Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Letters

Why I am not a pretentious pseudo-intellectual

BMJ 2000; 321 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.321.7259.514 (Published 19 August 2000) Cite this as: BMJ 2000;321:514

Rapid Response:

Re: Religion and medicine

Peter Morrell seems to believe that "religions impinge beneficially
upon medical practice. It inspires us to become more considerate, to
change or improve ourselves, to become more compassionate, forgiving, less
selfish and kinder".

The problem is that, in real life (as opposed to intellectual life),
religion is clearly the source of violence in many parts of the world.

If we replace the word “religion” by “sense of infinity”, Peter
Morrell's belief seems to become more reasonable.

Competing interests: No competing interests

30 August 2000
Joseph Watine
Eur Clin Chem
Hôpital de Rodez, France