Top

Published in:

01-06-2018 | Original Paper

Beliefs in and About God and Attitudes Toward Voluntary Euthanasia

Author: Shane Sharp

Published in: Journal of Religion and Health | Issue 3/2018

Abstract

I use data from the General Social Survey to evaluate several hypotheses regarding how beliefs in and about God predict attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. I find that certainty in the belief in God significantly predicts negative attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. I also find that belief in a caring God and in a God that is the primary source of moral rules significantly predicts negative attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. I also find that respondents’ beliefs about the how close they are to God and how close they want to be with God predict negative attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. These associations hold even after controlling for religious affiliation, religious attendance, views of the Bible, and sociodemographic factors. The findings indicate that to understand individuals’ attitudes about voluntary euthanasia, one must pay attention to their beliefs in and about God.

Assemblies of God. (2016). Euthanasia, and extraordinary support to sustain life. Retrieved from http://ag.org/top/beliefs/topics/contempissues_18_euthanasia.cfm.

Bader, C. D., Desmond, S. A., Mencken, F. C., & Johnson, B. R. (2010). Divine justice: How images of God impact attitudes toward criminal punishment. Criminal Justice Review, 35, 90–106.CrossRef

Bader, C. D., & Froese, P. (2005). Images of God: The effect of personal theologies on moral attitudes, political affiliation, and religious behavior. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, 1(Article 11), 1–24.

Bem, D. J. (1970). Beliefs, attitudes, and human affairs. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Burdette, A. M., Hill, T. D., & Moulton, B. E. (2005). Religion and attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide and terminal palliative care. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44, 9–93.CrossRef

Caddell, D., & Newton, R. (1995). Euthanasia: American attitudes toward the physician’s role. Social Science and Medicine, 40, 1671–1681.CrossRefPubMed

Chapple, A., Ziebland, S., McPherson, A., & Herxheimer, A. (2006). What people close to death say about euthanasia and assisted suicide: A qualitative study. Journal of Medical Ethics, 32, 706–710.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Cohen, J., Van Landeghem, P., Carpentier, N., & Deliens, L. (2014). Public acceptance of euthanasia in Europe: A survey study in 47 countries. International Journal of Public Health, 59, 43–156.CrossRef

DeCesare, M. A. (2000). Public attitudes toward euthanasia and suicide for terminally ill persons: 1977 and 1996. Social Biology, 47, 264–276.PubMed

Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The psychology of attitudes. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Emanuel, E. J., Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D., Urwin, J. W., & Cohen, J. (2016). Attitudes and practices of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the United States, Canada, and Europe. JAMA, 316, 79–90.CrossRefPubMed

Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. (1992). A message on end-of-life decisions. Retrieved from http://download.elca.org/ELCA%20Resource%20Repository/End_Life_DecisionsSM.pdf.

Frey, L. M., & Hans, J. D. (2016). Attitudes toward assisted suicide: Does family context matter? Archives of Suicide Research, 20, 250–264.CrossRefPubMed

Froese, P., & Bader, C. (2007). God in America: Why theology is not simply the concern of philosophers. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 46, 465–481.CrossRef

Froese, P., & Bader, C. (2010). America’s four gods: What we say about god—And what that says about us. New York: Oxford University Press.

Genuis, S. J., Genuis, S. K., & Chang, W.-C. (1994). Public attitudes toward the right to die. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 150, 701–708.PubMedPubMedCentral

Hains, C.-A. M., & Hulbert-Williams, N. J. (2013). Attitudes toward euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: A study of the multivariate effects of healthcare training, patient characteristics, religion and locus of control. Journal of Medical Ethics, 39, 713–716.CrossRefPubMed

Hamil-Luker, J., & Smith, C. (1998). Religious authority and public opinion on the right to die. Sociology of Religion, 59, 373–391.CrossRef

Hendry, M., Pasterfield, D., Lewis, R., Carter, B., Hodgson, D., & Wilkinson, C. (2012). Why do we want the right to die? A systematic review of the international literature on the views of patients, carers and the public on assisted dying. Palliative Medicine, 27, 13–26.CrossRefPubMed

Hunter, J. D. (1992). Culture wars: The struggle to control the family, art, education, law, and politics in America. New York: Basic Books.

Johnson, C. J., & McGee, M. G. (Eds.). (1998). How different religions view death and the afterlife (2nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: The Charles Press.

