From the New York Times:

Theologian and sociologist Nancy Eiesland, an associate professor at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, has died of lung cancer.

Eiesland wrote the 1994 book, “The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability.” She had a congenital bone condition and spinal scoliosis.

So why did she say she hoped that when she went to heaven she would still be disabled?

The reason, which seems clear enough to many disabled people, was that her identity and character were formed by the mental, physical and societal challenges of her disability. She felt that without her disability, she would “be absolutely unknown to myself and perhaps to God.”

Colleagues described Eiesland as a leader of disability studies within the context of religion and Christianity.

(Emory University photo in the New York Times)

From the Associated Press:

In an apparent reference to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that any type of discrimination based on genetics is an “attack against all of humanity.”

The remarks came during an audience with participants at a Vatican conference on “New Frontiers of Genetics and the Risk of Eugenics.”

While praising scientific progress that permits enhanced treatment for disease, the pope said medical advances have been accompanied by “worrisome displays” of discrimination that favor “efficiency, perfection and physical beauty at the expense of other forms of existence that are deemed unworthy.”

In PGD, embryos can be tested for genetic conditions like Down syndrome, sickle-cell anemia and cystic fibrosis before implantation in the uterus.

Writing in the Washington Post’s “On Faith,” Special Olympics CEO Tim Shriver describes what happened recently when a group of young people complained about the use of the word “retarded” on “The O’Reilly Factor.” Political strategist Dick Morris had used the word on the Fox News show when mocking the economic stimulus package.

Host Bill O’Reilly responded favorably to the complaint on the air. “We understand that word stigmatizes millions of people,” O’Reilly said. “… We are sensitive to the point. Shouldn’t use that word.”

An excerpt:

The mighty O’Reilly, unlike so many others, got it: Stigmatizing people stinks. Words matter. People don’t need to scoff at others to make a point. Everyone has a gift and the world would be better off if we recognized it.

Sometimes, the world needs the weak to teach the strong. Sometimes, God hides from the wise what God reveals to the weak.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Notre Dame High School for Boys in Niles, Illinois, will soon become the first parochial school in that state to offer classes for students with disabilities.

Across the nation, only six other Catholic high schools offer such programs.

“One of our weaknesses in the Catholic system has been that we haven’t been able to include students of every walk of life, and that includes special needs,” said Daniel Tully, Notre Dame’s principal. “We think that having students with special needs would be as big a benefit to [current students] as to the new students.”

The Notre Dame program is partially funded by Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, a former special education teacher and founder of the Special Olympics, and her husband, Chicago Alderman Ed Burke.

From the [UK] Independent:

An independent UK media regulator has found that the BBC  violated the Broadcasting Code in airing a radio show in which an American comedian described Sarah Palin’s son as “retarded” and said his Down syndrome was proof that “God obviously hates her.”

The finding came in response to a viewer complaint about a show last September that featured comedian Doug Stanhope. In a Broadcast Bulletin, the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) said “the word ‘retarded’ was used in a particularly derogatory manner” and that the reference to Down syndrome as a punishment from God was “highly offensive.”

(more…)

From Divinity [the magazine of the Duke University Divinity School], The Independent Weekly [Durham, NC], and the Charlotte News & Observer:

Jean Vanier (far left) is the founder of L’Arche communities, in which people with developmental disabilities live alongside nondisabled people. Stanley Hauerwas (left) is a Duke Divinity School Professor of Theological Ethics.

Together, they have written a book arguing that the inclusive model of the L’Arche communities offers a message of hope for peace in a violent world.

Vanier founded the first L’Arche community in 1964 after touring an institution for people with intellectual disabilities and being horrified by the conditions. The faith-based L’Arche communities have spread to 135 locations in 36 countries, including 16 in the United States.

Vanier writes that people are usually afraid of weakness but that life in a community among people with disabilities can lead to genuine transformation. “We cannot really enter into relationship with people who are broken unless somehow we deal with our own brokenness,” writes Vanier. “The heart of L’Arche is to say to people, I am glad you exist.”

“Living Gently in a Violent World” is published by IVP books.

See related post.

From the New York Times, a feature on a Chappaqua, NY, couple who created a unique bar mitzvah ceremony to celebrate the life of their son. Thirteen-year-old Jarrett Rattner has an undiagnosed disability and doesn’t walk or talk.

In the process, parents Brian and Jaclyn Rattner drew some new conclusions about the meaning of disability within the context of religious faith. The Rattners don’t consider themselves religious, but Mr. Rattner said they were moved by the perspective of an Orthdox rabbi they consulted. An excerpt:

“He explained that kids so handicapped are actually on a higher plane than you or I,” Mr. Rattner said. “We’re put on earth to perfect ourselves, and most of us have so much to do. But there’s not much they can do, they’re nearly complete. A couple of little tweaks and they’re ready to meet God.”

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