Monday, 17 January 2011
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Why Should Christians Care About Neurodiversity?
Why should Christians care about Neurodiversity? I'll tell you. For one thing, I've seen quite a few types of brains in our Churches. Inattentive ADHD. Mild MR. Schizophrenia. Autism. Autism symptoms. More Autism. Mood disorder. Still more Autism. Maybe a few half-normal Pentecostals. That's a lot of Autistics and normal people, huh?
God loves us just as much as He loves you!
He loves sinners and saved, eccentrics and normals alike. Look, He even loves this irritating high functioning autistic I know. She can seem like exactly the sort you wouldn't want to try to understand. Turned off at the normals, and doesn't think religion is rational and stuff.
But who are we to deny God the pleasure of any mind, body or soul that He created through inaction?
Who are we to say that He doesn't deserve to have to deal with "that kind?" We know who we're really worrying for. Ourselves. We're afraid we're going to make fools of ourselves.
You know, Jesus chilled with -- the Woman at the well, Mary Magdalene! Hey, He warned Peter about his' denial, yet He gave him the Keys to the Kingdom!
Aside from that, "let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Well? God loves all His children. Would you deny Him the pleasure of some because you think He derives as much pleasure from our stereotypies as you do? You may or may not understand. But One Who Is omniscient could quite possibly see past the behaviour and see the nonverbal communication.
In closing, I would like to say that in Church, I have seen many things that resemble stereotypes. Normal people, with intense emotion. One wonders what it would be like with not so normal people. When I'm at my happiest, man. You don't wanna see me like that. I mean, it looks really weird, but I'm having fun. It's an explosive, huge expression, and I'm having a wonderful time. I don't think you guys are even aware of that particular degree of emotion.
But my point is, would it not be appreciable as praise to One who made physical contact with Lepers? To One who loves us so much, that He endured an excruciating and infernal battle for us?
Whether our brain has dopamine differences or sensory differences, so-called 'Normalcy' or attention issues -- any kind of difference, really -- honest expression and communication of love between parent and child would be something He desires.Does someone who goes to your church have a neurological, behavior or psychological disorder that makes them seem different? Does your church family embrace that person? Have you felt shunned at church because something about who you are made you different?
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Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 1 Views: 0 569 Comments: 0 9 View all posts by shinobu_no_okami@autisable
Comments (9)
"Neurodiversity" seems to be such a loaded, PC, liberal term.
Nice post. I think God gives us an opportunity to interact with people of all abilities to help teach us. I know that having a boy who has autism in our Sunday school class helped my students to be a little more understanding and compassionate. I hate to see when people don't treat EVERYONE in a loving, Christian way.
@NightCometh@xanga - What would you suggest the author use instead? Did you notice that the president recently (a few months ago) signed a bill to change "mentally retarded" to "intellectual disability"? Goofy stuff. Not for this post.
Sadly, shunning happens in many churches today. Jesus went to the lowest, the "worst," the most unwanted people of all & so should we! God's heart is for those kinds of people & is for us when we feel that way too. I pray that the global church welcomes all people with open arms, but also points them to the Bible's Truth on all life matters instead of avoiding those things for fear of offending them.
I am an evangelical who has (hopefully temporarily) left the Church because I got sick of people claiming I needed to be healed of my hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, and Asperger's, all of which are neurological conditions/things that God created me with. They laugh my interpretation of things off because I make them too uncomfortable. Saying I need to accept my "healing" just makes their lives so much easier. I am sick of being hurt and have no time for a body that claims to be for the broken and beat up but rejects me because I am not homogeneous like them.
@NightCometh@xanga - Apologies-- It's just what I know to call it. It's not really so bad a word. What did you think of it?
@http://katja88.xanga.com/ Thanks for the support. As you could surmise, it is a very important issue for me.
@MDrabing83@xanga - Just my point. :D
@CrazySwede@xanga - Just tell them you're used to it, and you've heard on good authority that major changes shred the identity. I hope your relations get better. I've almost been in your place.
Thanks for commenting!
@shinobu_no_okami@autisable - You don't have to apologize, silly. I just don't like the term because I think it's kinda loaded.
I just think we should treat people on an individual level. If they are slow or have something wrong with them, deal with it individually.
@NightCometh@xanga - Thanks. I strongly appreciate individualization, myself. I believe in trying to treat people according to their wishes, mostly. For instance, some of these socially eccentric people appreciate their way of being. I try to define them according to their wishes. Some prefer to be referred to as a person WITH a disorder. Some people prefer being called a DISORDERED person. There's a lot of nuances to understanding people-- and I don't like seeing people being written off just because they're better at focusing than normal, and abnormally worse, at times, at multitasking and socialization. Thanks.
I do NOT try to sound the way I do on a conscious level! I do not intend to sound mean, overly stuffily intelligent, or cross. I'd love to cheer you up. I need to start using this as a disclaimer. :) I often get the impression my tone of voice was bad. :/
@NightCometh@xanga - Kind of what I was thinking... I think this might be the first time I've ever come across it, but seriously? Do we really need a word to glorify the fact that some people have mental illnesses? I feel like that's missing the point.
As for the Church shunning people with mental disorders/illnesses/disabilities/whateveryouwannacallit, this is actually one of the few areas I think the Church does better than society as a whole. Don't get me wrong, the Church at large often does more harm than good in this department, but at least they honestly care--even if they don't understand (not even a little bit) what they're trying to care about.
@sheepthatsblack@xanga -
"Do we really need a word to glorify the fact that some people have mental illnesses?"Not necessarily. A quarter of the population experiences what is termed mental illness in any given year. This DOES NOT imply that a quarter of us are "retards" or "insane" any given year. Mental Retardation occurs below 70 IQ points. Insanity indicates being a danger to oneself and others. There was a time when I looked forward to the next time my mood changed, simply because it meant I'd be happy soon again. We can talk about how my life was stinky for awhile because of my developmental issues, or I can tell you about the great blessings that have been mine because of the effect God has on my brain. I focus intensely on whom and what I care about. My best friends are typically my elders, NOT my peers. These are Autistic traits, appreciable traits nonetheless, and I can see now that I did not finish this. Hmm....