Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Philosophical Reflections on Normalcy, Disability, and the Imago Dei
Most theologians today forcefully reject the idea that a person with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) could be God's creative error, a person who should have been healthy or else never been born. On the other hand, the claim that a person with IDD is created fully in the image...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke Center for the Study of Religion and Society at Creighton University
2015
|
| In: |
Journal of religion & society. Supplement
Year: 2015, Volume: 12, Pages: 13-38 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Most theologians today forcefully reject the idea that a person with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) could be God's creative error, a person who should have been healthy or else never been born. On the other hand, the claim that a person with IDD is created fully in the image of God seems perplexing, for this claim not only says something about the nature of persons with IDD but also about the nature of God: Is it possible to imagine that God could be intellectually disabled? In this paper, the author asks us to reflect on why this topic is so disturbing – a point already raised by Pope John Paul II – and then contrasts this perspective with the historically widespread view that individuals with IDD are somehow changed from their created state of being, possibly by the devil. Next, we return to the major premise that appears to inform both common thinking and traditional Christian theology at least since Aquinas, but which actually harkens back to Plato: intellect and other rational capacities are privileged signs of the affinity of human beings to God, who is all-powerful. The author questions this premise and argues that it presumes an all-too-human understanding of power. A different understanding of the nature of God also opens the door to a different understanding of the way all of us, including persons with IDD, have been created in the image of God. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1941-8450 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion & society. Supplement
|