So, God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27) What does it mean to be created in the Image of God? If someone is mentally or physically disabled, does that mean that God made a mistake? Disability is a subject, that is never at the forefront of discussion. Throughout history those with disabilities have been forgotten, neglected, and despised. In the 1800s disabled people were placed in institutions or separate “colonies”. There were deemed unworthy, labeled as ugly. They were ultimately a burden for others. Although society has placed its stamp on disability, does it line up with what God thinks? As an analysis of disability in a Christian theological perspective, …show more content…
Also, God can use them. One of the more famous scriptures when it comes to disability is in John 9. The disciples and Jesus were walking, they can upon a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus who had sinned the man or his parents. Jesus replied, “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” Yes, Jesus desires to heal disabilities, but we must not limit people to this belief. In the words of Deborah Beth Creamer “When people with disabilities have been considered at all, they have historically been looked at as symbols of sin (to be avoided), images of saintliness (to be admired), signs of God’s limited power or capriciousness (to be pondered), or personifications of suffering (to be pitied)- very rarely are people with disabilities considered first as a people.” Disability should not mean that someone is useless, there are physical limits to what they can do. But God wants to work through them just like “everyone else.” There are two examples in the bible Moses and Paul. Moses have an impairment, he stuttered. Exodus 4:10 “But Moses pleaded with the LORD, "O Lord, I'm not very good with words. I never have been, and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled." Many would have passed Moses, and picked someone who did not stutter. But God chose to use Moses. Paul talks about “a thorn in the flesh.” Scholars believe that Paul’s “thorn” might have been a physical impairment. 2 Cor. 12:8-9 “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Society sees disability as something to hide, to disqualify anyone from being used by God. But God uses broken things, and his power works best in weakness. His grace is sufficient for any weakness, a physical disability or anything. 1 Cor. 12:22-24 “In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest
Mairs is a “lover of words” and understands the difference between crippled, disabled and handicapped. She is knowledgeable about words. The word cripple “made its first appearance in the Lindisfarne Gospel in the tenth century”. Her knowledge explains her reason for not calling herself disabled or handicapped. Disable can mean a “mental” disability and she doesn’t think she has been put at a disadvantage like handicapped implies. “My God is not a Handicapper General”. Mairs continues to write in a straightforward tone stating, “I like the accuracy in which it (crippled) describes my condition”. Mairs knows who she is and doesn’t sugar coat her condition by calling herself a name that is more
What comes into one’s mind when they are asked to consider physical disabilities? Pity and embarrassment, or hope and encouragement? Perhaps a mix between the two contrasting emotions? The average, able-bodied person must have a different perspective than a handicapped person, on the quality of life of a physically disabled person. Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson are three authors who shared their experiences as physically handicapped adults. Although the three authors wrote different pieces, all three essays demonstrate the frustrations, struggles, contemplations, and triumphs from a disabled person’s point of view and are aimed at a reader with no physical disability.
Disability in our day in age is seen as being worse than death. People with disabilities should not feel like they don 't belong. They are just like everyone else and want to be treated like everyone else. Many without disabilities think that it can be contagious and stray to even look at people with disability. This is not the case for it 's not contagious and one should not be seen as a different person just because of their disability. They didn 't choose that life and shouldn 't be mistreated for what they are. “People with disability should be treated equally to everyone else.”
They are human beings determined to make something good in their lives. Across the world, people with disabilities have poorer health outcomes, lower education achievements, less economic participation and higher rates of poverty than people without
A severely disabled person may have to deal with much pain in their lives, but
Historically, we have been taught that people with disabilities are different and do not belong among us, because they are incompetent, cannot contribute to society or that they are dangerous. We’re still living with the legacy of people with disabilities being segregated, made invisible, and devalued. The messages about people with disabilities need to be changed. There needs to be more integration of people with disabilities into our culture to balance out the message. Because of our history of abandonment and initialization, fear and stigma impact our choices more than they would if acceptance, community integration, and resources were a bigger part of our history.
