The hospital clerk asked my religion before a medical procedure. I told jokingly her to put atheist down. Atheist was listed under religion!
Should Atheists be lumped in with religions??
8
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56 comments (26 - 50)
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.If I were joking, I might say Pastafarian (Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster).
No, I dont' think atheism is a religion. If I took the question seriously i'd have told her to put "none".
My first thought was to question the need to ask the question. I mean, would my medical care really be any different from what I answered, and would it really give a doctor any more information about my condition that he/she needed to consider? It is a pointless question for a medical intake fprm.
Add in that recently Christians are professing they don't need to serve gays... which will eventually branch out to encompass not having to serve other religions, and there is a strogn argument for removing the question from intake forms.
snytiger6
Level 9
Dec 31, 2019
3
It's fun when the priests come a'callin....
I've spent quality time in the hospital run by the Catholics here....
Freespirit64
Level 8
Dec 31, 2019
4
Obviously you didnt need your tubes tied in one of them.
For that purpose yes. They need to know if there are any ethical concerns that might need to be addressed. I am surprised there wasn’t a ‘no religion’ category.
Geoffrey51
Level 8
Dec 31, 2019
4
There may have been a 'no religion' as she only stated that atheist was there, not that there were no other secular beliefs listed.
From an institutional perspective, it would be inconvenient to add another question: "religious? (y/n)", that would mostly be answered "yes" - and a second space to specify the name of the religion. Instead of listing "atheist" as a religion they could allow "none".
BitFlipper
Level 8
Dec 30, 2019
2
On the hospital checklist, most certainly. It can be the last chance you get to declare it.
APaleBlueDot
Level 7
Dec 31, 2019
3
Sure, why not. Non belief is still a belief. It may not be a religion but it's still ur theological belief.
RickyAdams
Level 6
Dec 31, 2019
3
I don't play golf, somehow there's not a word for that.
SilentRage
Level 4
Dec 31, 2019
2
The reason hospitals ask, is that they have religious workers that are in the hospital to provide religious comfort to those that need or request it. Many also have ministers that take turns visiting the sick of their particular faith. If you request a minister, they want to make sure that you get the one that corresponds to your faith. So atheist, agnostic, or none should be a choice so that when the ministers make their rounds , they don't bother you.
glennlab
Level 10
Dec 30, 2019
3
Someone didn't get the note last time. Minister walked in my room and I asked why he asked when he asked how I was feeling. lol That's a funny one.
@freeofgod Some of them are so egotistical that they feel they can convert anyone, others have a genuine caring spirit, misguided , but caring. Some are there to kill time in between parishoners' visits, Some hospitals they are the only ones that can fill out the living wills. a few are agnostics but still go through the motions.
eh. asexuality is listed as a sexuality. “lack of” needs to be an option.
basher
Level 5
Dec 30, 2019
3
Totally, unless biologically the term indicates a single organism that can produce young. Not is a better descriptor I’d think...but am totally new to the subject and no doubt have much to learn.
@girlwithsmiles lol yes, there are two meanings. but this version of asexuality is just lack of sexual attraction, like atheism is lack of belief in god.
@basher yes, I realise that 
, but the same word seldom has 2 such different, yet related meanings. There was a great link I read on a website recently explaining the differences, including libido differences. I’ve never met an openly asexual person that has told me though, although I have one friend with a low sex drive.
@girlwithsmiles i would caution against comparing libido and attraction. it’s a stereotype that ace people automatically have low sex drives (not saying you’re saying that, just letting you know in case you didn’t). it’s a strange coincidence that most of my friends end up being asexual, so i’ve talked to them about their experiences and done some research. sexuality is so interesting and diverse.
@basher [wiki.asexuality.org] I wasn’t actually, I was talking about differing types of people that identify as asexual 
Where else would they list it?
kiramea
Level 7
Dec 30, 2019
3
Why should they even be "listing" it at all?
What does it have to do with medical procedures?
If they're going to ask that question, the better answer is "none".
@KKGator I agree it has nothing to do with medical procedures. But if they're asking your preference about religion, there really isn't any other place to put it.
When I'm asked, I answer non-religious. I've tried not answering the question, but then they answer with whatever answer they want to. This way it's my answer.
Other maybe. I would prefer none myself.
I consider myself a Spiritual Non-Religious person. sometimes they have this category but mostly they do not. Other than Atheist, it the fastest growing segment of the population. Personally, I feel these broad categories of belief are becoming antiquated. Most people in the US still identify as Christian but, fewer and fewer go to church every year and those that do pay little attention to their own church dogma. I like this site because almost every one on here has given some thought to what they believe and why. Most people never even take the time to figure out what they believe or question why.
