Sentence:  In the framework of traditional medical ethics, the patient/  deserves humane attention only insofar as he is potentially/  healthy and is willing to be healthy—just as in the framework/  of traditional Christian ethics, the <WSD>heretic</WSD> deserved humane/  attention only insofar as he was potentially a true believer and/  was willing to become one. In the one case, people are/  accepted as human beings only because they might be healthy/  citizens; in the other, only because they might be faithful/  Christians. In short, neither was heresy formerly, nor is sick-/  ness now, given the kind of humane recognition which, from/  the point of view of an ethic of respect and tolerance, they/  deserve. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Someone who believes contrary to the fundamental tenets of a religion they claim to belong to.