Turning to a more theological approach, this procedure raises so many questions regarding the human condition. For instance, how do humans accommodate those with severe disabilities without stripping them of certain natural human rights that every individual is afforded? To take it to a more fundamental level, what ought we to do as humans to help people with disabilities, while at the same time making sure we are treating them as equal beings? Once questions like these can be addressed, the more pointed question can be reflected upon: is the Ashley Treatment ethical? When answering this, it is important to remember that all people deserve a voice in the goings on in the world, particularly when those issues pertain to themselves. Additionally ponder the fact that there are unique cases in which someone else may need to speak on behalf of an individual for that person to be heard. Such is the case for many with profound disabilities like Ashley.
Disabilities can include physical marks, deformities, and diseases. All disabilities have their own generic meaning. For example, Foster states, “Richard, as morally and spiritually twisted as his back, is one of the most repugnant figures in all time” although it sounds demeaning, to use a disability against one person, it is a great way to show a character’s personality through their being. Employing symbolism in this way is not often noticed in many works. Scars are another disability used in literature to draw interest toward a character.
Some people become handicapped as a result of an accident. Others are born with their disabilities.
Routledge: New York : New York, 2001. Shakespeare, T (2013) “The Social Model of Disability” in The Disability Studies Reader Ed Davis, L D. Routledge: New York.
Disability is an topic that has produced conflict, and is viewed very differently from either side. For able-bodied people to truly understand what disabled people go through they need to see disabled people more; see their lives. If seeing disabled people more often became reality, they would be viewed as normal more, and it would make interacting easier for both sides. Disabled people have a hard life, but it does not mean it is not worth living. Nancy Mairs, Andre Dubus, and Harriet McBryde Johnson all have physical disabilities, and have written about their experiences and views. In their writings, they touch upon both similar and different points. A very present similarity between the authors is they all play to the same audience. In their messages, both Mairs and Johnson agree that able-bodied people automatically assume that disabled people have a lower quality of life or are unhappy. The strategies used by each author plays to their message, and aids them in getting across their position. Disability isn’t always easy to understand, and these authors help illustrate that.
Disabilities are commonly used in many metaphors. Metaphors can help greatly with understanding a new concept, and many professors use metaphors in lecture. Metaphors make it vividly clear what is occurring. However, disability metaphors can represent a stereotype or prejudice about disable people that is not true. These metaphors at time can make disable people seem flawed or unable to function like others, which in most cases is
The first thought that crosses the mind of an able-bodied individual upon seeing a disabled person will undoubtedly pertain to their disability. This is for the most part because that is the first thing that a person would notice, as it could be perceived from a distance. However, due to the way that disability is portrayed in the media, and in our minds, your analysis of a disabled person rarely proceeds beyond that initial observation. This is the underlying problem behind why disabled people feel so under appreciated and discriminated against. Society compartmentalizes, and in doing so places the disabled in an entirely different category than fully able human beings. This is the underlying theme in the essays “Disability” by Nancy Mairs, “Why the Able-Bodied Just Don’t Get it” by Andre Dubus, and “Should I Have Been Killed at Birth?” by Harriet Johnson.
...eglected social issues in recent history (Barlow). People with disabilities often face societal barriers and disability evokes negative perceptions and discrimination in society. As a result of the stigma associated with disability, persons with disabilities are generally excluded from education, employment, and community life which deprives them of opportunities essential to their social development, health and well-being (Stefan). It is such barriers and discrimination that actually set people apart from society, in many cases making them a burden to the community. The ideas and concepts of equality and full participation for persons with disabilities have been developed very far on paper, but not in reality (Wallace). The government can make numerous laws against discrimination, but this does not change the way that people with disabilities are judged in society.
People with disabilities are still people, they are people with hearts and they are actual physical beings; people with disabilities do their best to live every day to their fullest, yet that is still not enough for others. I feel like as a whole, humans are generally uncomfortable with people who have disabilities. Let’s think of it this way, people live their life every day in their normal lives and then they come across a person with a disability and suddenly their life is interrupted, like it is such a barrier in their flow of life to come across someone different from themselves.