The Christian imagination

Dr. Stanley Hauerwas has written, "The Christian imagination is constituted by practices such as . . . learning to be present to - as well as with - the mentally handicapped - who we hopefully know not as mentally handicapped, but as Anna and Boyce, our sister and brother in Christ."

He probably should have said that the Christian imagination "might be constituted," or "could" or "should be consitituted." Because actually it is not consitituted by the high ideals he mentions.

In reality the Christian imagination could be a significant part of the problem. Maybe not the imagination of "the church" as a whole, but the imaginations of individuals who comprise the church. Individuals who make up the church, well . . .

They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as significantly different from themselves.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as having a poor quality of life.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as "black holes for service" as a pastor commented to me one time.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as a threat to their regular Sunday school program, in that they will require super human efforts.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as a threat to the development of their larger congregation in that their "notorious social behaviors" might scare off those who would choose to attend that church.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as lacking faith, or experiencing disability as a result of some sin committed by their parents.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as unable to contribute anything to the church, only being a drain on the church's resources.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as being unable to grow spiritually.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as being dirty or diseased.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as being unapproachable by traditional social means like conversation, or phone calls, or lunch.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as living in families who rue their existence, wishing they either had not been born, or were in some way different then they are.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as being the offspring of parents who in some way were selected by God by some syrupy cosmic process to be the parents of the individual.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as being "angels unaware" or "God's special children" or incapable of sin rather than being simply an example of the range of humanity.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as suffering from mental retardation.
They imagine persons with cognitive disabilities as dissatisfied with their lives.


After nearly 30 years of interactions with individuals with mental retardation and a variety of other forms of disability I have come to the conclusion that people with disabilities are just people.

McNair