With the advancement of technology, the world went from isolated communities with little contact to a world of mingling. People from many backgrounds are now living together with wildly different traditions, cultures, and value systems.
The one idea that can improve animosity over differences is inclusion. This idea won’t save the world, but it will certainly help. However, it isn’t solely about skin color and other factors. It also trickles down to practicing faith in the deaf community.
Let’s explore how faith communities are advancing access and acceptance.
The Impact of Religion on Society
It’s no surprise that religion impacts society. Religion can create a strong foundation for society. Practice faith promotes moral values, a healthy and stable family, and marriage.
According to the Pew Research Center, religion emphasizes a collectivist culture. Collectivist culture builds that sense of togetherness and a connection humans spend their lives trying to maintain. It’s a tribal instinct to feel like you belong to the community.
People who follow a religion tend to be part of a greater community. They are more likely to better connect with their family and be more involved in their community through activities like volunteering.
Social Stability
An integral part of religion is its impact on social issues. Research presented by the Heritage Foundation states that religion plays a positive role in creating social stability. Regularly attending church can help people get out of poverty, and it especially helps younger people who lack guidance.
For the deaf community, regularly practicing religion can also have the same benefits. Mental health is also an issue in the deaf community. It is associated with feelings like social isolation and lack of access to public services. Religion can provide that stability with a larger community that positively impacts their well-being and helps them refrain from temptations.
Another way that religion can provide social stability is through organizations that assist with social welfare, like establishing deaf schools and employment services for those in the community who are in need.
The Role of Religion in the Deaf Community
The deaf community practices religion for the same reason as the hearing community. They want to practice something with the potential of a spiritual connection and improve their overall well-being. Practicing an organized religion holds many benefits for the deaf community.
The deaf community builds small communities with volunteering, events, and social groups to maintain that sense of belonging and understanding with one another.
Inclusion in the Religious Community
Inclusion is respecting other people, even if they are different from you. There are many forms of Sign Language, deaf culture, and communities worldwide. That’s why inclusion in religion is important for the minority deaf community.
Inclusion is what gives the deaf community access in the first place. It promotes the idea that anyone is welcome. Religious inclusion gives deaf people equal access and allows the hearing community to see more commonalities than meets the eye. Today, there is still so much marginalization because of the fear of different skin color, ethnicity, belief system, and physical characteristics, notably for deaf people.
Why Accessibility is Crucial
How does one cope with living in a world of hearing? Some turn to external things that can negatively impact them, like drugs and other erratic behaviors. Others will turn to vices that have a positive effect on their life. An example of this is organized religion. Those who want to participate in faith want to be part of that large community.
Unfortunately, the number of deaf churches, mosques, and other sacred places isn’t common. It is all due to the general awareness of the needs of the deaf community. Of course, the deaf community tries to integrate into a hearing church, but everything is lost in meaning. There’s some frustration when a deaf person can’t fully have the whole experience during a religious service.
Accessibility for Deaf People: The Current Situation
Religious organizations can provide more access to health, education, and a community to those who practice it. Worshippers can also depend on their religious community for emotional and moral support throughout their everyday lives.
The thing is that non-deaf people have a choice. They have better access to how and where they practice their faith. The issue facing the deaf community has always been accessibility to anything. It goes beyond religion. But it’s hard to live in a world where you were born as a deaf person or became deaf later in life. There are feelings of abandonment by society or the community.
Excluding Deaf People With Sign Language
The exclusion of deaf people in the faith community is evident where the use of Sign Language isn’t welcome or not well integrated into the practice. Inclusion helps because it looks beyond all the differences, especially for understanding the spiritual message. While these differences are hard to combat due to the lack of resources for translators/interpreters, it’s necessary for progress.
Ultimately, inclusion shows that deaf people share similar values and traditions as hearing people. The deaf community has a distinct culture, but religion is about having a space to practice the same beliefs openly. In addition, by continuing to open the faith community to welcome more deaf people. That strategy uses the physical difference between hearing and deaf people and can be a tool to work together for greater accessibility.
A Brighter Future for the Deaf Worshippers
Awareness is the key, and we have explored that in related posts. While there haven’t been monumental changes for the deaf community, the small efforts make a difference. Min Seo Park was the first ordained deaf priest in Asia. In his native South Korea, he established a deaf Catholic church, which opened accessibility for deaf Koreans.
In North America, deaf accessibility is growing, with some established churches operating in Sign Language. There are also hearing churches providing access to interpreters for services, live broadcasts with closed captions, and other helpful ways to improve the experience for the deaf community.
How are companies and other organizations providing inclusion to the deaf community? Learn more at https://www.unspokenasl.com/
Thumbnail Photo Credit to: “Warsaw People 01 – IMG_2245” by Nicola since 1972 is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse.
