God made us neither whole nor holy

[PetrChelcicky]

I'm just reading the new edition of Anabaptist World which concentrates on "ableism". And I beg to differ. I am not at least convinced that this fighting "ableism" is a Christian tradition, rather it serves "the spirit of our times".
In those matters I make an exception and rely on Karl Marx who reasonably said: Everyone (should work) according to his (different) abilities, everyone (should be given) according to his (different) needs.
I start with the completely over-the-edge headline "God made me whole and holy". No, by birth we are neither whole nor holy.
But with the help of God we can develop a sense of soberness. Which allows us to see where we are incomplete and in what way we are less able than some other more gifted people we know. But for to develop this sense we must speak about those facts and not hide them. (Of course this is mostly a problem for handicaps which are not visible in the first five seconds.)
Also with the help of God we can learn to diminish our claims on others, not to inflate them, and to set them in relation to the claims that other people have on us.
There's the woman in a weelchair who feels that she is "not welcome" as a "leader" (but only as a worshipper!), because there are stairs before the culprit. (Now I must admit that I am here at odds wirh American Mennonites who constantly speak about "leadership". What exactly should it be and what purpose does it serve?) If she sees that indeed people feel the need for a leader she should start with developing her "leaderly" gifts, and probably if people see her as the leader they need they will dismantle the stairs. Starting with the stairs means putting the cart before the horse.
The spirit of our times is, firstly, to pretend that all people are equally gifted, and, secondly, that people should first consider what society can do for them (and, at best, look the other way round afterwards). And my gut feeling is that I would not want to live that way.

[PetrChelcicky]

I think that ableism is an important problem because it is at the - sometimes overlooked -center of debates about gender, race, equality and "meritocracy". We have to accept that individuals are not at least equal w.r.t. their abilities. From which follows that, if we sort individuals into groups, the average ability of the groups (counted by median or mean or whatever), will not be equal, too.
But modern humans are often unable to accept the simple fact of individual unequal abilities. So they evade into the idea: Yes, A and B are unequal as persons. But A and B are at least equal as the "mere representants of their group". Which is a primitive way to avoid soberly accepting the facts.

[Josh]

Perhaps that woman should go to an Amish or Old Order Mennonite church that took a stance against raised pulpits. Then she won’t have any trouble with wheeling around to sing in the front…

…except those groups don’t have anybody up front singing. Everyone sings equally from the benches.

[ken_sylvania]

Perhaps that woman should go to an Amish or Old Order Mennonite church that took a stance against raised pulpits. Then she won’t have any trouble with wheeling around to sing in the front…

…except those groups don’t have anybody up front singing. Everyone sings equally from the benches.

Some have a singing table but I think that would also be accessible by wheelchair.

[barnhart]

I'm just reading the new edition of Anabaptist World which concentrates on "ableism". And I beg to differ. I am not at least convinced that this fighting "ableism" is a Christian tradition, rather it serves "the spirit of our times".
In those matters I make an exception and rely on Karl Marx who reasonably said: Everyone (should work) according to his (different) abilities, everyone (should be given) according to his (different) needs.
I start with the completely over-the-edge headline "God made me whole and holy". No, by birth we are neither whole nor holy.
But with the help of God we can develop a sense of soberness. Which allows us to see where we are incomplete and in what way we are less able than some other more gifted people we know. But for to develop this sense we must speak about those facts and not hide them. (Of course this is mostly a problem for handicaps which are not visible in the first five seconds.)
Also with the help of God we can learn to diminish our claims on others, not to inflate them, and to set them in relation to the claims that other people have on us.
There's the woman in a weelchair who feels that she is "not welcome" as a "leader" (but only as a worshipper!), because there are stairs before the culprit. (Now I must admit that I am here at odds wirh American Mennonites who constantly speak about "leadership". What exactly should it be and what purpose does it serve?) If she sees that indeed people feel the need for a leader she should start with developing her "leaderly" gifts, and probably if people see her as the leader they need they will dismantle the stairs. Starting with the stairs means putting the cart before the horse.
The spirit of our times is, firstly, to pretend that all people are equally gifted, and, secondly, that people should first consider what society can do for them (and, at best, look the other way round afterwards). And my gut feeling is that I would not want to live that way.

I agree with nearly everything here, and especially with the conclusion.