The Disabled God

This semester our YL Capernaum Immersion Staff Associates in Nashville have been given the opportunity to participate in a weekly study group with Jaco Hamman, professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School. We recently read and discussed the book The Disabled God by Nancy L. Eiesland. We realize that the world we live in has a lot of separation; race, gender, and religion are a few of the hot topics. There are many people who are aiming at unity, but we wonder if we are trying to fix a problem that wouldn’t be there if the “majority” group didn’t create the differences in the first place. In Eiesland’s book she states, “Unity is a worthwhile goal but a unity that silences the call of

marginalized people for justice is not true unity.” If we are trying to create a oneness of people, she asks if we are engaging in dialogue with one another; are we getting to know what the marginalized group wants? Everyone in this world wants to be heard. We all want to be known and have someone listen. Eiesland says that we need to create a liberatory theology for our friends with disabilities. Having a liberatory voice gives our friends the freedom to have dialogue. Rather than working separately, we should be working alongside each other towards unity!

As an example of lack of listening, she talked about receiving Communion at her church. She mentions that instead of the church making the communion line accessible to her, they bring the bread and wine to her where she is seated in her wheelchair. We thought of numerous times in which we have “adapted” for our friends by bringing things to them. What we thought was meeting them where they are may have felt to them like keeping them out of the process. The idea of asking for their opinion before adapting is so important. We want to be asked- so do our friends with differing abilities.

As we think and pray about diversity in the mission of YL, this book has challenged us and taught us some additional ways that groups of people are excluded, often unintentionally. While some of what the author writes may seem extreme, we tried to lean in to new ways of thinking in order to nudge ourselves closer to the truth.

In order to introduce this book to you, here are some thoughts the author shares on commonalities shared by minority groups who have been excluded - these are written from the perspective of a person with a disability:

• The author talks about the common lack of commitment amongst able-bodied persons to acknowledge and appreciate the many people with disabilities who have worked for the simple right to work, to get on a bus, and to be seen for who they are instead of what they aren’t. 
• She defines access or accessibility as not only restricted to physical modifications in personal living space or facilities. Rather she expands access to include participation throughout society as a legally protected right. Accessibility then means the availability of the same choices accorded to able-bodied people. 
• And she mourns the common misuse of stories - the standard tales of “overcomers,” the genre of literature that elevates the individual who conquers disability and achieves success. These stories often leave the impression that with great personal effort people with disabilities can overcome physical limitations and social barriers. These stories emphasize personal effort as determinative of success and failure and ignore discrimination and disabling social policies.

As we grow in YL Capernaum, I pray that we will be good listeners, that we will ask great questions, that we will give people choices, and that we will appreciate and celebrate diversity.