Jen