In the hit drama “House,” Dr. House diagnoses absurd diseases with his team by connecting the dots through a series of tests and symptom analysis. Naturally, in his profession, he searches for the cause and effect, and anything can be explained with his medical knowledge and flawless instincts in the medical field.
Of course, the phenomenon occurs when a religious patient arrives, and tries to explain to House that faith will make them whole. I have never forgotten an episode from the fourth season of the series. In “Don’t Ever Change,” (Episode 12/Season 4), the show opens at an Orthodox Jewish wedding. The bride inexplicably collapses on the floor and ends up in House’s hospital for diagnosis.
The team discovers that the bride, a 38-year-old woman, converted to Hasidic Judaism only six months before and that prior to that she had been a producer for hard rock CDs and using heroine.
When the test for drugs fail, House thinks her conversion to Hasidism six months prior is a sign of porphyria -- a rare genetic disorder that causes an over-production of certain proteins that contribute to mental problems.
Once the husband finds out that the doctor thinks his wife converted because of mental problems, he wants a new doctor. He said he wants “someone who doesn’t think my wife is sick, just because she’s religious.”
The conversation continues:
Husband: My wife’s body is sick. Her mind and soul are fine.
House: (to the husband) You live according to God’s 600 commandments, right?
Husband: 613.
House: Do you understand them all?
Husband: It takes a lifetime of learning.
House: But you follow the ones you don’t understand because the ones you do understand make sense and you believe that the guy who created them knows what he’s doing.
Husband: Of course.
House: So, you will trust my diagnosis, and you will let me treat her because in this Temple, I am Dr. Yahweh.
Husband: I want a new doctor.
House doesn’t have patience for any of his patients, but it’s understandable for this man to wish for a new physician, especially when House is so insulting and actually blasphemous to the husband’s beliefs.
The episode makes a few interesting points about changing, and about the commitment this couple has to their faith. While House is still unconvinced, the team seems to notice that this couple “has something that we don’t have.”
My question to you is why does our culture struggle to see faith and medicine go hand in hand? The media seems to portray that they must be polar opposites. Is it really impossible to use medicine and science and be true to one’s faith?
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I have been impressed several times by the manner in which House's writers handle the topic of religion. The "Mormon Intern" who was on a few seasons ago was far from the stereotypical presentation to which we have become accustomed.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in the 2006 episode "House vs. God," Dr. House is forced to question his faith, or lack thereof, when a young man he is treating miraculously "heals" one of Wilson's patients.
In the end, House "wins" but not before some very interesting arguments are presented.
I am an avid fan of House, and have seen many examples of thier representation of religion. It seems to be a popular theme for many of the episodes. To answer your question, I believe that for many people, including myself, medicine and science can go hand-in-hand with religion.
ReplyDeleteIn earlier centuries, healing was a large part of many religions. However, in the past two centuries, faith seems to have been taken out of the picture in many religions, and replaced by modern medicine. In the USA Today magazine, they discussed that in the last ten years, there has been an upsurge in spirituality. Since this upsurge, many doctors now take the relationship between medicine and spirituality in to consideration. Many medical schools in our country are teaching courses of this relationship. In 1995, there were only 3 medical schools in the country that were teaching such classes.
I believe that House is a representation in the media of this change that has happened in our society. The relationship between medicine and spirituality is a more accepted idea in our society.
(Referenced: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_/ai_54098966)