People with disabilities are less valuable than able-bodied people. To what extent must religion reject this view?

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Aleksander Filipczak        Religious Studies

3b. ‘People with disabilities are less valuable than able-bodied people.’

To what extent must religion reject this view?

Within Christianity, all human beings are made in Gods image, and at the same time, thus all, those with disabilities and not, are equal and as valuable.( As seen in Genesis 1:27 - So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female.) Therefore Christianity goes against the statement of disabled people being less valuable than able bodied, which can be seen in the following arguments –

Firstly, we are all Gods’ children, created in his image. God does not judge us depending on our race, gender or bodily ability, as we are all created in his image, therefore we share his righteousness not his physical image. We are judged upon our oneness relationship with God, and how we accept Gods’ righteousness and grace. Therefore, just because society defines disabled people as abnormal, such as lepers who are looked down upon in the New Testament, they do not distort the image of God because of their physical image, and as long as they experience Gods’ grace and engage in a relationship with God, they are equal in Gods eyes. As we all are the children of the Lord, we should all be respected and looked at in the same way, and not as lesser, as we are all unique due to the fact that we are created by God.

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Some can argue against, as in many sources, and especially the bible, disabilities are seen as less valuable assets. Firstly, within the bible, there are many references to people with leprosy, and are seen as people which have sinned or are out of Gods favour. As people with disabilities are only ‘copies’ of the able bodied people, they might be linked to less value. In Leviticus 13, Lord talks to Moses and Aaron, and tells them that those who are diagnosed with leprosy are to be announced ‘unclean.’ This suggests that people with disabilities are not as equal as able ...

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