This ground-breaking book provides a fascinating insight into the relationship between sports (and leisure), religion and disability in both elite sport and recreation and leisure contexts. In the shadow of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympic Games, at which athletes that were both able-bodied and disabled, provided an extravaganza of sporti
"The relationship between religion, sport, and disability is a field of enquiry that has been gaining a good deal of traction recently. The subtle but fascinating tensions between the desire to win and the humility and alternative goals that many religious systems require open up a fascinating and multifaceted interdisciplinary conversation that has the potential to enhance and challenge both religion and sport ? It is this tension between strength and weakness, competition and humility that runs like a golden thread through the text ? The book comprises 14 essays written by people coming from a variety of different perspectives. The interdisciplinary nature of the text means that it is both theoretically rich and practically helpful. Taken together, the essays function to create a rich bricolage of perspectives that gives the reader deep insights into the important connections between religion, sport, and disability ? This is a fascinating and original book that has important theoretical and practical implications. In particular, the papers that use qualitative research to gain first-hand experience of disability and sport offer vital insights for practitioners into the ways that people with disabilities perceive and use sport and the therapeutic significance of such engagement ? As a resource this book functions well at both the scholarly and the practical level. For those already working in the field, the book offers some fresh original thinking. For those who are just beginning their interest in disability and sport, this book is an ideal introduction to many of the key issues."- Professor John Swinton, Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly"This volume brings together two issues of the Journal of Religion and Disability, adding a new introduction and preface by the well-known disability ministry figure Joni Erickson Tada as well as a previously unpublished final chapter by the editors. The volume was conceived as a response to the Londo