Religious Justifications for Donating Body Parts

Abstract

May discusses religious justifications for organ donation as\nalternatives to marketplace purchase, voluntary donation, and routine\nsalvaging. He responds to Feinberg's proposal for a national system of\nsalvaging and his criticism of the tendency to invest a dead body with\nsymbolism that hampers organ donation. After exploring the implications for\ntransplantation of the Christian Scientist, dualist, and Gnostic outlooks, May\nconsiders aspects of the Judeo-Christian tradition that influence attitudes\ntoward organ donation and transplantation. He calls upon religious\ninstitutions to assume a leadership role in arousing conscience and in\nencouraging organized giving of organs. (KIE abstract)