"I jump into a sand pit for a living"
Sport, Disability and the Olympics
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An Exploration of the Status and Prophetic Role of the Special Olympic Movement in Light of London 2012
Watson, N.J The Bible in Transmission, Spring 2012: 14-16. Full text available, see: http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/uploads/content/bible_in_transmission/files/2012_spring/BiT_Spring_2012_Watson.pdf
In the light of the overwhelming success of the London Paralympics, this article written before the Games has now a rather dated feel.
I greatly welcome Nick Watson’s aim in this article “to provide some provisional thoughts on how Christians may understand disability in sport”. He is horrifying correct to state that “theological analysis has been virtually non-existent”,
I found the way he moved between Paralympics and Special Olympics a little confusing but was challenged by his suggestion that Jesus’ “gospel was not one of success, winning and competition” but was rather characterised by a ‘theology of vulnerability which sits more comfortably with disability sport than with non-disabled.
As Moltmann put it: “a person with disabilities gives others the precious insight into the woundedness and weakness of human life”.
I am grateful to Nick for raising the issues