In the course of a lively discussion on my daily commute home on the MARC train, one of my fellow commuters mentioned how she was “disgusted” at an acquaintance’s blunt and public question about whether she practices her religion regularly. Her response was: “Deaf is my religion.” Of course, my eyes widened a bit at that remark. I could probably guess what she was referring to, but wanted to know more. Another commuter sitting across the aisle from me mentioned that there appears to be many parallel similarities between religion as a whole and Deaf (deaf community, deaf culture, and deafness) as a whole.
Throughout that discussion, several parallels were explained, and while I feel some of them may be stretching it a bit, I can see where she (and others who claim Deaf as a religion) was coming from.
In the mid to later part of the 20th century, the deaf club was a popular venue for congregating on a weekly basis, where Deaf people would get together to do activities together, socialize, and be there for a common purpose — because they were deaf. People gather at places of worship for the same purposes.
In the religious community, most of your typical volunteering and fundraising efforts can be found in local churches, temples, and mosques, which is relatively similar in the Deaf community. We find ourselves volunteering our time for deaf-related events, fundraising for deaf-related purposes (i.e. sports, drama productions), and I nodded at that similarity.
There is another parallel: varying beliefs. Just like different dieties have different beliefs, different communities have different values.
Also mentioned in the ride home were the similarities with traditions and customs. Religions have rituals, celebrations, holidays, and other observances while the Deaf community has similar celebrations, rituals, and observances.
“But what about prayer?” another commuter asked the second woman. “For me, it’s hope.” While I didn’t ask her to elaborate, I suspect she was referring to hope for ourselves, hope for accomplishment, and hope for the future. “We have faith in our abilities [as a Deaf person],” she added afterwards.
There is also a common underlying bond within the Deaf community: our embrace of ASL and understanding what it means to be Deaf. This is also same in any particular religion.
I had to hop off at my stop before I could ask for more discussion, but this whole thing got me thinking…can the Deaf community be considered similar to a religion?
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And the Big “D” are the elders or leaders and the little “d” are the sinners who need help?
And who would God be?
Given that it actually takes very little to be considered a “religion” it was bound to come up sooner or later.
Hold up a minute. How can we discuss if deaf culture is a religion if we havent’ even defined what religion is?
Here is what I took from wikipedia. Apologies for cut and pasting all this, but I think we should all take a look at this.
“Religion has been defined in a wide variety of ways. Most definitions attempt to find a balance somewhere between overly sharp definition and meaningless generalities. Some sources have tried to use formalistic, doctrinal definitions while others have emphasized experiential, emotive, intuitive, valuational and ethical factors.
Sociologists and anthropologists tend to see religion as an abstract set of ideas, values, or experiences developed as part of a cultural matrix.
For example, in Lindbeck’s Nature of Doctrine, religion does not refer to belief in “God” or a transcendent Absolute. Instead, Lindbeck defines religion as, “a kind of cultural and/or linguistic framework or medium that shapes the entirety of life and thought… it is similar to an idiom that makes possible the description of realities, the formulation of beliefs, and the experiencing of inner attitudes, feelings, and sentiments.”[3]
According to this definition, religion refers to one’s primary worldview and how this dictates one’s thoughts and actions.
Other religious scholars have put forward a definition of religion that avoids the reductionism of the various sociological and psychological disciplines that reduce religion to its component factors.
Religion may be defined as the presence of a belief in the sacred or the holy. For example Rudolf Otto’s “The Idea of the Holy,” formulated in 1917, defines the essence of religious awareness as awe, a unique blend of fear and fascination before the divine.
Friedrich Schleiermacher in the late 18th century defined religion as a “feeling of absolute dependence.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion
So what are we working from here?
Perhaps not necessarily a religion per se, but a culture, I would venture. However, I’m putting my words back in my mouth–isn’t religion a tenet of culture? Or culture a part of religion?
but, what about a god, or a higher power?
the most important thing in a religion is the thing that you worship, the reason that your all there.