Kaldjian, L. C., Jekel, J. F., & Friedland, G. (1998). End-of-life decisions in HIV-positive patients: The role of spiritual beliefs. AIDS, 12, 103–107.CrossRefPubMed

MacDonald, W. L. (1998). Situational factors and attitudes toward voluntary euthanasia. Social Science and Medicine, 46, 73–81.CrossRefPubMed

Maio, G. R., & Haddock, G. (2015). The psychology of attitudes and attitude change (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Malinowski, B. (1948). Magic, science, and religion and other essays. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.

Mencken, F. C., Bader, C., & Embry, E. (2009). “In God we trust”: Image of God and trust in the United States among the highly religious. Sociological Perspectives, 52, 23–38.CrossRef

Mencken, F. Carson, & Fitz, B. (2013). Image of God and community volunteering among religious adherents in the United States. Review of Religious Research, 55, 491–508.CrossRef

Moulton, B. E., Hill, T. D., & Burdette, A. (2006). Religion and trends in euthanasia attitudes among U.S. adults, 1977–2004. Sociological Forum, 21, 249–272.CrossRef

Parpa, E., Mystakidou, K., Tsilika, E., Sakkas, P., Patiraki, E., Pistevou-Gombaki, K., et al. (2010). Attitudes of health care professionals, relatives of advanced cancer patients and public towards euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Health Policy, 97, 160–165.CrossRefPubMed

Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. (1980). Declaration on euthanasia. Roman Catholic Church. Retrieved from http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19800505_euthanasia_en.html.

Sharp, S. (2013). When prayers go unanswered. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 52, 1–16.CrossRef

Sharp, S. (2017). Belief in miracles and attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia. Death Studies, 41, 211–219.CrossRefPubMed

Sharp, S. Traditional God images and attitudes towards voluntary euthanasia. Review of Religious Research (forthcoming).

Smith, H. (1991). The world’s religions. New York: HarperCollins.

Smith, T. W., Marsden, P., Hout, M., & Kim, J. (2015). General Social Surveys, 1972–2014 [machine-readable data file] Principal Investigator, Tom W. Smith; Co-Principal Investigator, Peter V. Marsden; Co-Principal Investigator, Michael Hout; Sponsored by National Science Foundation. Chicago: National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago [producer and distributor].

Southern Baptist Convention. (1992). Resolution on euthanasia and assisted suicide. Retrieved from http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/493.

Stark, R., & Finke, R. (2000). Acts of faith: Explaining the human side of religion. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Teisseyrea, N., Mulleta, E., & Sorum, P. C. (2005). Under what conditions is euthanasia acceptable to lay people and health professionals? Social Science and Medicine, 60, 357–368.CrossRef

Unnever, J. D., Bartkowski, J. P., & Cullen, F. T. (2010). God imagery and opposition to abortion and capital punishment: A partial test of religious support for the consistent life ethic. Sociology of Religion, 71, 307–322.CrossRef

Unnever, J. D., Cullen, F. T., & Bartkowski, J. P. (2006). Images of god and public support for capital punishment: Does a close relationship with a loving God matter? Criminology, 44, 835–866.CrossRef

Whitehead, A. L. (2012). Gender ideology and religion: Does a masculine image of God matter? Review of Religious Research, 54, 139–156.CrossRef

Whitehead, A. L. (2014). Male and female He created them: Gender traditionalism, masculine images of God, and attitudes toward same-sex unions. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 53, 479–496.CrossRef

Wilson, K. G., Scott, J. F., Graham, I. D., Kozak, J. F., Chater, S., Viola, R. A., et al. (2000). Attitudes of terminally ill patients toward euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Archives of Internal Medicine, 160, 2454–2460.CrossRefPubMed

Winter, L., Dennis, M. P., & Parker, B. (2009). Preferences for life-prolonging medical treatments and deference to the will of God. Journal of Religion and Health, 48, 418–430.CrossRefPubMed

Title: Beliefs in and About God and Attitudes Toward Voluntary Euthanasia
Author: Shane Sharp
Publication date: 01-06-2018
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Religion and Health / Issue 3/2018
Print ISSN: 0022-4197
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6571
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0510-1

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Beliefs in and About God and Attitudes Toward Voluntary Euthanasia

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 3/2018

Black Male Mental Health and the Black Church: Advancing a Collaborative Partnership and Research Agenda

Complimentary Care: When Our Patients Request to Pray

Relationship Between Spiritual Well-Being and Hope in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

Spirituality/Religiosity (SpR), Leisure-Time Physical Activity, and Sedentary Behaviour in Students at a Catholic University

Religion and Spirituality as a Cultural Asset in Medical Students

Spiritual Openness, Revisiting a Potentially Important Aspect of Spirituality: Scale Review and Revision