EditorialOne of the most touching scenes in Jim Sherdian's Oscar-winning film My Left Foot, features a penalty kick in a street game of soccer (Sheridan, 1989). The film tells the story of the Dublin artist Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy in 1932. Brown grew up in working-class Dublin, fully accepted and integrated into the life of the neighbourhood around him. As a teenager, he was included in the hard-fought games of football played out in the laneways around his house, goalkeeping effectively while lying on the ground. In this particular scene, playing against some boys who do not know Christy well, there is derision and mocking as he is carried forward to take a penalty kick. The opposing keeper is scornful of the threat posed by this severely disabled man, who then promptly places the ball skilfully beyond his reach with the use of his famous left foot. The prejudice that perceives an incongruity between disability and displays of sporting competence was painfully laid bare for that goalkeeper, left to defend his performance against his angry teammates while Christy is warmly celebrated by his companions.In recent years there has been a significant increase in interest from theologians thinking about disability (e.g.,
Theological reflection on economic ethics often follows the tradition of the social sciences in describing economic reality in econometric terms. The numerical imagination of the social sciences is not always an elegant dialogue partner for theological ethical reflection. This can be seen to be the case when we draw upon Karl Barth’s discussion of ‘lordless powers’ to describe the dramatic economic reversal endured in Ireland over the last decade. In this article, I propose that literature represents an important additional dialogue partner for theological reflection. Four Irish novels are proposed as potential grounds for considering the relevance of the lordless power discussion in an Irish context.
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