Faith and Science Working Together
Religion playing a huge role in a book about the history of modern medicine? Usually unheard of. But not in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skoot. This is an emotionally charged historical account regarding the origin of one of the most famous and important tools in modern medicine. The HeLa Cells, taken from Mrs. Henrietta Lacks in the early 1950’s without her consent, have lead to researchers finding a multitude of new treatments and making a myriad of new discoveries and even mass farming and distribution cells since then. But not without great human consequence and strife. Could it be something such as religion that holds what’s left of Henrietta’s tattered family together? Ultimately, …show more content…
When she dives into the story she is completely non-religious and doesn’t pay a lot of mind to the faithful practices of the family, but they eventually become unavoidable. It seems as though the whole family is oozing bible passages. Her first major experience with this is the Hopkins Jesus statue where people pray before they enter the hospital. She says it was “the closest I’ve ever come to praying.” She witnessed Deborah praying and noticed the positive effect it had on her. Then, on the road trip she takes with Deborah while they are stopped at Gary Lacks’ house. She witnesses Gary perform a “faith healing” on Deborah and she witnessed how much better and empowered it makes her feel even if she was not physically “healed.” Her final experience seals her attitude toward the relationship between religious faith and science. It helps her to comprehend why faith is such a big deal to the Lacks and why it had been instrumental in their coping and understanding. It was at a personal experience with Gary Lacks where he told her he believed that HeLa was the spiritual form for Henrietta Lacks, that it was her being granted eternal life. She said in that moment she completely understood how they could believe this. “Of course” she said “Of course.” It was easier for the Lacks family to believe she was an angel instead of a complicated science definition. And that is all they
Religion playing a huge role in a book about the history of modern medicine? Usually unheard of. But not in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skoot. This is an emotionally charged historical account regarding the origin of one of the most famous and important tools in modern medicine. The HeLa Cells, taken from Mrs. Henrietta Lacks in the early 1950’s without her consent, have lead to researchers finding a multitude of new treatments and making a myriad of new discoveries and even mass farming and distribution cells since then. But not without great human consequence and strife. Could it be something such as religion that holds what’s left of Henrietta’s tattered family together? Ultimately, …show more content…
When she dives into the story she is completely non-religious and doesn’t pay a lot of mind to the faithful practices of the family, but they eventually become unavoidable. It seems as though the whole family is oozing bible passages. Her first major experience with this is the Hopkins Jesus statue where people pray before they enter the hospital. She says it was “the closest I’ve ever come to praying.” She witnessed Deborah praying and noticed the positive effect it had on her. Then, on the road trip she takes with Deborah while they are stopped at Gary Lacks’ house. She witnesses Gary perform a “faith healing” on Deborah and she witnessed how much better and empowered it makes her feel even if she was not physically “healed.” Her final experience seals her attitude toward the relationship between religious faith and science. It helps her to comprehend why faith is such a big deal to the Lacks and why it had been instrumental in their coping and understanding. It was at a personal experience with Gary Lacks where he told her he believed that HeLa was the spiritual form for Henrietta Lacks, that it was her being granted eternal life. She said in that moment she completely understood how they could believe this. “Of course” she said “Of course.” It was easier for the Lacks family to believe she was an angel instead of a complicated science definition. And that is all they