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Rupturing Concepts of Disability and Inclusion

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CHAPTER 2<br />

her claim that churches respond slowly <strong>and</strong> ineptly to people with disability<br />

because <strong>of</strong> their theological legacy. 57<br />

16<br />

Disease<br />

Lameness<br />

Madness<br />

Maimed/Crippled/Disa<br />

bled<br />

Muteness<br />

Paralysis<br />

72<br />

27<br />

14<br />

9<br />

11<br />

6<br />

The priest shall examine the disease on the skin <strong>of</strong><br />

his body, <strong>and</strong> if the hair in the diseased area has<br />

turned white <strong>and</strong> the disease appears to be deeper<br />

than the skin <strong>of</strong> his body, it is a leprous disease;<br />

after the priest has examined him he shall pronounce<br />

him ceremonially unclean. (Leviticus 13: 3)<br />

But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the<br />

crippled, the lame, <strong>and</strong> the blind. (Luke 14: 13).<br />

So he changed his behaviour before them; he<br />

pretended to be mad when in their presence. He<br />

scratched marks on the doors <strong>of</strong> the gate, <strong>and</strong> let his<br />

spittle run down his beard. (1 Samuel 21: 14)<br />

The legs <strong>of</strong> a disabled person hang limp; so does a<br />

proverb in the mouth <strong>of</strong> a fool. (Proverbs 26: 7)<br />

... so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the<br />

mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame<br />

walking, <strong>and</strong> the blind seeing. And they praised the<br />

God <strong>of</strong> Israel. (Matthew 15: 31)<br />

When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic,<br />

“Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2: 5)<br />

Biblical texts have also underpinned various Christian responses based around<br />

notions <strong>of</strong> sin or sanctity; curse or compassion; ridicule, rejection or romanticisation;<br />

salvation <strong>and</strong> servanthood; covenants <strong>and</strong> contracts, justice <strong>and</strong> joy. Religious<br />

institutions have <strong>of</strong>ten been seen to <strong>of</strong>fer meaning <strong>and</strong> comfort to those who find<br />

their world troubling <strong>and</strong> confusing. 53 However, paradoxically, churches through<br />

romanticised notions <strong>of</strong> suffering <strong>and</strong> healing have structurally - through belief or<br />

architecture - forced people with disability at least to the margins, some even<br />

excluded beyond to the outside. 54 Therefore, a fuller exploration <strong>of</strong> various<br />

interpretations <strong>and</strong> practices made by the Christian church to ‘disability’ in the<br />

Common Era (CE) seems pertinent.<br />

Biblical scholar, Carol Fontaine, surveys both Testaments <strong>of</strong> the Bible<br />

synchronically to view how the societies producing the text understood disability.<br />

She notes that although views <strong>of</strong> illness <strong>and</strong> disability changed over time,<br />

especially during times <strong>of</strong> contact with foreign cultures, some <strong>of</strong> which had<br />

concepts <strong>of</strong> medicine in the late period, there is an underlying unity in the way the<br />

Bible views people so ‘afflicted’. 55 Fontaine comments that while synchronic<br />

studies are <strong>of</strong> limited usefulness in such pursuits as historical reconstruction or the<br />

establishing <strong>of</strong> doctrinal ‘truth’, they providea useful entry point for discussion “by<br />

presenting a ‘gestalt’ <strong>of</strong> folk ideas, literary tropes <strong>and</strong> cultural values around a<br />

given topic.” 56 Therefore, it is useful to provide a summarised version <strong>of</strong> her texts<br />

to exemplify how she outlines the five views for consideration in order to highlight<br />

1 Illness <strong>and</strong> <strong>Disability</strong> as Undesirable Conditions – In medically naive societies,<br />

particularly ones based on agricultural production, those unable to fully<br />

participate in the common tasks <strong>of</strong> survival are seen to exist in a more<br />

precarious, <strong>and</strong> less desirable state. Where medical care is uncertain, the ill or

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