Sports, Religion and Disability

This ground-breaking book provides a fascinating insight into the relationship between sports (and leisure), religion and disability. In the shadow of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, at which athletes that were both able-bodied and disabled, provided an extravaganza of sporting excellence and drama, this text is a timely and important synthesis of ideas that have emerged in two previously distinct areas of research: (i) 'disability sport' and (ii) the 'theology of disability'. Many of the elite athletes at this global sporting mega-event often explicitly displayed their religious beliefs, and in turn their importance in the context of sport, by observing different religious rituals, and or, utilising the multi-faith sports chaplaincy service. This raises a whole range of unanswered questions with regard to the intersections between sports, religion and disability, which to-date has been under- researched. Examples of subjects addressed in this text include: elite physical disability sport--Paralympics; intellectual disability sport--Special Olympics; reflections on the illness narrative of the cyclist Lance Armstrong through the lens of the theology of 'radical orthodoxy'; the application of biblical athletic metaphors in understanding modern conceptions of disability sport; the role of sport and spirituality in the rehabilitation of injured British Military personnel, and; the importance of sports and leisure in L'Arche communities. This book begins a critical conversation on these topics, and many others, for both researchers and practitioners. This book was based on two special issues of the Journal of Religion, Disability and Health.

Dr Nick J. Watson is Senior Lecturer in Sport, Culture and Religion at York St John University (YSJU), UK, and is head of pastoral care for sports students. He was the Founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Sport and Spirituality (YSJU, 2003-2009) and is the co-author / editor of a number of books on sport and Christianity. Andrew Parker is Professor of Sport and Christian Outreach and Director of the Centre for Sport, Spirituality and Religion (CSSR) in the Faculty of Applied Sciences at the University of Gloucestershire, UK. He is former co-editor of the International Journal of Religion and Sport.

Preface 1. Special Olympians as a 'Prophetic Sign' to the Modern Sporting Babel 2. Disability as a Path to Spiritual Enlightenment: An Ethnographic Account of the Significance of Religion in Paralympic Sport 3. Running the (Special) Race: New (Pauline) Perspectives on Disability and Theology of Sport 4. Towards a Theology of Disability Sport: A Misconstrued Game Plan 5. The Experience of Spirituality and Disability Sport for British Military Personnel Traumatically Injured in Iraq and Afghanistan: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis 6. Nature-Based Recreation, Spirituality, and Persons with Disabilities 7. Researching Religion, Disability, and Sport: Reflections and Possibilities 8. "Celebration" as the Spiritual Expression of Leisure and Sport: Reflections on the L'Arche Tradition and the Special Olympics 9. A Modern Conception of Flesh: Towards a Theology of Disability Sport 10. A Postcolonial Approach to Understanding Sport-Based Empowerment of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Zambia: The Case of the Cultural Philosophy of Ubuntu 11. Radical Orthodoxy and the Emergence of Spiritual Hero-Athletes: Examining Lance Armstrong's "Illness" Narrative 12. Meet My Exes: Theological Reflections on Disability and Paralympic Sport-A Continuum of Ephemeral Deaths and Eternal Resurrection 13. Triumph From Anguish: The Inspiration of the Special Olympics 14. Christianity, Sport and Disability: A Case Study of the Role of Long-Distance Running in the Life of a Father and his Son who is Congenitally Blind and has Profound Intellectual Disabilities