Overview

Religion plays a critical role in determining how disability is understood and how persons with disabilities are treated. Examining the world's religions through the lens of disability studies not only peers deeply into the character of a particular religion, but also teaches something brand new about what it means to respond to people living with physical and mental differences. Disability and World Religions introduces readers to the rich diversity of the world's religions—Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Native American traditions. Each chapter introduces a specific religious tradition in a manner that offers innovative approaches to familiar themes in contemporary debates about religion and disability, including personhood, autonomy, community, ability, transcendence, morality, practice, the interpretation of texts, and conditioned claims regarding the normal human body or mind. By portraying varied and complex perspectives on the intersection of religion and disability, this volume demonstrates that religious teachings and practices across the globe help establish cultural constructions of normalcy. The volume also interrogates the constructive role religion plays in determining expectations for human physical and mental behavior and in establishing standards for measuring conventional health and well-being. Disability and World Religions thus offers a respectful exploration of global faith traditions and cultivates creative ways to respond to the fields of both religious and disability studies.

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9781602587519

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Reviews

Disability and World Religions, part of Baylor University Press's series 'Studies in Religion, Theology, and Disability', supplies an exciting addition to scholarship at the intersections of religion and disability, especially ina field typically dominated by a Christian perspective.... the volume makes a critical contribution to a notably underexplored area in interdisciplinary inquiry. --Sarah Jean Barton Modern Believing The book is perhaps most valuable for teaching introductory courses on disability studies and on disability and religion. It is also a useful reference text. Chapters feature introductions to the particular religious tradition they canvass; these will orient the newcomer, and readers already familiar with the basics can skip to the sections on disability. --Tyler Zoanni European Journal of Disability Research Each contributor presents a detailed overview, which includes background of source texts underlying the world view of the faith examined, and then applies a disability studies lens in analyzing the religion's prevailing attitudes, both affirmative and negative... -- Choice The real strength of this textbook is that each chapter gives a substantial introduction to the faith in question before offering a nuanced and engaging discussion of a particular interface with disability studies. --Tom Wilson ANVIL: Journal of Theology and Mission These essays...provide a rich and meaningful engagement between religion and disability and fill a gap in the literature of both fields. --Kirk VanGilder Review of Religious Research This scholarly work is an important contribution to several fields, and the collection of essays adds to many larger movements within religious traditions, societies, politics, and disability theory. It draws the reader into discussions that contextualize and apply the thought of religious traditions to anthropology, notions of illness and health, legal protections, and more. --Mary Beth Yount Reading Religion

Author Information

Darla Y. Schumm is Professor of Religious Studies at Hollins University in Virginia. Michael Stoltzfus is Professor of Religion at Georgia Gwinnett College.

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