Chapter 19: A Southern Baptist Background Inspires a Life of Service
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Description
In this chapter, Dr. Hill speculates that his commitment to care is rooted in his upbringing. He notes that he was raised Southern Baptist by practicing parents who had basic beliefs in a religion of love and service to others. (Dr. Hill believes all religions share these values; he is studying comparative religion now that he is retired).
Identifier
HillCS_04_20120228_C019
Publication Date
2-28-2012
City
Houston, Texas
Interview Session
C. Stratton Hill, MD, Oral History Interview, February 28, 2012
Topics Covered
The Interview Subject's Story - Personal Background; Character, Values, Beliefs, Talents; Personal Background; Inspirations to Practice Science/Medicine; Faith, Values, Beliefs; Formative Experiences
Transcript
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
Last time we were together, the recorder shut off very unceremoniously, so we’re back to ask a few followup questions. I had asked you about the humanitarian dimensions of your work on pain control, and you were talking about how there were values that had been instilled in you when you were very young, then it kind of cut off. So I’m wondering if you can talk a little bit more about those childhood experiences. I was wondering, too, about any spiritual dimensions of that, if religion plays a role in that for you, and if that was part of your childhood experience as well.
C. Stratton Hill, MD:
Well, I think probably— I don’t know whether yes is the answer to both of those. But anyway, my parents were— And I don’t know how you grade religion as highly religious. They were highly participatory in organized religion. Let’s put it that way.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
What denomination?
C. Stratton Hill, MD:
They were Southern Baptist, and basically I think where I grew up, the doctrine of Christianity is whether or not you were a Wesleyan Methodist or a Southern Baptist or a Presbyterian USA or a so-called Christian church, which were the Disciples of Christ. It was all just Christian, basically. It was interesting that the Presbyterian Church was— At that time, the way that the churches were divided was the Presbyterian Church USA, and that was the northern Presbyterian church, which is interesting because the Presbyterian Church US was the southern Presbyterian church, and here we were in the deep south. I’m not sure how that all came about. I was not a Presbyterian at that time. I started going to the Presbyterian Church after I went to college because I went to a college that was affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. It seemed to be better suited to me just from a comfort point of view. I was not aware of major doctrines, although my father was sort of well-schooled in, you might say, the platitudes that go along with if you’re Presbyterian you believe in predestination, or if you belong to the Christian church, you belong to the Carmelite church. Those things didn’t mean anything to me. And then they had a branch of the church of the Disciples of Christ that didn’t believe in music, and they were called the non-fiddling Carmelites.
Tacey Ann Rosolowski, PhD:
I was just curious because it’s a question that I usually ask the interview subjects who are participating in this oral history project, and for some of them, they say yeah. I mean, it may not be a doctrinal thing, but it may be that their sense of spiritual practice includes the work that they’ve done.
C. Stratton Hill, MD:
Well, this is what I think— That was what I’m trying to get at, that it was the Christian beliefs in terms of Christianity being a religion of love and of service to others, and to me it didn’t make too much difference whether you went to the Presbyterian church, the Methodist church, or the Baptist church. There were very few Catholics, very few Catholics, and they were just considered the oddballs. No Episcopal, no Episcopalians in that particular town, but as I say, it was the belief of doing for others that was the predominant theme in all the churches, and nobody separated anybody and said, “Oh, yeah, they go to the Methodist church.” Or if somebody went to the Methodist church and they married somebody in the Baptist church, whichever one, they discussed it between themselves. They decided that person switched over and things of this sort, which to me made sense. It was nothing other than the basic tenets of Christianity that made a difference. Very few Jews. The Jews, they had to congregate in the larger city, so if they wanted to participate, they had to drive to another town and so forth, and it was a great emphasis. My parents made me go to church. I remember the only time that they ever said you couldn’t go to Sunday school or church was during the summertime when the fear of polio was around. You didn’t congregate anywhere, and I thought that was pretty cool that you didn’t have to go to Sunday school and church. I was brought up in a very devout family, and they were devout Christians. Their parents were devout Christians and so forth. Since I’ve gotten older, and in particular, since I’ve started working out at this mission, I’ve gotten a lot into the differences in religions and really have gotten into a lot of tenets, a lot of history, and discussions about all types of religions—Hindu, Buddhism, Islam and so forth. But before that, I’ve never really—it’s all been pretty much from an academic point of view. I’m not looking at— I’ve come to learn that Christianity is one of the—about the only religion that actually emphasizes a belief. Judaism, it’s not what you believe that makes a difference; it’s what you do, whether you follow the laws of Moses and the prophets and so forth. And the same way with Islam—Islam is the same way. It’s not what you believe. You can’t believe but one thing if you’re Muslim. So anyway, that had really nothing to do with what I’ve been doing except from an academic standpoint. That may be more than you ever wanted to know.
Recommended Citation
Hill, C. Stratton Jr. MD and Rosolowski, Tacey A. PhD, "Chapter 19: A Southern Baptist Background Inspires a Life of Service" (2012). Interview Chapters. 1058.
https://openworks.mdanderson.org/mchv_interviewchapters/1058
Conditions Governing Access
Open
