The Deaf and Blind

[Saviourmachine]

I found an interesting article about the Deaf and Blind in ancient times and how they were embedded in are abandoned from religious activities. I quote extensively:

 

Green and Romans

"It has been said that the ancient Greek and Romans worshipped everything beautiful and strong. This resulted in the execution of all the lame and weak children before the age of three. Some deaf children might have survived, in case the disability was discovered later. The Roman law distinguished between the mute and the deaf, i.e. the profound congenital mute deaf and the late deaf (those who developed hearing loss after speech acquisition), respectively, – the latter were given all the rights stipulated in law (Günther 1993: 167). The Greek historian Herodotus noted that Croesus, the last king of Lydia 560–547 BC, had two sons – one hearer and one deaf. Reportedly he would not recognise his deaf son (see Carver 1995).

 

Egypt

In Egypt, however, a deaf or a person with impaired hearing may have been given important positions. Egyptian priests took young deaf men under their protection and, using a secret method, taught them to read and write. The deaf were good at keeping secrets. The attitude of the Egyptians was based on ancient legends about a divine deaf messenger (see Kotsar & Kotsar 1997, I: 7).

 

Israel

In Judaist society the deaf were attributed a lower social status than the hearers; they were not allowed to have any possessions (further on the topic see Abrams 1999). The attitude of the Israelites was guided by the Law of Moses: Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord (3. Mo 19:14).* The deaf who had harmed a fellow-man or his wealth was not punished. A rhetorical question from the Old Testament comes to mind: And the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? (2. Mo 4:11). In some passages the spiritual condition of a person in great trouble is compared to the deaf or the dumb (Ps 38:14); deafness is perceived as insensitivity to God (Is 6: 10). More recent prophetic texts express the hope that the surrounding environment and the political situation would change, and then the lameness, blindness and deafness would be healed (Is 29: 17–24; 35: 1–6). Deafness is something that should not exist. Analogous thoughts can be found in the New Testament (Mt 11: 5–6). In the story of healing the dead “with the impediment in speech” (Mk 7: 31–37) Jesus acts as a miracle worker, like in analogous stories. Only when the healing is done, people say He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak! (Mk 7: 37, see also Mk 9:25). And the general aim was to eliminate deafness (further on the topic see Gewalt 1991: 19).

 

Middle Ages

Lois Bragg, professor of English at the Gallaudet University (an international university for the deaf and the hard of hearing) in the United States, has studied the attitudes towards deafness and speech impairment in Iceland, Ireland and England in the Early Middle Ages (8th–12th century). Bragg claims that the Pagans perceived the deaf and mute quite differently from the Christians, who associated disabilities with the Devil, the miraculous healings with Jesus and the disabled with the poor and helpless (Bragg 1994: 27–28).

 

Pagans

The Pagans, on the other hand, believed that the disabled were under the protection of gods – or that they were divine. According to L. Bragg, in southern Europe the idea is personified by the blind wiseman or the divinely inspired poet, while the North-European mythology tell us of deaf poets, gods and mythological creatures. According to the Pagan philosophy, deviations from normality, including deafness, were not viewed as an obstacle to normal life, enabling marriage and economic independence. The Christian idea of charity became widespread only after people began to consider these deviations as disabilities, later also as medical problems."

 

* He's using the KJV, but with an awkward reference style. 1 Mo = Genesis; 2 Mo = Exodus; 3 Mo = Leviticus etc.

 

Source: A Hearer's Insight into Deaf Sign Language Folklore (Paales) [PDF]

[Thurisaz]

According to the Pagan philosophy, deviations from normality, including deafness, were not viewed as an obstacle to normal life, enabling marriage and economic independence.

 

Example:

71. The lame rides a horse, | the handless is herdsman,

The deaf in battle is bold;

The blind man is better | than one that is burned,

No good can come of a corpse.

 

* He's using the KJV, but with an awkward reference style. 1 Mo = Genesis; 2 Mo = Exodus; 3 Mo = Leviticus etc.

 

You know, that's the common designation for the Pentateuch here in Germany. 1. / 2. / whatever-th book of Moses.

[duderonomy]

So what's your point??

[Saviourmachine]

So what's your point??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The psychological lesson that is learned through xianity is that to be Deaf is a disability, through other religions the emphasis is upon the positive identity it gives you. It's about the intrinsic value of every individual and the appreciation of the culture of the Deaf (folklore, own languages, sign language poetry, writing Deaf with a capital D), that is perpetuated by belief systems that are definitely not xian. And it seems that they understood this far better that xianity and judaism. I'd say that if a God exists, he didn't reveal himself through judaism and xianity regarding these matters.

[Lizard]

The psychological lesson that is learned through xianity is that to be Deaf is a disability, through other religions the emphasis is upon the positive identity it gives you. It's about the intrinsic value of every individual and the appreciation of the culture of the Deaf (folklore, own languages, sign language poetry, writing Deaf with a capital D), that is perpetuated by belief systems that are definitely not xian. And it seems that they understood this far better that xianity and judaism. I'd say that if a God exists, he didn't reveal himself through judaism and xianity regarding these matters.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's definately true! My son is deaf..and if you call him "disabled" or "handicapped", he will quickly correct you.

 

And I can't tell you the harm the "church" has done to our family over this issue. Not to him, because he couldn't care less..us, the hearing part of the family who "prayed" for healing..and then were told our faith was just not "good" enough..

 

Ok..sorry for the hijack..