Seminarian
Level 7
Jan 1, 2020
2
I had the same question asked and wondered why? I told her I was Atheist and she said they didn't have a box for that. Is there a none I asked? Yes, there was. I guess it depends on where you live. She also said she had only had one other person say they were Atheist.
rogueflyer
Level 8
Jan 1, 2020
2
Yes, since religion is how one defines their belief in god, believing there is NO god, is a religion...
In2TheJourney
Level 3
Dec 31, 2019
2
That is totally asinine! How can the lack of a belief in a god or gods be a religion? You might as well say that abstinence is a sex position.
@davers it is!
davers... being A-sexual, or non-sexual, defines one's sexuality.. if i said to someone, "what is your belief in god.??" and they said, "i do NOT believe there is a god..." that would be their belief regarding a god... sorry that's so difficult for you to understand...
believing there is no god most certainly is NOT a religion. however, it is appropriate to ask in a hospital, since people die in hospitals and religious people often want comfort and ritual in connection with their own deaths or the deaths of loved ones. atheism would be the "none" choice under religion, but that does not make it a religion. you also select one of two (not mutually exclusive) definitions of atheism. one is a belief that there are no gods, and the other is a lack of belief that there are gods. you cannot call either a religion, but even if you're tempted to call the first definition a religion, you still have the second one with which to contend.
g
Although no, atheism is not a religion, where else would that be listed? In that context it would be like listing "none" under religion. They do it in case you request or have indicated that you might need the services of a member of the clergy and saying you have no religion can be a useful message for them not to bother you with that nonsense. So it is proper and useful in that circumstance for them to ask, and to offer that option.
g
genessa
Level 8
Dec 31, 2019
2
Too many hospitals have preachers with access to your medical records.....I won Public Hospital protection from such preachers in Carter v Broadlawns but not from the catholics running Wikipedia who refuse to let me correct all the errors there in my US Sup Ct case....private hospitals are free to merge religion with medicine.....I WOULD NEVER joke I am an Atheist anywhere.....there you can only hope by listing Atheism as your NON-religion will then the preachers leave you alone and leave your family or visitors alone
Larry68Feminist
Level 7
Jan 24, 2020
1
@FrankieandGrace HIPAA enforcement IS A FARCE ..... zero patients are offered to opt out of religious disclosures to clergy AND Atheists are absolutely abused in this regard.....with many emergency room admissions these "questions" are delayed for hours days and forever for the deceased.....as for staff "chaplains" public hospitals must legally keep these freaks out of hospital rooms and patient records and can only be summoned to life&death bedsides OR psyche wards patients unable to communicate with their off site clergy
@FrankieandGrace you know the system and support it ....I fought the system and improved it.....in the larger perspective a nationwide healthcare system is the only way to keep costs down and secular excellence standards
@FrankieandGrace WWW.HOWIEHAWKINS.US peace through Green jobs healthcare not insurance CEOs welfare
Anybody who includes "atheist" as a religion is displaying a serious failure of cognition.
anglophone
Level 9
Jan 8, 2020
1
It is a check box on an admission form......
@AnneWimsey I was asked this face-to-face when I went in for a triple artery bypass graft. The receptionist was visible taken aback when I said "atheist".
I mean, the hospital needs to know your spiritual beliefs for the same reason it needs to know your next of kin. Problematic as it is to consider atheism to be a religion, you wouldn't want them defaulting to Christian in the event your health takes a bad turn while you're in there.
KJThomas
Level 6
Jan 2, 2020
1
No relogion should be available. The problem is, at least in the U.S. people simply don't understand that one can have no religion and it is usually Christians that are in position to decide OUR options in such cases.
DavidLaDeau
Level 8
Jan 2, 2020
1
The Theists say there IS a "God", without being able to prove it.
The Atheists say there ISN'T a "God", without being able to prove it.
Therefore, Atheism is merely another kind of Religion.
davknight
Level 8
Dec 31, 2019
1
@davknight There is no need to prove a lack of existence of anything. Evidence is need to prove the existence of something.
@Stephanie99
In fact, it is impossible to prove the non-existence of anything. The best we can do is estimate the probability of its existence with numbers like .00000001%, or words like high or low (or vanishingly small, as in God's case).
@Flyingsaucesir Yes, it's both impossible and unnecessary.
@Stephanie99
I can live with .00000000001% uncertainty.
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