It’s All Good
“It’s All Good!”?
By Chaplain Joel Peterson
Recently there has been a great deal of information and education on accepting varying beliefs. Being a hospital chaplain in Eugene, Oregon placed me in the center of the tolerance nucleus. While I will always respect individuals and families regardless of their beliefs, I do not always respect the beliefs, worldviews, and working assumptions of those to whom I offer ministry. Consider the child who engages in magical thinking, believing that an angry outburst at a grandparent caused a subsequent stroke. That belief, in time, needs to be gently challenged rather than respected. To “respect” a belief implies that all beliefs are equally valid and must never be tested in conversation with a chaplain.
A key ingredient of a chaplain’s assessment includes learning how the individual views the world, what spiritual and religious practices they embrace, and to what degree family, friends, and faith communities are available to them. We legitimately attempt to learn which of these connections are feeding them and which are toxic. Admittedly, there will be subjectivity, counter transference, or blind spots at play in every chaplain’s assessment and caring response. However, most major religious traditions include the expectation that a faith leader will counsel with warnings, caution, and alternatives when encountering someone whose beliefs are counterproductive to that person’s well being.
To simply accept all of a person’s beliefs and associations, no matter how destructive or questionable, displays a misplaced tolerance that borders on professional misconduct. The serial pedophile who believes that his behavior is acceptable, the woman who stays with an abusive husband and believes she has no other options because her vows were “for better or worse”, the teenager who believes God is an angry father figure who demands obedience or will smite the disobedient …all of these people don’t need the chaplain who will accept their beliefs. They need a pastoral guide who will challenge, guide, come alongside, and love them whether their beliefs are healthy or not…and offer the subsequent freedom and hope that come with new ways of viewing our world, our God, and our relationships.
Thanks for the reinforcement of the fact that not all beliefs should go unchallenged. As a Fire Chaplain I have to “choose my fight wisely” as to when a belief or action should be lovingly challenged. Not all things are good for the body.