- Apr 30, 2013
- 30,474
- 18,454
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- United Ch. of Christ
- Marital Status
- Legal Union (Other)
- Politics
- US-Democrat
There is so much focus in the media and religious bodies with same-sex-marriage and LGBT issues... that I feel like the voice of the disabled is being marginalized in the Church. There is still a long ways to go towards integrating disabled individuals into society, and addressing the rollbacks of disabled civil rights that have happened in the last couple of decades (the evisceration of the Americans with Disabilities Act), the cuts to food stamps (SNAP) and Social Security, and so on.
I have Asperger's and low vision. I feel out of place in the institutional church, an outsider. I have been involved with adult Autism and Asperger's support groups off and on for the past couple of years. Adults with Autism are invisible, the perception is falsely that Autism is a childhood disease only. Many adults with Autism live with families that act as caregivers and endure a great deal of hardship out of love, often with less support from the wider community and the government. Many of these people are marginalized from the Christian church, either due to direct disability issues (people with Autism tend to be less religious), or because they feel Christianity has little to say to them, especially little to say to the hardship in their lives.
I've been working through the Social Security system for years. It really angers me to have to fight through a system that is thoroughly stacked against the disabled. I don't know how to deal with it spiritually. I know I am not alone in this issue, there are many adults with autism that rely on their parents for their sole support, but it's still frustrating to face injustice, then be expected to participate in a religious community and have your own perspective ignored in favor of trendy political causes that require no risk at all from the bourgeouise (and honestly that is what being pro-LGBT amounts to- yes I'm pro-LGBT as well but it's a cheap cause, hardly something brave, for a liberal Christian). It really makes you feel like a total outsider to the community, and that doesn't feel very welcoming. In the end, I'm starting to wonder if Christianity should be my spiritual home at all.
I have Asperger's and low vision. I feel out of place in the institutional church, an outsider. I have been involved with adult Autism and Asperger's support groups off and on for the past couple of years. Adults with Autism are invisible, the perception is falsely that Autism is a childhood disease only. Many adults with Autism live with families that act as caregivers and endure a great deal of hardship out of love, often with less support from the wider community and the government. Many of these people are marginalized from the Christian church, either due to direct disability issues (people with Autism tend to be less religious), or because they feel Christianity has little to say to them, especially little to say to the hardship in their lives.
I've been working through the Social Security system for years. It really angers me to have to fight through a system that is thoroughly stacked against the disabled. I don't know how to deal with it spiritually. I know I am not alone in this issue, there are many adults with autism that rely on their parents for their sole support, but it's still frustrating to face injustice, then be expected to participate in a religious community and have your own perspective ignored in favor of trendy political causes that require no risk at all from the bourgeouise (and honestly that is what being pro-LGBT amounts to- yes I'm pro-LGBT as well but it's a cheap cause, hardly something brave, for a liberal Christian). It really makes you feel like a total outsider to the community, and that doesn't feel very welcoming. In the end, I'm starting to wonder if Christianity should be my spiritual home at all.
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