Professional Jesus

I recently attended a professionalism forum held by our school, which was the culmination of a week of lectures, diatribes, and castigations on acting like a professional. And I agree, doctors should be professionals, and med students should start acting that way as they transition into that life. What was impressed upon me throughout the professionalism lectures was mutual respect for those around us. That includes patients, colleagues, strangers on the street. And that seems like a good moral lesson in general. At this forum, MCG, a public university funded nearly entirely by citizen tax dollars, had a speaker stand up and say something to the extent of, “…and only through the grace of THE lord and savior jesus Christ, was I able to overcome this…” This to me embodies unprofessionalism. I, and I bet not a few others, was made very uncomfortable by this. I am not a Christian, I have no desire to be a Christian. What place in a professionalism forum is there for a phrase like Lord and savior jesus Christ. It is so unilateral, so authoritarian. It assumes that we in the crowd would agree with you, that we in the crowd are not off-put by your mentioning the phrase lord and savior jesus Christ. I cringe at that phrase, because it reminds me of all those horror stories about the Spanish inquisition told to me at too-young an age, it reminds me of intolerance. I know that this nice young man standing up on the stage was just so grateful to be given a second chance (he had cancer it turns out), but why not just say God, why not just say, “thankfully;” why did he say lord and savior jesus Christ. This is evangelical. I recognize we are here in the bible-belt, and that augusta, GA in particular is a very religiously Christian place. I’m happy that so many people are taking advantage of the rights granted us in this country (that is to practice whatever version of religion you so please, no matter how soul-crushing). This seems sublime, slight. Another example:

During our first week of school, we had nightly events, which I believe were school-sanctioned. One of the events was a BBQ hosted by MCO: a medical-student run Christian outreach group. Along with the great people and delicious veggie burgers, they distributed pamphlets on opportunities for bible study and medical mission trips. MISSION TRIPS! Taken together, this all just seems so inappropriate. MCG is a public, state-run institution. What happened to separation of church and state? I recognize that this is a student group, and that this was a student speaking, but why is it not being ingrained into us that proclaiming your religious beliefs as if they were face, at a public forum, is not appropriate. Is unprofessional. What frightens me is my suspicion that the reason why no one complains (and I have anecdotal evidence to back this up) is because the administration and student body are in a vast majority religious Christians, perhaps ascribing to some evangelical breed. Again, these people are free to practice their religion, but a measure of discretion and subtlety in delivering public displays of faith is long overdue.