Talking About Dying to University Students

In several of my university courses (to non-LDS students) the topic of dying has arisen. Two particular classes come to mind. In the first class we were discussing some of the anti-religious arguments of Steven Pinker in his book The Blank Slate (2002: Viking Penguin). In one of his chapters (ch. 11, "The Fear of Nihilism, p. 189) Pinker argues that the concept of "soul" devalues human life by causing believers to rush through this life to get to the next. In a second course, we were discussing Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion (2008: First Mariner Books), which argues in its entirety that religious beliefs have little value.

The nature of my courses usually attracts future clinicians. When discussions like those described above are engaged, it is not unusual for some of these students to express enthusiasm about their own atheism. (I love these students, and I appreciate their intellectual freedom and devotion to humanity). In class discussions they indicate that religion should be eliminated from society, and that they would rather not be educated in any of it.

For such students, I have an exercise that serves an educational curve ball. (I am presenting a composite summary of what typically has happened).

I have asked my students to imagine that they are gerontologists working in a nursing home or a hospice. I tell them that I work with such physicians on a regular basis as colleagues, and that the following scenario is common. I ask the students to imagine that a dying patient has requested to speak to a doctor about the nature of the afterlife. Maybe the patient has just days to live.

I ask the students how they would answer such a dying patient's request. Here is how the exercise has proceeded:

One student might say, "I would refer the patient to a chaplain." I would respond, "The chaplain is busy, and the patient wants to talk to a 'real' doctor."

Another undergraduate (a future clinical psychologist) might answer me: "I would tell my patient the truth. I would tell them that there is nothing after death. We die and our atoms become part of the universe."

At this point I would repose myself on a table and play the part of the dying patient. I would challenge such students by saying, "I am dying, none of family have visited me in weeks, and you are telling me that I might as well take my last breath now. I thought you were supposed to comfort me."

Another student might pop up and say, "I would lie to the patient and tell him what I thought he wanted to hear about heaven."

With a great friendly smile on my face, I would say the following: "Oh, great! Our future clinicians are fully ready to do harm. First, we have this future doctor over here who cops out and says let someone else, the chaplain, do the hard stuff. Then, we have a second future doctor who wants to have an intellectual debate with the dying patient who has just moments to live, and third we have this future doctor over there that will just lie to the patient and tell him fairy tales.

My experience with this exercise is that it takes several minutes of discussion and coaching before the students discover the correct answer.

I tell the students that professionals in the medical field (at least the ones to whom I talk) do not respond how they suggested. I explain that such a patient really just wants to have a conversation about his/her own personal beliefs. So, doctors will go into reflective mode. They will ask the patient what religious tradition is in his/her background. They will ask the patient to recite his/her own views about the afterlife. Such conversations never need turn into debates or comforting lies.

But, I also teach my students that in order to work with such patients that they better have a strong general education in religion, and they better understand some of the doctrinal nuances found in major religions.

This topic has been quite memorable, and I think the resulting conversations could be placed among my favorite teaching moments in 20+ years.

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