Disability and Religious Diversity

Disability and Religious Diversity Disability and Religious Diversity Cross- Cultural and Interreligious Perspectives Edited by D a r l a S c h u m m a n d M i c h a e l S t o l t z f u s DISABILITY AND RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY Copyright © Darla Schumm and Michael Stoltzfus, 2011. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-11973-4 All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29832-7 ISBN 978-0-230-33948-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230339484 Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Disability and religious diversity : cross- cultural and inter religious perspectives / edited by Darla Schumm and Michael Stoltzfus. p. cm. 1. Disabilities— Religious aspects. 2. Chronic diseases—Religious aspects. 3. Human body—Religious aspects. I. Schumm, Darla Y. (Darla Yvonne) II. Stoltzfus, Michael, 1965– BL65.B63D57 2011 200.87—dc22 2011014233 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: October 2011 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For Rebecca, William, Jonathan, and Henry Contents Acknowledgments i x E d i t o r s ’ I n t r o d u c t i o n xi Michael Stoltzfus and Darla Schumm Section 1 Religion, Narrative Identity, and Disability 1 1 God’s Will? How Two Young Latina Catholic Women Negotiate a Hidden Disability Identity 5 Aimee Burke Valeras 2 Whatever the Sacrifice: Illness and Authority in the Baha’i Faith 19 Priscilla Gilman 3 Since Feathers Have Grown on My Body: Madness, Art, and Healing in Celtic Reconstructionist Spirituality 47 Erynn Rowan Laurie S e c t i o n 2 R e l i g i o n , A c c e s s i b i l i t y , a n d D i s a b i l i t y 7 1 4 Disabled Rites? Ritual and Disability in Wicca 75 Jo Pearson 5 A Secular Case for Religious Inclusion of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 91 Jeff McNair and Abigail Schindler 6 Beyond Models: Some Tentative Daoist Contributions to Disability Studies 103 Darla Schumm and Michael Stoltzfus 7 Health and Disability Care in Native American and Alaska Native Communities 123 Lavonna L. Lovern viii ● Contents Section 3 Interreligious and Cross- Cultural C o m p a r i s o n s o f D i s a b i l i t y 1 5 7 8 Chronic Illness and Disability: Narratives of Suffering and Healing in Buddhism and Christianity 159 Darla Schumm and Michael Stoltzfus 9 Disability, Agency, and Engagement: Three Wisdom Traditions’ Call to Be Radically Available 177 Lynne M. Bejoian, Molly Quinn, and Maysaa S. Bazna 1 0 N a t i v e A m e r i c a n C o n c e p t s I n v o l v i n g H u m a n D i f f e r e n c e 2 0 1 Lavonna L. Lovern Notes on Contributors 2 2 1 Index 225 Acknowledgments ll books have collaborative elements, but this book and its companion volume, Disability in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: A Sacred Texts, Historical Traditions, and Social Analysis truly reflect collaboration on many levels. We thank all those who gave their time and talents and contributed chapters to the book. We had a vision for the book that was realized only through the contributions of Maysaa Bazna, Lynne Bejoian, Aimee Burke Valeras, Priscilla Gilman, Lavonna L. Lovern, Jeff McNair, Jo Pearson, Molly Quinn, Erynn Rowan Laurie, and Abigail Schindler. Palgrave Macmillan graciously reviewed our original manuscript and recommended that we divide it into two separate volumes. Editor Burke Gerstenschlager and Editorial Assistant Kaylan Connally deftly guided us through the process of preparing two manuscripts for publication. We are grateful to the editorial board of Palgrave Macmillan for their willingness to bring issues of religion and disability to the forefront and publish these books. Most of what we do would not be possible without the love and sup- port of our families. We thank our parents, Glenn and Geneva Stoltzfus and Clare and Katie Ann Schumm, for their constant care, encouragement, and nurture. Our spouses and children Rebecca Green, William Stoltzfus, Jonathan Harris, and Henry Schumm provide daily inspira- tion and encouragement and receive our deep gratitude for sustaining us from the beginning to the end of the project. We thank Elizabeth Smoak, a student assistant at Hollins University, for her help with many details in the editing process. Finally, we are profoundly grateful for the immense contribution that Lindsay L. Gray made to the project. She logged countless hours of proofreading, editing, formatting, and then doing it all over, again and again. Lindsay oversaw many of the details involved in compiling and publishing two edited volumes. She kept us on track, and without her work we could have never brought the project to its successful completion. Editors’ Introduction M i c h a e l S t o l t z f u s a n d D a r l a S c h u m m isability and Religious Diversity: Cross- Cultural and Interreligious Perspectives and the companion volume titled Disability in DJudaism, Christianity, and Islam: Sacred Texts, Historical Traditions, and Social Analysis (also published by Palgrave Macmillan) examine how distinctive religions of the world represent, understand, theologize, theorize, and respond to disability and/or chronic illness. It is widely recognized that religious teachings and practices help to establish cultural standards for what is deemed “normal” human physi- cal and mental behavior and in establishing a moral order for the fit and healthy body and mind. Religion, in its multiple manifestations, plays a critical role in determining how disability is understood and how per- sons with disabilities are treated or mistreated in a given historical- cultural context. The existent literature exploring intersections between religion and disability typically focuses on a single religious tradition or cultural context, often prioritizing a Judeo-Christian approach. In response to the challenges and opportunities posed by a postmodern, pluralistic, global world, our goal in both books is to promote inter- disciplinary, cross- cultural, and interreligious conversations regarding disability and religious diversity. All multicultural education and literature must address the issues of how to balance the particularity of cultural or religious identity with openness to learning from our neighbors who are different. The interplay of the opening and boundary- setting dimensions of religious life is of crucial importance to the flourishing of multicultural societies in general and to the growing field of disability studies in particular. This book and its companion volume began with the editors’ desire to create a resource that investigates issues in disability studies from the perspective of religious pluralism. The response to our open call for papers that address interreligious and cross- cultural perspectives on xii ● Editors’ Introduction topics relevant to disability studies produced too much for one volume to contain. After Palgrave Macmillan’s gracious offer to publish the col- lection in two volumes, we were left with the rather daunting task of how to organize and divide the chapters between volumes. When the review process was complete, about half of the remaining chapters addressed disability studies within the frameworks of Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. We therefore decided to dedicate one book largely to these traditions. The religious traditions that explore disability or chronic illness in this volume include Baha’i, Celtic Pagan, Wiccan, Native American, Daoist, as well as narrative and comparative pieces that incorporate Catholic and Protestant Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam. While we have tried to organize the divergent body of work presented here in some orderly fashion, we are left more in hope than certainty that the chapters are both fluid and balanced. The contributors in both books employ a wide variety of method- ological and theoretical approaches including ethnographic, historical, cultural, or textual analysis, personal narrative, theological/philosophi- cal investigation, and interreligious comparative analysis. In addition, the authors incorporate literature and theoretical perspectives from the growing field of disability studies. Both books explore the intersections between religion and disability, give voice to scholars and practitioners of many of the world’s rich and varied religious traditions, actively engage the field of disability studies, and reflect multicultural and interreligious attitudes and perspectives. The chapters present creative, critical, and practical insights and conversations among and between differing religious traditions concerning issues relating to disability. Both of the editors and multiple contributors approach their scholarship from the perspective of living with some form of disability or chronic illness. Disability and Religion: Beyond Definitions The chapters in this volume do not represent a uniform approach to defining or responding to disability or religion; nor do they present a monolithic experience of disability or religion. Diversity, not uni- formity, is the mark of both religion and disability. One reason that disability studies are so rich, varied, and interesting is because “disability” defies definition.

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