Why Christian’s Upset Me

One of my coworkers has a pretty different take on religion, and life in general, than I do (she’s a very religious evangelical christian who always wants to “leave things in HIS hands,” I’m some kind of non-denominational jew with a brand of judaism focused on community, queering judaism, activisty stuff mixed with some agnosticness). Anyways… once she received a call from someone she had prayed for who said that the test came back and she didn’t have breast cancer. She was saying, see, the lord takes care of you, whenever I pray for someone it always works out, the Lord doesn’t let anyone down, you just have to ask. So… what does that mean about me since I did get diabetes? Do I deserve it cause I’m not godly enough? God didn’t think I was worth healing, or noone with magic powers like her prayed for me?

The other problem with that is that the only definition of being taken care of by God is perfect “normal” health & wellness. I know there are some differences between the way sickness and disability play out, but I still thought this was related.

i absolutely love Day’s point about ableism knowing no boundaries and that it is also the responsibility of the disability community to influence communities of faith. i think it can be difficult for personal reasons but we’re only hurting ourselves if we don’t attempt to knock down barriers in all arenas.

it’s a tad ironic to use the word “healing” in this conversation but it seems like this is a discussion that must be held so the scars of all these hard moments can fade away and we can continue with life.

i love you all. : )

I wonder how much the make-up of the church plays into the mindset. I was very active in a congregation that was mere blocks from a college campus so the majority of members were younger. Did that make a difference?

Also, are churches any more guilty than the “pity” model voiced by regular members of society. Don’t forget this site was one of the co-hosts of the “Say No to Pity” Anti-MDA Telethon blogswarm (I’m sure I butchered the title there). This fallacy about people with disabilities is prevalent throughout society.

*grins* But I’m also an advocate at heart…as well as a lobbyist. Many churches have VERY strong advocacy networks. Why is it that we…the ACTIVE disability community has not managed to engage them in disability advocacy? Why haven’t we worked to outreach and build into their networks? I honestly cannot say that we have made a good effort to do so. In Washington, I DO know that the lobbyists and policy folks have worked together on disability legislation - Lutheran Services, Catholic Charities etc.,(they both have some great people that I’m proud to work with)have been VERY supportive, but I am ashamed to admit that I haven’t done the same outreach locally. I haven’t attempted to change attitudes on a personal level.

I am reminded that the civil rights movement started out in the churches. They were a source of strength and support and one we would do well to at the very least, try to bring in to the ‘disability’ fold.

As I said, this thread gave me much to consider. Perhaps this is our wake-up call and challenge…

We do not conform to cultural norms and therefore become the objects of concerns to the religious. Just by our existence, we upset their paradigm, raise questions, challenge the status quo. Rather than exercise intellect, they try to change us to fit their views because it’s the easy way.

People with disabilities are better off steering clear of such closed minded establishments.

Very interesting how this intersects with disability. When I first moved south, I immediately noticed that certain Baptist churches wouldn’t allow AA meetings. They disagreed with the whole illness “concept”, and believed alcoholism was a sin, period. So, no meeting places for sinners! A local preacher (in AA!) told me that was Arminian rather than Calvinist, echoing what you have said here.

I’d love to read your take on all of this!

When one of our ADAPT Members died, we went to his funeral and the pastor was getting revved up saying, he can walk in heaven,he doesn’t need his wheelchair in heaven. Then one of our folks yelled out, “Maybe Heaven is accessible!”

To be fair, that is the attitude i had when i was a fundamentalist Christian, and it’s about the only intellectually consistent attitude that a fundamentalist Christian can have about the issue…

Oh shit. I said “intellectually consistent” and “fundamentalist Christian” in the same sentence…

Then again, my fundie church was a weird one. It was very anti-racist, anti-poverty and politically quite socialist, but rabidly anti-gay, anti-feminist and anti-any-non-Christian-religion. There were a lot of ex-Muslims in it (it was in a roughly equally mixed white and Pakistani immigrant area).

Disabled people were also welcome there, although they did get the “prayer for healing” stuff. It seemed to be more aimed at the people with acquired impairments, though. The pastor adopted a girl with learning disabilities and there were other learning disabled people there who were “accepted as God made them”.

In my observation, people with impairments actually seem more likely to be religious than the non-disabled population. When those people develop a disabled identity, tho, they tend to either reject religion altogether or it mutates into a much less prescriptive and/or authoritarian form…