Holding Space for the Sacred: Welcoming Scholarly Engagement with Religion in Bioethics Education, Research, and Clinical Consultation
Asma Mobin-Uddin MD, MA, FAAP, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Matthew Vest , PhD, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Arshia Madni, MD, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, and Courtney Thiele, JD, MA, The Ohio State University College of Medicine

What does it mean to hold space for the sacred? In this panel, we will examine this question through discussion of how we practically engage with theological and sacred traditions in a secular academic space. Panelists will share from their own expertise as physicians, scholars, and educators how they model their best practices while creating space for others to practice authentically. In this discussion we will focus on how education, research and clinical practice can embrace religious traditions and beliefs while maintaining their role in a secular institution. The first panelist will focus on religious considerations within the secular academy by drawing attention to the role theologians played within the history of bioethics. Religious figures and theologians have been uniquely suited to the questions of bioethics that inevitably speak to challenges at the limits of medicine. Moreover, the place of religious figures within the history of bioethics is clear if we look sincerely at the religious patterns of thinking within even the most secular, irreligious spaces. The roots of the term religion (re–legere; to bind together) speak to impulses within scientism that seek to answer scientifically questions beyond the bounds of science. Whereas some simplistically hold that the empirical, data-based territory of science inevitably lies in tension with transcendent religion, figures such as Alister McGrath encourage us to see different “modes” of knowing at work in science and religion, both of which stand to illumine a unified picture of being. Drawing these themes together, special attention will be given to the challenges and opportunities surrounding a graduate course offered at a land-grant, R1 university entitled: “Religious and Theological Perspectives in Bioethics.” The next panelist, a physician and student of the course, will speak to the experience of being part of a program that makes room for and invites theological considerations in a medical ethics space. She has recognized how moral distress can ensue when members of a medical team hold values and beliefs that don't align with those of a patient. The impact of diverse religious and spiritual views on medical decision-making cannot be underestimated. Her reflections will consider how students, including future clinicians, can be prepared to practice in a clinical and academic space where the influence of spirituality and cultural awareness is vital to understanding and connecting with diverse relevant parties. This can be a difficult scenario to navigate if one is not trained to appreciate and understand the intersection of science, religion, morality, and their complex interplay with ethical decision-making. Clinicians who are prepared to understand and navigate this space will be better positioned to engage with their patients around ways that faith and religious tradition can affect illness and healing. The student’s experience with the bioethics curriculum in this program will highlight this important view and consider how it helped her prepare for future engagement in medical/clinical ethics. The final panelist will discuss what holding space for the sacred can look like in the clinical space and at the bedside from the perspective of a physician ethicist with years of clinical experience. In our divided and diverse world, where religious practice is often regarded as divisive, threatening, and othering, what are the options for holding space for religious engagement in a clinical encounter? How might it be done badly? Honoring the sacred can feel unsafe for people who hold different religious commitments that may be in conflict.  What would make this type of engagement heal and not wound? The panel has expertise in clinical ethics consultation, palliative medicine, pediatrics, philosophy and education, including in graduate and undergraduate university programs in bioethics. Drawing on this expertise, whether through the ink of the scholar, the touch of the healer, or through the lens of the student, this panel will explore ways we may honor the sacred within secular academic and clinical environments.