Deaf People & Issues of Religion & Spirituality
For many Deaf people, religion is an important and integral part of their lives. Yet, because of communication barriers, many Deaf people feel excluded from mainstream faith groups. This is due to lack of interpreters in their mainstream groups, lack of understanding and sensitivity from other regular worshippers.
Because of the special needs of being Deaf and its Deaf culture, many Deaf faith groups have set up as independent gatherings. This is not intentionally to exclude themselves from the main faith group they belong to, but rather as means to access their religious practices in sign language and shared solidarity of other Deaf religious believers. Some mainstream faith groups do provide sign language interpreters in one of their scheduled regular services.
Some of the faiths and religions that Deaf people are involved in include:
- Christianity
- Judaism
- Buddism
- Islam.
