# Fancy word for "giving up medical and/or technological advancemnts for religion" ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 15, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fancy-word-for-giving-up-medical-and-or-technological-advancemnts-for-religion/380474 "2006-11-15T01:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fancy-word-for-giving-up-medical-and-or-technological-advancemnts-for-religion/380474/1 "2006-11-15T01:50:03Z")
My GF is doing a paper on this subject and I was wondering whether there was a word for giving up medical and/or technological advancements for the sake of religion. In particular the paper is about things like the Amish and Mennonites giving up all/some technology, and Jehovah’s Witnesses refusing Blood Transfusions, and stuff like that. Seems like there should be a catch-all word for this kind of religious belief, is there ? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@The\_Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Octagon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fancy-word-for-giving-up-medical-and-or-technological-advancemnts-for-religion/380474/2 "2006-11-15T02:12:26Z")
Medical or technological abstention would cover half of it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fancy-word-for-giving-up-medical-and-or-technological-advancemnts-for-religion/380474/3 "2006-11-15T04:42:14Z")
There are two words employed (because the two phenomena you describe are separate and generally do not overlap). The avoidance or diminished use of medical technology is generally called spiritual healing. (“Faith healing” is a separate phenomenon.) The avoidance of technology is generally called separatism. Adherents of the Church of Christ, Scientist tend to invoke spiritual healing, but they are quite likely to embrace technology in most other forms than its use in tretment by allopathogenic medicine. Adherents of groups such as the Amish, who avoid contact with modern technology in their day-to-day lives (with a lot of possible exceptions that may be confusing to the outsider) are generally more than willing to accept technology used in medical treatment. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fancy-word-for-giving-up-medical-and-or-technological-advancemnts-for-religion/380474/4 "2006-11-15T04:46:34Z")
[QUOTE=griffin1977] My GF is doing a paper on this subject and I was wondering whether there was a word for giving up medical and/or technological advancements for the sake of religion. [/quote] “Conservatism”. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fancy-word-for-giving-up-medical-and-or-technological-advancemnts-for-religion/380474/5 "2006-11-15T04:50:44Z")
[QUOTE=rjung] “Conservatism”. [/QUOTE] You misspelled “impenetrable stupidity.” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2006, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fancy-word-for-giving-up-medical-and-or-technological-advancemnts-for-religion/380474/6 "2006-11-15T05:32:17Z")
“Religious neoluddism” ? It’s not _a_ word, but it’s the closest I can come.