ABSTRACT
As Bullock and Mahon ( 1997 ) stated, “Two basic views in the ancient world existed regarding the etiology of disability. One attributed illness to supernatural or divine intervention, and the other view was that illness and disability were due to natural causes” (pp. 19-20). Many religious traditions characterized particular physical and sensory diff erences as inhuman or refl ective of sin, and therefore “justifi ably” barred particular people from equal participation in worship and other facets of public life (Shapiro, 1999 ; Stiker, 1997 ). Changes in ways of thinking about social inequality are noticeable over time. Baynton ( 2001 ) describes:
Since the social and political revolutions of the eighteenth century, the trend in Western political thought has been to refuse to take for granted inequalities between persons or groups. Diff erential and unequal treatment has continued, of course, but it has been considered incumbent on modern societies to produce a rational explanation for such treatment (p. 33).
