“Oh God! Why Did You Let Me Have This Disability?”: Religion, Spirituality and Disability in Three African countries

Abstract

Oh God! Why did you let me have this disability?': religion, spirituality and disability in three African countries BackgroundReligion and spirituality are some of the central philosophies in coping with disability (Claasens, Shaikh, Swartz 2018). Spirituality is a broader term and may be viewed as an umbrella concept under which one finds religion; the latter is concerned with public participation in a faith community with specific practices and doctrines (Walker, 1992). Phillips (2003) as cited by Marin & Glover-Graf (2011) perhaps best describes this difference in defining religion as "an extrinsic organized faith system grounded in institutional standards, practices, and core beliefs, while spirituality is intrinsic personal beliefs and practices that can be experienced within or without necessarily belonging to a religious affiliation". Both religion and spirituality have varying influences on the lives and experiences of individuals living with disabilities. These phenomena not only provide the basis for creating meaning in their lives but also offer the much needed platform for reflecting on the 'what would have been' if they weren't living with their disabling condition. Whether or not, the individual is religious, the interrogation of the way spirituality informs conceptions of disability is in most cases inevitable. Overall, spiritual beliefs greatly influence perceptions of people with disabilities, of themselves, others, and the world (Dellassoudas, 2000).Although, Africans are widely considered to be among some of the most highly religious and spiritual individuals in the world, the extent to which these two concepts influence their perceptions of life remain a matter of debate. The situation is compounded by the multiplicity of religious beliefs and practices found across the wide range of societies on the continent.Conceptualisations of the ancestors play an important role in structuring religious experience and social life--so much so that African kin groups are sometimes described as communities of both the living and the dead (Woodhead, 2002). The discourses of religion and Africa is complex, as scholars explore the effect of colonialism, universalism, secularization or even the multiplicity of faiths on African spirituality.Religious thinking influences how non-disabled people respond to persons with disabilities. For example, in the context of Nigeria, Etieyibo and Omiegbe (2016) argue that African Traditional Religion influences some of these attitudes and behaviours more than orthodox Christianity and Islam do. They cite violence and murder directed towards people with albinism and the consequent use of body parts in rituals; communal violence against people with mental illness; as well as the recourse to begging by disabled children and adults. Education and counselling can

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