What does disability mean? We witness individuals that live their lives with specific challenges on a day-to-day basis, but we do not consider it part of life, until it becomes part of reality. People with disabilities have challenges because they either have an invisible, visible, sensory, mobility, or intellectual disability, which causes them to be distinguished as ‘different’ in the public eye. I will not be discussing disabilities, but discussing people with disabilities; it is the person we should focus on and not the disability itself. The Golden Rule is a key concept in multiple religions. Christians, like many others who follow other religions, have been doctrine at a young age by parents, teachers and authority figures to follow it. The Golden Rule is arguably the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights, which summarizes that we should treat others how we wish to be treated. A key element of the Golden Rule is that a person treats all people with respect, not just members of his or her in-group. The Golden Rule is endorsed by most world religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, but I will be discussing the Christian views specifically. In order to apply the Golden Rule we must acknowledge one’s existence. In today’s society, not a lot of people take the time of day to reach out to those with disabilities instead they place barriers between themselves and those with disabilities. Christians believe that everyone is made in the image of God. Looking into the mirror, we should be able to see the parts that make God. Knowing that, a person who has a disability was also created in the image of God.
The greatest barrier that people who are labeled as disabled is not the physical inability; i...
... middle of paper ...
... and E. Persico Tony. "The Christian Ethics of Socio-Economic Development Promoted by the Catholic Social Teaching." The Journal of Philosophical Economics 5.1 (2011): 90-119. ProQuest. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
"Catholic Social Teachings." Catholic Charities of Dubuque RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
Van Tongeren, Paul. "Natural Law, Human Dignity And Catholic Social Teaching." Religion, State & Society 41.2 (2013): 152-163. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
"ODEP - Office of Disability Employment Policy." U.S. Department of Labor. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
"Catholic Charities North Dakota." Catholic Charities ND. Catholic Charities ND, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. .
McFague, Sallie. "New House Rules: Christianity, Economics, and Planetary Living."Subverting Greed: Religious Perspectives on the Global Economy. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2002. 125-40. Print.
The contemporary Church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, ed. Readings in Christian Ethics: A Historical Sourcebook. Edited by J. Philip Wogaman and Douglas M. Strong. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996.
As suggested earlier, however, the physiological component of disability is distinguished from disability under the motion of impairment. Tom Shakespeare explains that key to the Social Model of disability is a “series of dichotomies,” one where “impairment is distinguished from disability.” For example, the Social Model accepts that deafness is a physiological impairment that person’s participation in society is limited, to some physical extent. And, even assuming if society was to completely accept individuals with disabilities, without prejudice or categorization, there would nonetheless be physical limitations. Nevertheless, the crucial assertion under the Social Model is that “disability” is, by definition, a social
The social model defines disability as a social construct that creates unwanted barriers for individuals, and a public concern, (Smart & Smart, 2006). Examples of these barriers include “inaccessible education systems, working environments, inadequate disability benefits, discriminatory health and social support services, inaccessible transport, houses and public buildings and amenities, and the devaluing of disabled people through negative images in the media, (Thomas, 2007, p. 13). Swain, et al (1993), states that “disability is not a condition of the individual. The experiences of disabled people are of social restrictions in the world around them, not being a person with a ‘disabling condition,’” (as cited by Lutz & Bowers, 2003).
Wolf, Susan. "Moral Saints." Gendler, Tamar Szabo, Susanna Siegel and Steven M. Cahn. The Elements of Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. 220-232.
"Disability the facts." New Internationalist Nov. 2013: 20+. Advanced Placement Government and Social Studies Collection. Web. 27 May 2014.
Pinckaers, Servais. The Source of Christian Ethics. Translated by Sr. Mary Thomas Noble. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1995.
Disabilities are commonly used in many metaphors. Metaphors can help greatly with understanding a new concept, and many professors use metaphors in lecture. Metaphors make it vividly clear what is occurring. However, disability metaphors can represent a stereotype or prejudice about disable people that is not true. These metaphors at time can make disable people seem flawed or unable to function like others, which in most cases is
“For purposes of nondiscrimination laws (e.g. the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Section 188 of the Workforce Investment Act), a person with a disability is generally defined as someone who (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more "major life activities," (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.
Disability: Any person who has a mental or physical deterioration that initially limits one or more major everyday life activities. Millions of people all over the world, are faced with discrimination, the con of being unprotected by the law, and are not able to participate in the human rights everyone is meant to have. For hundreds of years, humans with disabilities are constantly referred to as different, retarded, or weird. They have been stripped of their basic human rights; born free and are equal in dignity and rights, have the right to life, shall not be a victim of torture or cruelty, right to own property, free in opinion and expression, freedom of taking part in government, right in general education, and right of employment opportunities. Once the 20th century
The first thought that crosses the mind of an able-bodied individual upon seeing a disabled person will undoubtedly pertain to their disability. This is for the most part because that is the first thing that a person would notice, as it could be perceived from a distance. However, due to the way that disability is portrayed in the media, and in our minds, your analysis of a disabled person rarely proceeds beyond that initial observation. This is the underlying problem behind why disabled people feel so under appreciated and discriminated against. Society compartmentalizes, and in doing so places the disabled in an entirely different category than fully able human beings. This is the underlying theme in the essays “Disability” by Nancy Mairs, “Why the Able-Bodied Just Don’t Get it” by Andre Dubus, and “Should I Have Been Killed at Birth?” by Harriet Johnson.
Every day in America, a woman loses a job to a man, a homosexual high school student suffers from harassment, and someone with a physical or mental disability is looked down upon. People with disabilities make up the world’s largest and most disadvantaged minority, with about 56.7 million people living with disabilities in the United States today (Barlow). In every region of the country, people with disabilities often live on the margins of society, deprived from some of life’s fundamental experiences. They have little hope of inclusion within education, getting a job, or having their own home (Cox). Everyone deserves a fair chance to succeed in life, but discrimination is limiting opportunities and treating people badly because of their disability. Whether born from ignorance, fear, misunderstanding, or hate, society’s attitudes limit people from experiencing and appreciating the full potential a person with a disability can achieve. This treatment is unfair, unnecessary, and against the law (Purdie). Discrimination against people with disabilities is one of the greatest social injustices in the country today. Essential changes are needed in society’s basic outlook in order for people with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to succeed in life.
People with disabilities are still people, they are people with hearts and they are actual physical beings; people with disabilities do their best to live every day to their fullest, yet that is still not enough for others. I feel like as a whole, humans are generally uncomfortable with people who have disabilities. Let’s think of it this way, people live their life every day in their normal lives and then they come across a person with a disability and suddenly their life is interrupted, like it is such a barrier in their flow of life to come across someone different from themselves.
Modern Catholic social teachings trace its beginnings to the writings of Pope Leo XIII. His insight on Christian philosophy, politics and the social order and applies to teachings in current injustices in the economic order. Leo XIII’s teachings were also critical participation in the developments of modern social and economic life. He rooted his social ethics in the supreme value of the human person and added that all political and social structures need to respect and respond to this primary and moral claim of human dignity. While the Church and the political community are autonomous and independent of each other in their own fields, the Church is “at once the sign and the safeguard of the transcendental dimension of the human person”.