In a previous post, I wrote that Sign languages
have been victims of discrimination throughout history. But of course, the
underlying problem here is that Deaf
people have been victims of discrimination throughout history.
Who or what is to blame? Ultimately, I suppose,
it’s our human nature. Prone to fear and even detest that which is perceived as
markedly different from us or from the majority around us. Prone to be
self-focused and bypass opportunities to build bridges across those
differences. Prone to speak and act in condescension and call it love.
But while our tendency to discriminate may be
tragically inherent, we shouldn’t simply blame our human nature and leave it at
that: discriminations are obviously connected to and rooted in cultures – their
values, practices, institutions, etc., which can and do engender, perpetuate,
and aggravate injustices.
So, what kinds of cultural phenomena have
historically contributed to the unjust discrimination of the Deaf?
Above all others, one culprit stands out to me,
and it’s one that many of us (including myself) are reluctant to indict:
religion.
Both in ancient
times and in the present, the three Abrahamic faiths – their scriptures and
popular texts, their ritual practices and informal customs – have become
instruments of injustice against the Deaf.
Sometimes, the injustice is simply an
unintentional byproduct, unnoticed or neglected like the minority group that it
wounds. Other times, the injustice is actually deemed just by the masses.
Sometimes, we perceive in the injustice an acute distortion of the religious
tradition’s claims regarding truth and morality. Other times, we perceive a
disturbingly solid foundation within the religious tradition’s claims on which
injustices have been historically constructed.
My purpose is not to condemn any of these three
religious traditions; rather, I want to illuminate certain features that Deaf
outside observers of the traditions may very well interpret as offenses and
that Deaf members of the traditions may very well interpret as stumbling
blocks. Perhaps the offenses can be erased and the stumbling blocks can be
overcome (indeed, I hope that most of them can be!), but first, they must be
acknowledged as they stand.
In this lay-person’s analysis, I’ll divide these
offenses and stumbling blocks into two categories: those manifested in sacred
writings and those manifested in religious practices. For the remainder of this
post, I’ll focus on Judaism and Islam. Then, lest the majority of my readers
begin to feel self-righteous, I’ll write a follow-up post focusing exclusively
on Christianity.
...But before beginning, I should say why I’m
bothering to write about this subject.
As someone who is currently living in a Deaf
community, I want to better understand the reasons underlying the widespread
ambivalence, anxiety, and even animosity towards religion within many Deaf
communities. Why do only 1% of American Deaf persons identify as Christian? Why
do Muslim students at this school seem desperate to convince others and
themselves of their religious identity?
Furthermore, as a person of faith, I want to
better understand the ways in which my own religious tradition has been used as
an instrument of injustice against certain minorities. Hopefully, as I grow in
this understanding, I will learn how to avoid complicity in injustice, as well
as how to labor towards true justice – not in spite of, but because of and
through my faith.
With that, let’s get started...
JUDAISM
Two promising texts from the Torah. 1) Exodus
4:11 reads, “Then the LORD said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes
him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?’” 2) Leviticus
19:14 reads, “You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the
blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.”
These two verses are important because they
challenge harmful attitudes towards persons with disabilities. Regarding the
first verse, evidence suggests that ancient Near Eastern cultures (like many other
cultures) tended to associate various forms of disability with demonic
activity. The LORD’s two rhetorical questions to Moses contradict this
dangerous association. Regarding the second verse, in many ancient cultures,
abandonment of persons with disabilities was not only tolerated, but
encouraged. Even in the supposedly civilized societies of ancient Greece and
ancient Rome, infanticide seems to have been a fairly common practice. With
such horrors in mind, we can be especially grateful for even the slightest of
provisions made, like Leviticus 19:14 (see also Deuteronomy 27:18).
