Doing Theology from Disability Perspective

Abstract

It is said that about 10 per cent of the human population has some deformity or other, yet they seldom receive any attention. Abled people try to avoid their company. In many societies persons with disabilities are treated as second-class people, objects of charity or even abandoned. They are subjected to prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory acts by the able-bodied majority. Society keeps them ignorant and dependent by denying education and employment opportunities. The suffering and miseries of many disabled people in Asia are compounded because of poverty and poor medical facilities.<br /> Christian theology is done by abled-bodied people for the abledbodied. Theology from the perspective of persons with disabilities is almost silent in the Christian tradition. We have a rather negative theology towards persons with disabilities as the theology is constructed by abledbodied people. There are Christians who think that disability is related to sin and the work of demons, that it is a curse and punishment from God. Healing, on the other hand, is always understood as a sign of faith. People often think that those who are not healed do not have strong faith and that the lack of faith leads to disability.<br /> Realizing that the churches will remain a disabled community without the inclusion of persons with disabilities, Ecumenical Theological Education of Christian Conference of Asia and World Council of Churches, the Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network and the Association for Theological Education in Southeast Asia jointly organized a workshop in Manila on 22-27, May 2007 to reconstruct a more inclusive church towards persons with disabilities and to come up with a resource book on the theology of disability for theological students and church leaders with a specific Asian perspective. This work built on a process begun in Limuru, Kenya, in 2004, and followed by similar events in Bangalore, India (2006), and Suva, Fiji (2006).