Interplay of Religion, Medicine and Prison Preliminary Historical Study

Abstract

Medicine keeps its most fundamental prohibitive rules from the ancient times when Religion and Medicine were not yet two separate realms ll l. Subsequent history reveals that transgression of these rules leads to failure of the realisation of the declared objectives not only by Medicine but by other human instituions when they use Medicine directly or as an analogy. The most famous is the NOLI NOCERE principle which positively implies not to inflict pain but to relieve it and help man to come to a state of constuctive and even creative activity. This is the rehabilitation, the integral part of the Mission of Medicine. The misapplication of medical model which implies the transgression of the NOLI NOCERE rule began when Penance was called «heavenly medicine». Considering that Penance had been designated as Punishement which inflicts pain, the transgression of the fundamental rule is evident I2]. Penance is a fundamental Christian concept. Penance is voluntary harsh treatment which one imposes upon oneself to show repentance after the wrongdoing, ie sins. The true sense of repentance is the returning to God. Penance followed repentance and is a sign of purification and resolve not to sin again, a sign of readiness to receive Force from God, a sign of Force.