&& if you’re saying that your all there because of being deaf, thats not the same thing.
im not deaf, && maybe thats why i dont under stand this.
but your not deaf by chioce.
you choose your religion.
you choose to live your life a certain way, to live it for god, or not to.
i understand saying that it is a culture, but not a religion.
a religion is based on something completely different.
its what you believe.
its what you live for.
“Religion” carries a lot of context to it, but when we strip it down to its base, it just means a belief system. No god is necessary, and what impressed me on this was when I read this awesome article on basketball as a religion. I can’t remember where but someone probably knows of it or of something similar to it.
When someone says “I exercise religiously,” that is what religion in essence is. A way of life. No different from culture if you’re all in.
The danger here is if someone is against religion or against deafness as a cultural identity, this becomes a convenient but nevertheless false argument. “Deaf is bad! Why, it’s just like idolatry! Point made! *guffaw*”
While I am sure it was an awesome article that undoubtedly was thought-provoking, and I’m well aware there are some zealots out there who do indeed worship the sport of basketball, I would be hard-pressed to define it as an actual religion (although having been born and raised in the state of Indiana, I’m sure I can find some native Hoosiers who would disagree with me).
True on the concept of sports being a “religion”. I just finished an autobiography for a deaf University of Oklahoma football player (Eric Thunander) and I can tell you that in this state [Oklahoma], football is way of life. Everybody here worships God and football. Theogoically speaking, it’s not a religion, but as Virginia had stated above, there are some native Sooners [myself included] that would say otherwise! :-)
Very interesting column. Religion is merely a sociological function provided by society due to the human nature/desire to belong to something; that function allows us to be fulfilled as people. So yeah, being Deaf could be perceived as being a part of a religious group. Parallel to the demoninations that fall under the Christianity umbrella, there are many different types of groups of Deafs that could be considered “different types of worship”. For instance, you have the group of Deafs who are into ASL and Gallaudet. Then you have a group of Deafs who are into ASL, but not Gally. Then you have a different group… the list goes on. Hmmm. Good article. :-)
Joshua
So where do Deaf people go when they die?
Seriously, I find the comparison interesting, but I think the religious parallel is way more of a stretch than you make it out to be. I’d argue that, yes, there’s a parallel between the church/temple/mosque community and Deaf community… in that adherents are faithful to the lifestyles of each community, and that not everyone in each respective group is neccessarily as “pious” as the most gung-ho individuals.
Still, I find it an interesting answer to your fellow commuter’s question about practicing religion regularly. Certainly, the community you belong to becomes synonymous with your public life, no?
Is a religion required to have a position on where people go when they die?
Figures you’d pick apart a tongue-in-cheek comment :-) And the answer is no, of course not, especially in light of the point “Religious” made above when s/he says that religion is just a belief system.
I was, of course, referring to the commonly-held view of religion as a didactic answer to that OTHER big question: “Why are we here on Earth?”
To educate our hearing peers? :)
(slap) Now why didn’t I think of that??
(head ringing like a bell)
Allison does make a good point - if we define religion as being a way of explaining and understanding life and where life comes from… then it would be natural that a part of that understanding would include at the very least a discourse on just what happens when life ceases to exist, even if such religion does not take a position on such.
As an example, Paganism has no universal belief or established position regarding what happens following death. Although many do believe in some form of reincarnation, this is not the standard for all. But that doesn’t stop us from discussing the whole subject of death, and coming up with some of our own thoughts and ideas of where we do go after we die.
I think in this case, we must define what is a “religion”. Are we speaking in terms of theology? Or is it merely more of a metaphor in this case? Just wondering what the commuters really meant by the term “religion”. You know me, I’m always trying to build a case that might not be there. :-)
Joshua
You make an excellent point here, Joshua. I talk a bit about this very thing on my own blog (scroll down below for more info) - how exactly were the commuters really defining religion in this context? As a true spiritual path, or more as an object of one’s devotion?
You and I could probably create our own club - I’m always building cases as well!
I’ve always felt as a D/deaf person that I have a much closer relationship to God than most people. I suspect that is true of most D/deaf people.
