Disability is the inability to perform an
activity that a normal human being does and there are obstacles within the
areas of task, skill, and behaviour. However impairment and disability is
different. Impairment means the loss or abnormality of a psychological,
physiological, anatomical structure or function causing functional limitations.
Nancy Eiesland defines disability as just one of the personal characteristics
rather than being synonyms. There has been an ongoing debate among
academicians, health professionals and disability movements on definition of
Disability and who all are to be included.
Disability as Social construct
The
term ‘disabled’ is socially and culturally constructed by the abled people.
Those who are disabled may not agree with this forced identity. Their condition
is pitied and they are considered as charitable objects, and above all judged as a sign of
divine punishment for sin. Disabled
people are frequently stereotyped as dependent, helpless, or unfit and
therefore less productive, which undermines the employability and productivity
of the disabled. Thomas E
Reynolds calls disability as a kind of a ‘judgment’ not because of sin but the
society judges people who fulfill the responsibility of their occasion and
those who fail to do so. Therefore disability is a mirror through which one can
understand the value of the society. When societies construct
disabled as a symbol of charity and sympathy, they remain stigmatized.
Disability
and Church
Churches in India engage with the
marginalized. The charitable projects and mission outreach projects have been
evolved from the vision to serve people with disabilities. But church often
ignores the struggles of the disabled. In Nancy Eiesland’s opinion, for the
disabled, church is like a ‘city on a hill’-physically inaccessible and
socially inhospitable. Church is beautiful and broken, impaired but
powerful, complex and gifted. Church incarnates the disabled God through Jesus,
who embodied a commitment to justice, who challenged all structures. The
integral mission becomes possible only when the voice of the disabled are
heard, their experiences are honored and their gifts are allowed to flourish. The task of the ecumenical movements
is to side with the disabled to have a right space within the church not to
passively support the structure of the society that alienates the disabled.
Theological implications
Churches
have been playing a major role in ministering to the people with disabilities.
The vision of the charitable institutions or educational institutions for the
disabled is being well appreciated by people from other faith. But the
accommodative principle, that is being used to make sure the space given to the disabled out of compassion, is to be critically
analyzed. The people with disabilities do not want to be treated as objects of
compassion. We cannot claim any monopoly over the marginalized through the
charity work.
Disability
is often considered as the result of sin or
judgment or fate. The disabled are forced to be a part of healing ministries as
subjects and objects of prayers. Spiritualizing the issue of disabled create the
discrimination because they are considered as objects of charity. It is their
fundamental right to have equal rights in all the public spaces. Impairment or
disability cannot be seen as a limitation for disabled whereas we need to
facilitate the space to find possibilities and gifts of people with
disabilities. Inter-vulnerability
and relationality are significant to counter the abled-disabled dichotomy.
The
architecture, infrastructure of the church building, administration, the
theology and teaching of the church must be disabled - friendly.
Ministerial tasks, the symbolic life, liturgy must provide equal status for the
disabled. Creating a separate ministry and church for the disabled is not the
ultimate solution. But Re-imagining of existing space is needed so as to create multiple spaces which can meet all the
needs of the people.
Conclusion
Church
needs to witness the vulnerability of God and the God who is disabled through
Jesus on the cross. The crucified image as a suffering servant is an empowering
and liberating image for the disabled and all those who
care for the disabled. The wrong notion of perfection and ability is to
be replaced with relational encounters of all human beings. Inclusion and
accommodation are not the solutions for accepting the people with disabilities
but reimagining of traditional space, envisioning new methodology and mission
to have multi spaces where all can have equal rights to participate.
