Cultural/Spiritual Attributions as Independent Variables in the Development of Identity and Potential for Persons of Exceptionality: A Case Study of North American Christianity and Native American Religious Influence
In Anglo social and religious culture, personal biological characteristics of exceptionality result in social attributions of inferiority, reduced social responsibility and reduced status. In Native American social and religious culture, these same personal characteristics result in social attributi...
| Published in: | Journal of religion, disability & health |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2001
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| In: |
Journal of religion, disability & health
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| Further subjects: | B
Disability
B Spirituality B Calling B Native American |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In Anglo social and religious culture, personal biological characteristics of exceptionality result in social attributions of inferiority, reduced social responsibility and reduced status. In Native American social and religious culture, these same personal characteristics result in social attributions and expectations of extraordinary ability, increased social responsibility, and honored status. A principle shared by both, however, is that the Life experience of each person can be a Divine Calling. Religious and socio-cultural attributions operate as independent variables of socialization asserting far stronger effects upon the real life outcomes of human exceptionality than biology ever may. Assumptions of Selfhood and of exceptionality within Native American Spirituality and North American Christianity are compared and contrasted, proposing an analysis using the bell curve in an unorthodox manner to unify both perspectives. Specific examples are drawn from the author's own experience as a full professor and academic chair, psychologist, minister, elder and seer of Mohawk Native American ancestry, and as a person who grew up as a retarded, severely multiply disabled child receiving the socialization of both cultures and belief systems. The author concludes with a proposal that we return to the shared principle of each culture: that the life experience of each person can be a Divine Calling. This principle is illustrated through her successful interventions with severely disabled children, one of whom she has adopted. It is suggested that we do not use our religions, our sciences, our belief systems, our cultures, as weapons of reductionistic authoritarianism that diminish the quality and potential of any human life. |
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| ISSN: | 1522-9122 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of religion, disability & health
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1300/J095v05n02_07 |