Other texts may appear promising to us, but in
fact the Deaf are appalled by them. I’m thinking of Isaiah 29:18 and other
texts that speak of the LORD healing physical deafness. What? Don’t the deaf want to be healed? Actually, many people who
are physically deaf have constructed their identity not in terms of a
disability, but in terms of a distinct culture,
based on a distinct language. (When I write “deaf” with a capital “D,” I am
referring to this culture/community, as opposed to a physical condition.) These
people may very well struggle to worship or even respect a god who intends to
eradicate that which constitutes the core of their identity.
More concerning, in my opinion, are those texts
which suggest that learning is necessarily dependent on hearing. Deuteronomy
31:12 reads, “Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the
sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your
God....” According to Judith Z. Abrams’ Judaism
and Disability, the Talmud of Israel and the Babylonian Talmud (revered
commentaries on the Mishnah, which is “the foundation of rabbinic literature”)
refer to Deuteronomy 31:12 in explaining their association of people who can
neither hear nor speak with the fool and the child: according to both Talmuds,
all three groups of people are exempt from ordinances of the Torah, because
they are deemed incapable of knowing – and consequentially incapable of truly
knowing God (even though the verse asserts that “little ones” can hear and
learn to fear God).
This final observation of Jewish sacred writing
touches on the main observation that I want to make regarding Jewish religious
practices and how they may be perceived by the Deaf: in Judaism, the importance
of hearing, memorizing, and reciting the scriptures cannot be overstated. These
three practices are primary, even essential components of traditional Jewish
piety and of participation in the traditional Jewish community. What does this
mean for those who cannot hear and thus cannot recite well?
These observations and others lead Abrams to
state that “Persons with hearing and speaking disabilities are living, but
otherwise they are so far outside the realm of everyday communal, or even
private, life that they are closer to death than to life. ... [In ancient
Jewish society,] the person with hearing and speaking disabilities is
unquestionably at the bottom.”
ISLAM
As in the previous section, I’ll address sacred
writings and then religious practices.
Based on what I’ve encountered in the Qur’an,
deafness functions exclusively as a metaphor for disobedience. In 2:6, “Allah
hath sealed their [the disbelievers’] hearing and their hearts, and on their
eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be an awful doom.” In 2:171, “The
likeness of those who disbelieve [the messenger] is as the likeness of one who
calleth unto that which heareth naught except a shout and cry. Deaf, dumb,
blind, therefore they have no sense.” In 30:52, “For verily thou [Mohammed]
canst not make the dead to hear, nor canst thou make the deaf to hear the call
when they have turned to flee.”
What would it feel like if an aspect of your
physicality that was inherently linked to your treasured identity got turned
into a symbol for sinfulness?
Regarding religious practices, the
aforementioned concerns regarding Judaism apply to Islam as well. In Striving Together, Charles Kimball
writes, “First and foremost, the Qur’an is meant to be recited, to be heard and
to be experienced. Memorizing and properly reciting the holy book have been,
from the very beginning, important components in the spiritual life of the
faithful.” What are the Deaf to do when their religious tradition’s primary
demonstrations of piety presume the ability to hear? How could Deaf persons
outside of this tradition ever find it appealing?
Furthermore, I suggest that traditional Islamic
piety presents additional stumbling blocks, as two of the five Pillars of Islam
pose significant challenges for fully deaf persons: reciting the shehadah (“There is no god but God, and
Mohammed is his messenger”) and praying five times a day upon the sounding of
the Call to Prayer.
Imagine the shame that Deaf Muslims might feel
at knowing that virtually no one can understand their attempts to recite the shehadah.
Imagine the shame that the young Muslim woman
who is severely hard-of-hearing felt when she turned on the radio in the
deafblind unit and raised the volume very loud while, unbeknownst to her, the
Call to Prayer was sounding, which the majority of Muslims would find
deplorable, and an already-stressed staff member quickly approached her and
angrily yelled, “Haram!” (sin).
...Part two will be shorter, I promise. Perhaps
all of this seems dry and unimportant, but from where I stand, it needs to be
said.
Grace and peace.
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