Different Religious Beliefs on Death and Dying

This article explores the cultural, spiritual, and religious beliefs surrounding death and dying in different societies and religions. It discusses the various approaches to palliative care and the disposal of dead bodies based on different religious beliefs. The article emphasizes the importance of respecting and understanding diverse beliefs and practices.

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Project 1
In the society we are living today there are cultural, spiritual and religious beliefs in
relation to the issue of death and dying. It all depends on how one perceives death and dying
depending on where someone has been brought up, the religion one follows and their cultural
beliefs. These beliefs normally affect the way we think about life and death. In addition, these
beliefs determine the view that a person has about after life. There are those who believe that
there is reincarnation and others do not believe in it. Different societies have different beliefs
about death and dying. These beliefs make them to have even different approaches to palliative
care practices. As we know death is universal and inevitable. Due to this, there are different
approaches that are applied during palliative care practice. Different communities and religions
have also different or various ways on how they take care of a dying person.
When it comes to religious view on death and dying, different religions have different
views and believes. Christians accept the use of modern medicine in caring for a palliative care
patient. The only procedure that Christians are opposed to is euthanasia. They believe that the
procedure is a great violation of human rights. Christians believe a palliative care client should
be treated with honor as the body is a gift from God (Fang, Sixsmith, Sinclair and Horst, 2016).
Christians also believe that there is life after death. They believe that in the next life after death, a
person has to either go to hell or go to heaven depending on whether someone obeyed the rules
of God. Christian believers believe that you should face death with courage and not fear death
because there is eternal life in heaven in the presence of God. In the event of death, they have to
prepare a funeral procedure to send off the person in a dignified manner (Ekore and Lanr, 2016).
In such an eventuality, the Christians either burry the body or they cremate it depending on the
wish the one who died had when they were a live before they died.

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Muslims also believe that human life is dignified. Like Christians, they largely adopt
modern medicine but are opposed to euthanasia. Therefore, maximum care has to be accorded to
a palliative care client. Muslims believe that after someone dies their soul is transformed and
come back again in another physical appearance (Ahaddour, Broeckaert and Van, 2019). They
also believe in the day of judgment after one dies to decide the final destination of someone
whether they go to paradise or to hell depending on their deeds when they were alive. When
death occurs, they consider it as God’s will since they believe that God is the giver of life. They
normally recite Quran to remind of God’s mercy and forgiveness. They normally bury the dead
within 24 hours and cremation is not allowed in Islam.
In Hinduism, when a person is critically ill, they take them to their home because they
believe someone should die in their homes. It follows that hospital palliative care is not well
accepted on the basis of religion. In Hinduism, there is a belief that death is a natural process that
occurs where there is a soul that exists. They believe that the soul under goes reincarnation
depending or on the basis of Karma. In addition, Hindus believe that when one dies the soul
comes in form of another body depending on the deeds one did before they died. Hinduism
practices cremation of the dead body expect their spiritual leaders who they bury their bodies.
In Buddhism, people normally surround the dying person and recite their scriptures and
chant so that the person may leave the body in a peaceful way. Religion is supreme to modern
medicine in Buddhism (Sinuff et al, 2015). In Buddhism they believe that when someone dies
that they come back to live in another state depending on the state of mind someone died in.
Depending on the tradition the person was in they either cremate the body or bury it. Other
religions have various practices too.

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As we have seen, various religions view death and dying in diverse ways and also the
way the dispose the dead bodies and the ceremonies of burial are different although there are
some that are similar. From the illustrations made above, it is true to conclude that people have
different beliefs and we should not criticize others depending on what they believe since we all
come from various communities and religious backgrounds.
Project 2
There are different medical treatment choices that are undertaken to a person who is sick
and is dependent on the condition or the state in which a person is in. There is a condition where
a person may be critically ill or in a position not to make any decision. The advanced care
directives allow a person to either accept certain treatment or refuse the treatment (Harris, 2018).
In the case where a person needs a surgery of the heart and is not in a position to make decision
whether to accept or not then a decision will be made on behalf of the person. The substitute
decision maker who is chosen is supposed to make the decision that the person in that state
would have made. There is an act that allows a person to choose a representative to make
medical treatment decisions for them (Laramie and Smolinski, 2019). The law requires that the
representative must be an adult (Yapp, Sinclair and Kelly, 2018). This gives the decision maker
to access the medical records of the person they are supposed to make the decisions on their
behalf.
There have been legal changes in advance directives. Now, one can now be allowed to
choose a medical treatment decision maker without having to sign a legal document that was a
requirement (McLennan, Boddy, Daly and Chenoweth, 2015). There are certain requirement that

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the person being appointed has to meet in order to be allowed to make medical decision for the
person being represented. There is an advance care planning form that is filled and the person is
able to give directives that can allow them to give directions on how they should be cared for in
the event that they are unable to make such a decision. Most states recognize advance directives
as legally binding documents that must be obeyed. There are no significant legal changes across
the states.

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References
Fang, M. L., Sixsmith, J., Sinclair, S., & Horst, G. (2016). A knowledge synthesis of
culturally-and spiritually-sensitive end-of-life care: findings from a scoping review. BMC
geriatrics, 16(1), 107.
Harris, P. L. (2018). Children's understanding of death: from biology to religion.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1754), 20170266.
Ekore, R. I., & Lanre-Abass, B. (2016). African cultural concept of death and the idea of
advance care directives. Indian journal of palliative care, 22(4), 369.
Ahaddour, C., Broeckaert, B., & Van den Branden, S. (2019). “Every soul shall taste
death.” Attitudes and beliefs of Moroccan muslim women living in Antwerp (Belgium) toward
dying, death, and the afterlife. Death studies, 43(1), 41-55.
McLennan, V. E., Boddy, J. H., Daly, M. G., & Chenoweth, L. M. (2015). Relinquishing
or taking control? Community perspectives on barriers and opportunities in advance care
planning. Australian Health Review, 39(5), 528-532.
Yapp, G., Sinclair, C., & Kelly, A. (2018). Planning for the rest-of-life, not end-of-life:
Reframing advance care planning for people with dementia. In Dementia as Social Experience
(pp. 146-168). Routledge.
Laramie, L. C., & Smolinski, K. M. (2019). Things to Consider When Completing an
Advance Directive. Journal of pain & palliative care pharmacotherapy, 1-3.
Sinuff, T., Dodek, P., You, J. J., Barwich, D., Tayler, C., Downar, J. and Heyland, D. K.
(2015). Improving end-of-life communication and decision making: the development of a

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conceptual framework and quality indicators. Journal of pain and symptom management, 49(6),
1070-1080.