ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how each of the major western and eastern religions interprets disability in the light of its scriptures and theological traditions.
Young claims that the efficacy of medical practices can be judged on empirical, scientific and symbolic grounds. Empirical proofs are 'con firmed through events in the material world, and explained by coherent sets of ideas'.1 Contradictions are resolved by invoking special circum stances. For example, the Amhara of Ethiopia explain the failure of an amulet to protect against disease in terms of either a fault in the manufacture of the amulet, or the obliteration of the text in the amulet. This mirrors exactly the explanation given by the Lubavitcher Rebbe for the failure of the Mezuzot on the doorpost to protect the inmates of the house.2 Young also points out that, in many societies, knowledge is esoteric and is only possessed by 'experts' or magicians.
