Tyrion and Disabilities

This guy is too cool.

Last week in class we talked rather extensively about disabilities and its implications within the Bible. For me, this was one of the more heated and active discussions in class and really had me wondering about the ethics surrounding this issue.

We watched a few short clips from documentaries and interviews of various people with disabilities and one in particular featured a dwarfed individual who, when born, was believed by the doctors to never have any kind of cognitive faculties or consciousnesses. Although his parents were hesitant, they kept the child and he grew to be a fully functioning intelligent individual. In his interview, he said that something that immediately struck me as Tyrion Lannister. He said that although his body could not do all that other "normal" people could, he still had his mind and that is what he focused on strengthening.

Now a bit on Tyrion Lannister. He is part of the prestigious Lannister family known for their riches, their looks, and their connection to royalty. His sister Cersei is the queen regent of the Seven Kingdoms and his brother (twin to Cersei) is the captain of the King's Guard and is known to be one of the greatest swordsman in all of the land. Their father, Lord Tywin Lannister, is extremely respected among all--and then there's Tyrion. He was born a dwarf. His birth also resulted in his mother's death who was loved by all, but especially loved by his father. Thus when he was born, he was considered monstrous and mangled. His father wanted nothing to do with him, but the last request of his beloved wife was to care for Tyrion, and so he did. He grew up knowing that he would never be a fearless knight or swordsman like his older brother, so instead he sharpened his wit. He consumed all books that came his way and learned of the histories behind the legends. Tyrion learned that the only way that he could survive in this harsh world would be to outsmart everyone else--and so he did. His lightning-quick wit and genuinely good intentions are what make him one of my personal favorite characters. Yes he desires power, but only to right the wrongs his family (particularly his nephew Joffrey) have created. Tyrion is a complex and refreshing character. He has been wronged by society and by his own family in some of the most severe ways, yet he continually hopes to better his world. I  am making him seem like some soft, sweet character--I know--but he definitely is not. He can be vulgar, his wit is acidic, and he often gives in to his more debase temptations--but that is what makes him such a great character. He is real and multi-dimensional. There are aspects of him that are far from positive, but in his core he is ultimately good and later proves to be an essential element in the development of the story.

Which leads me into our discussion on disabilities. There were several issues brought up in class and one of them was related to whether or not parents have the responsibility to terminate their pregnancy because their child has some kind of disability. The argument here is that their quality of life would be so poor that it would be irresponsible and cruel to allow them to live. Of course then the counter argument was how can we presume to know the quality of life that child may have? We then also asked if individuals with disabilities were also created in the image of God and what exactly makes us human. (Pretty tough stuff!) There were several other pressing issues mentioned which made for a fascinating discussion, but I think for the purpose of this post, I will stick with what I have mentioned above. Tyrion was considered a monster and nearly left for dead upon his birth and his father Tywin thought that he would never amount to anything, but was utterly wrong. The importance Tyrion has and the events he helped shape would not have happened if it wasn't for him. In a similar way, I think of the man mentioned earlier in this post who was believed to never have any rational thoughts or cognition in his life, but grew up to be a highly intelligent individual who touched other people's lives is a testament to the fact that we can not always know what kind of quality of life an individual may have. To assume so would also assume some kind of prophetic vision. I remember in that same video clip was a woman and her daughter with down-syndrome. At some point the mother says that she is blessed to have her daughter in her life and out of nowhere, her daughter says that she is blessed to just be in this world. It was beautiful and further the argument that we should not be the judges of one's quality of life.

We debated on whether or not people with severe disabilities were created in the image of God, and I think the answer is, yes. A classmate mentioned that she believed we all were created after the image of God, but that image was skewed after the fall and that disabilities may be a consequence of that. That may be, but that does not exclude them from the "coveted" list of who is a human being. Rather, it is just another manifestation of humanity as a whole. Furthermore when looked at in light of the New Testament, it seems that we are taught to love one another regardless of race, gender, disease or disability. Jesus himself dined with the outcasts of society. He loved them and so as Christians, is it not our duty to love our neighbor, even if that neighbor is someone whom we consider the outcast? Tyrion, through the love and mercy of his mother survived and grew up to be a character of great importance, without him the Seven Kingdoms would literally be in ruins. In a similar way, the people we saw in the video clips were individuals who have truly touched the lives of others and helped shape them in various ways. It is in those relationships that I think we find the ever elusive image of God.