Christian societal constructions of disability

Christian societal constructions of disability . . . what the heck could that mean? Well, it has to do with the way that the concept of disability has come to be understood within Christian environments.

What does it mean for a Christian family to have a child with a disability?
What do people think when they see this family with a disabled family member?
What have Christians come to understand is the reason a particular family has a family member with a disability?
What does it mean to a person to have a disabilty, whether they acquired it or were born with it?
Are there common perceptions which have been taught or at least sufficiently supported that they have become a part of the way Christians think about disabilty?
What is mental retardation, from a Christian perspective?
What societal constructions, that is, what commonly accepted notions accompany disability in Christian settings?
Why does a person have a disability?
Where did the disability come from?
What does disability imply about God?
Does God cause disability?
What does disability imply about people?
What is the responsibility of people in the etiology of disability?
What is the responsibility of people in the life of a person, either for a Christian or a non-Christian with a disability?
What does disability imply about the church?
What is the responsibility of the church in the life of a person, either for a Christian or a non-Christian with a disability?
Does the Bible have anything to say about disability?

The way these kinds questions would typically be answered by an average Christian would give an indication of what the Christian societal construction of disability is. the answers would indicate how Christians understand disabilty, and the degree to which a Christian perception might be similar or different from the perception of a non-Christian.

For example, in some societies, the societal construction of women is that they are below men. In some societies, the societal construction is that some ethnic groups are below others. People might give reasons for the societal constructions they have come to accept, overtly or otherwise. If I perceive persons of a different ethnicity as somehow less than myself, I provide a glimpse into my belief system, and depending upon the basis for my perceptions, I will be considered rational or irrational.

The Christian societal construction of disability provides a glimpse into the Christian belief system for those inside or outside of the faith, and the basis for Christian perceptions will also come under scrutiny to determine whether they are rational or not. I have experienced aspects of the Christian societal construction which leave me wanting and wondering. As a lifelong Christian, I see people with disability, people without disability and the Christian scriptures and want to find some consistency in it all. I want the practice of people to reflect the consistency of the scriptures, but somehow along the way, the Christian societal construction has strayed, almost into some form of fairytale fabrication. It has enough truth to feign believability, but little enough falacy that you could overlook it (if you didn't know any better) and begin the walk down a path leading to nonsense. Nonsense projected upon people with disability is what I often see in people, in churches, in Christians even. It is the Christian imagination gotten lost.

McNair