Very interesting thoughts and comparisons! I have to agree with some of the other comments. Deafness is more akin to a close-knit culture and/or community than a religion. Why, within our community, we have a wide range of deaf-only temples and churches in addition to surely even more deaf people participating as a group in other (hearing) temples and churches. So, more like an over-arching culture / community with multiple subsets (many of which are of a religious nature).
According to Chambers Concise Dictionary, religion is defined as “belief in, recognition of, or an awakened sense of, a higher unseen controlling power or powers, with the emotion and morality connected with such; rites or worship; any system of such belief or worship; devoted fidelity; monastic life.”
I can see how Deafness qualifies on a number of those. As to the issue of a higher power, Buddhism (in its classic form) is atheistic. However, it still seems a bit strange to define Deafness as a religion, even though I can see the parallels. How would it benefit the Deaf community to be defined as a religion? Wouldn’t you have to have shared beliefs about the divine (or numinous as I prefer to refer to it)? Wouldn’t you have to have a shared belief system, and to define yourselves as a religion? And what if non-Deaf people wanted to join?
Hi, I am copying and pasting my response to one blogger’s email about your blog…
“Yes, I read and the more I think about it, the better it makes sense.
Religions have “rules” or prerequirements that help create them. For DEAF, one must be deaf, know ASL, have some experiences with “deaf” socializing, etc. Must show appreciation for deaf, accept the essence of deaf into oneself. While paganism, must show the appreciation for nature, accept the life-force of nature into oneself.
So cultures are religions themselves?”
Karen Mayes
Haha what if “Hearing” is a religion? Think about it… the closer a deaf person gets to it, the “purer” he is… being hearing will solve all his problems, will “save” him in a sense…
…which would kinda explain why Deaf people have to be “demons.” Unpure, diseased, defective…
Nah that idea couldn’t possibly hold any water. Deaf people defective? Please. Who on this earth has ever thought THAT?
That’s a very intersting take on the purity issue. I never thought of it that way. Sure, I was mainstreamed all my life and “converted” to the Deaf culture when I went to Gallaudet. Nah, you’re right. Doesn’t hold any water, that theory. Maybe it does from the hearing world’s point of view, but certainly not ours. Allison is right… alot of hearing people don’t let go of that “belief” that Deaf people are lost souls in serious need of damsel-style rescuing. At least we always have the option of using that to our advantage when we need special favors from them. ;-) hehe
It’s not just hearing people who hold this belief. Many deaf people do, too. Once “message” of “the Hearing World” has taken hold in the mind, especially when there are no competing messages to counter it, why shouldn’t a deaf person believe it? You are defective. You are disabled. You are not as good as me. You are a burden. You are an annoyance. You take up resources that would be better spent on those worthy of them.
It’s not about conversion because that message surrounded you since birth. So you didn’t CHOOSE anything. That is, not until you were introduced to a different message. And sometimes I think that’s why so many deaf people resist Deaf Culture as much as they do, and mock it, and ceaselessly bash away at it… Deaf Culture by its very existence rocks any pre-existing “Hearing World”-instilled beliefs to the core. And that’s a frightening thing. I mean, what are you going to do once your lifelong religion burns to the ground around you?
You have a very good point there. Celebrating one’s Deafhood sounds almost like the experience of coming out for LGBT people, the way you describe it. Hey maybe LGBT is a religion…
Pretty funny, Chris. We have to talk! From my view at Gallaudet over the last year the Deaf world has defined hearing people as “the devil.” Projected on to us have been the sins of many generations of admittedly ignorant hearing people. For using our voices we are labelled as “evil (audist) oppressors.” This is classic demonizing outsiders in order to solidify a group. Malcolm X did it by calling white people “blue-eyed devils.” Kathy Wood did it by saying “everyone does not belong at Gallaudet.” We live in interesting times!
I will add that on DeafDC I don’t see that kind of projection and boundary drawing very often. Much more thoughtful here!
Oy vey, Chris. Certainly there are some “beliefs” that most hearing people don’t seem to be able to let go of.
