Ethics and Cookies and Prayer, Oh My!

As I mentioned yesterday, I spent my morning and afternoon at the ND bioethics conference. Out of the lectures, two struck me as significantly noteworthy: the talk on condom distribution in Africa (and how it doesn't work to control AIDS morbidity and mortality rates) and maternal separation (a new concept describing the psychological stunting of children when separated from their mothers). What struck me even deeper, was the physicians' methodology for presenting their lectures.

I've been widely taught that academia does not accept spirituality or faith-based doctrines as logical theory. Science must stick to science, research to research. Faith in academia is "un-PC." I expected these lectures to be scientifically-based, punctuated by small fragments of Catholicism. After all, the Odrama protest folks outside were holding new, equally grotesque images of crushed fetuses. In such a political and religious whirlwind, I doubted any forthcoming faith statements from the conference. So imagine my surprise when today, the lecturing physicians created their arguments from Catholic doctrine and punctuated them with scientific and medical explanations. One lecturer even included a Divine Mercy prayer within his lecture notes.

Huh? [scratching head]

I also had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Gene Diamond today. Dr. Diamond is the CEO of St. Kermit's, another hospital in our system. Everyone who has ever met Dr. Diamond speaks very highly of him and rarely questions anything that issues forth from his lectures. He's a modern day Yoda, a sage who transcends the bounds of traditional leadership. It reminded of me when I met Fr. Hesburgh while a senior in high school. Even though I was a young punk back then who thought she knew everything, his inexplicable wisdom and peace did not escape my notice.

The whole conference experience was quite disconcerting to me. As most of you know, I'm still grappling with the transition between my "old" and "new" worlds. In a room of priests, nuns, physicians, and medical students, I still felt as though I was "supposed" to be there, too. Even though my parents never went to college, I'm confident that I will learn to navigate this professional world.

One more thing I learned today? Notre Dame Catering has rockin' chocolate chip cookies. However, they were NOT as good as the homemade, fresh-baked cookies that Therese gave me last week as a study treat! Thanks again, Therese!