Atheist hospitals do exist, but their quality tends to be lower than those created by the religious (see: Religious hospitals vs. secular hospitals: Quality of care and Atheism and charity).
Most atheists are likely East Asians (with a large portion of them living in China). China practices state atheism.[2][3] China's hospital system and general health care system overall is currently experiencing a crisis as evidenced by the New York Times article China’s Health Care Crisis: Lines Before Dawn, Violence and ‘No Trust’ (See also: Atheist hospitals in China).[4]
Vietnam practices state atheism.[5] Public hospitals in Vietnam are understaffed and in Vietnam there is no universal healthcare (see: Atheist hospitals in Vietnam).[6]
North Korea practices state atheism.[7] The World Health Organization said about North Korea's health care system, "challenges remained, including poor infrastructure, a lack of equipment, malnutrition and a shortage of medicines."[8]
Cuba practices state atheism.[9] The hospitals run Cuba are perennially underfunded, poorly stocked and often are unsanitary (See: Atheist hospitals in Cuba).[10][11]
The former Soviet Union had state atheism. Mental hospitals in the Soviet Union were used to persecute believers.[12] In the Soviet Union, many Orthodox priests and laymen experienced religious persecution in the form of torture and being sent to prison camps, labor camps or mental hospitals.[13][14][15][16] See also: Atheistic communism and torture
The psychiatric hospital Serbsky State Scientific Center for Social and Forensic Psychiatry, formerly called the Serbsky Institute, was used during the Soviet Union era to engage in “psychiatric terror” against political dissidents.[17]
Even though many hospitals do not actively push a religious viewpoint on their patients and staff, almost all of them were funded and founded by those whose faith and religious beliefs pushed them to help those in need (see: Christianity and hospitals).
See also: Atheist lawsuits
Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the founder of American Atheists organization declared concerning hospitals: "An atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church.".[19]
Neither Madalyn Murray O’Hair nor the American Atheists organization ever built a hospital.
The article My mother: the most hated woman in America: Interview with William J. Murray declares:
“ | In 1979, William had an idea to help get rid of his mother’s reputation as the most hated woman in America.
He told her of a hospital which desperately needed new equipment. He suggested she buy the equipment and put a plaque on it saying, ‘A gift from Madalyn Murray O’Hair—atheist.’ ‘I told her we’d call a news conference and get the story publicized all over the United States. Then people would say she’s not such a bad old gal after all.’ She fumed. ‘She said, “Why would I want to take perfectly good money and use it to buy hospital equipment? I could use that money to file lawsuits to bar pastors, priests and rabbis from being allowed to go into hospitals.”’[20] |
” |
Taylor Barkley in his article An Atheist’s Perspective on Christian Engagement in the World wrote:
“ | A Christian believes that a hospital and a church should be built. A Christian believes that deeds must be done and prayers said. A Christian strives for involvement in life and has nothing to fear in death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, and war eliminated and works with Christ to accomplish those goals, knowing that they will be accomplished one day.[21] | ” |
See also: Atheism and the problem of evil and Studies on prayer and Atheism and cancer and Atheism and health
Angelo Stagnaro wrote for the National Catholic Register:
“ | Why doesn’t God heal every child with leukemia? I’m unsure, but I know for a fact that atheists have never built a hospital for even one poor child with that disease so, thus far, the score is Atheists 0, God ∞.
In other words, instead of asking why God doesn’t cure every child, atheists should be asking themselves why they aren’t helping any child... Atheism has never motivated its practitioners to assist anyone, ever. Atheists simply don’t care about the poor enough to assist even one small child with leukemia. Otherwise we’d be up to our hips in atheist hospitals. And, just for the record, the Catholic Church operates 125,000 hospitals and clinics around the world.[23] |
” |
The Christian apologist Gary Habermas wrote: "Double-blind prayer experiments: where people pray for others with terminal illness. Habermas admitted that most such experiments have not worked, but the three that he knows of that have indeed worked were cases of orthodox-Christians praying for the sick."[24] See also: Studies on prayer
According to the American Cancer Society:
“ | According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 69% of cancer patients say they pray for their health. A recent study published in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, suggests a link between religious or spiritual beliefs and better physical health reported among patients with cancer.[25] | ” |
See also: Atheism and cancer and Atheism and health
See also: Atheism and mental illness
Christian author Preston Gillham wrote about his atheist neighbor and the issue of there being a lack of atheist hospitals in his neighborhood:
“ | I converted words with my atheist neighbor to story. I waited for him to make his statement about craziness again—I knew he would—and said, “So, you truly believe religion makes people crazy, do you?”
“I do, Preston. It’s irrefutable.” “Okay, buddy. You are going later this week to Baylor Hospital for tests. I wouldn’t go if I was you.” “Why not?” “The place was founded by Baptists and Episcopalians. Nor would I go to Harris Methodist Hospital for the same reason. Where is Atheist General Hospital? I’ll take you there.”[27] |
” |
See also: Atheism and charity
"Where are the atheist hospitals? Orphanages? Food pantries? If atheists all fell flat in the forest would anyone miss them? We would not miss their grand humanitarian institutions. There aren’t any. Where are the Darwin Memorial Hospitals? Where is the Madeline Murray O’Hare orphanage? Nothing." - Roger Fields and Jeff Fields[28]
The atheist Dan Barker wrote: "'Have atheists ever built any hospitals?' I am sometimes asked. Yes, they have. The obvious example is the Soviet Union, with an officially atheistic government, where hundreds of hospitals were constructed."[30]
See also: Atheist lawsuits and Religion in the military
See: Christianity and hospitals
Below are articles on Christianity and hospitals:
See: Catholic, Methodist and Baptist hospitals in the United States
See also: Atheist doctors
CBS News reported: "According to a mail-in survey of nearly 4,000 British doctors, those who were atheist or agnostic were almost twice as willing to take actions designed to hasten the end of life."[32]
The University of Chicago Chronicle reported in 2005:
“ | The first study of physician religious beliefs has found that 76 percent of doctors believe in God and 59 percent believe in some sort of afterlife. The survey, performed by researchers at the University and published in the July issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that 90 percent of doctors in the United States attend religious services at least occasionally, compared to 81 percent of all adults. Fifty-five percent of doctors say their religious beliefs influence how they practice medicine.[33] | ” |