Should we equate bible thumpers such as Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, Jimmy Swaggart, et. al. with the proponents of Deaf culture, such as Carl Schroeder and Erick Ketcham?
Yes, there are a lot of similarities between them… each of them have their own vision of what it means to be a good ‘Christian’/'Deaf person.’ And anyone who dares to diverge from that ‘path’ is cursed to eternal damnation, at least in those individuals’ eyes…
And there’s this ‘conversion’ issue…
good points. there’s a certain amount of dogma and zeal to convert in thumpers of all stripes.
Christian, looks like a great way to get rich quick. Just look at the thumpers you mentioned, as well as L. Ron Hubbard. Let’s live the American dream for real!
How about good old Alex G. Bell? Bible Thumper? I would say so. The only difference between him (an Oralist “Bible Thumper”) and an pro ASL/Deaf Culture “Bible Thumper”)is that AGB’s zeal has ALREADY taken over the world, and most of the world is blissfully unaware of the fact…
Some of you have addressed the criterion of a religion such as a belief in afterlife and belief in God, both untestable beliefs, i.e., faith, from the empirical point of view. Others have addressed fundamentalism and “beliefs” in the differences between a believer and an “other”.
These are all hallmarks of a religion.
However, to have an actual religion, you need an officiant of some kind, whether it be a priest, minister, rabbi, cleric, or little Gray Men from Betelgeuse with Anal Probes. You also need a sacred book or text or teaching as a central reference, whether it be Mad Magazine or the Bhagavad Gita. It might also help if you had a prophet or self appointed religious authority that can help clarify some religious minutiae, such as the proper day to put in your nose ring, or the proper way to wash your feet, be it a river, pond, or puddle. Finally, you need some form of ritual that theoretically takes you into the presence of Godhead, such as marriage, death, and burying rats on Kendall Green.
Would there be similar characteristics in Deaf Culture under those standards?
Maybe we feel closer to our higher powers because we’re familiar with suffering? Just like all other minority groups (persons of color) or foreign nationals living in this country. Just a thought.
Ha! I have to argue with that. It doesn’t necessarily follow that since a person is deaf, they have suffered disporportionately compared to their fellow egohost.
For instance, could you really claim that my suffering is much greater, than say, another 31 year old woman in Darfar?
I do not deny that being a deaf person has put me at a disadvantage and some days it’s a uphill battle, and that I’ve had to make compromises and scarifices because of that.
But hey. I’m not in Darfur.
It’s all good, you know?
[…] discovered a post had been put up by Chris Kaftan, entitled “Deaf As Religion?” in which Chris shares his recent experience discussing Deafness as possibly being a religion in and […]
Interestingly enough, I got a response to my post from a deaf individual stating
“Not a religion no, maybe a magnificent obsession with some!”
As I responded there….interesting thought.
Any of you wanna head over there and share your thoughts on such a comment? IS Deaf indeed a “magnificent obsession” with some?
If being deaf can be considered a religion - who’s the idiot “god” who declared, who can be accepted and who cannot…. who is deaf enough and who is not.
LOL! I was thinking the same thing……..
CK … this has gotta be the least interesting post you’ve made. sorry. I just expected more from you.
You know that expression… “Can’t please all of the people all of the time.”
I think CK brought up an interesting viewpoint I hadn’t thought about before.
I agree with Vikki - defintely never thought about it this way before… I know in the past, I have discussed with friends how far some people are willing to take their Deafness — As if its the only reason to wake up each day and smell the roses. BUT I never actually thought of making the connection… Deaf as a Religion… in a way you could definitely say Deaf culture is almost like a warped cult.
Nice to see I’m not the only one out there thinking this :-)
Obviously the idiot God who controls the definition of D/deaf is the same God as the “Children of a Lesser God.”
Fashionista:
Care to expand on what you meant by your comment? I am scratching my head here and so are a couple of other people.
It was a failed attempt at humor. Sorry about that.
No apologies needed. It’s refreshing that you were being honest..and own up to it…unlike SOME people. ;-)