Dispensable Lives? Part One
Tony D’Orazio from Jacob’s Ladder Fitness asks an important question: what has humanity missed out on without all those people with Down syndrome in the world?
Tony D’Orazio from Jacob’s Ladder Fitness asks an important question: what has humanity missed out on without all those people with Down syndrome in the world?
Today was a bad pain day. I never cry from pain. Never, except for today. I have seen God heal people with prayer. God. Is. A. Healer. That’s a part of who He is. But in the midst of my pain, today I saw a flaw in my church, a church that has worked so hard on disability inclusion, and it hit me where it hurts, literally.
I still remember waking up in the hospital, surrounded by about a half dozen men and women in white lab coats. They were all just looking at me, like I was a new species or a classroom exhibit. With this and many related experiences, all this time later, I routinely follow a thoughtful process, researching potential supplements, medications and alternatives to medicine, whenever my doctor makes a recommendation, and that includes vaccines. COVID vaccines are no different.
We are living in times ripe for the history books. Most of us have been weighing questions on topics ranging from the effects of isolation to medical vulnerability, racial equity and religious freedoms. Leaders in the disability movement are keenly aware of overlaps and similarities among the issues at hand. I’ve been praying that God would use this season to grow us into more compassionate and courageously engaged people, because we desperately need to start appreciating our uniquenesses and enjoying how interconnected we are.
This summer in the United States, we have seen an uptick in violence. Within this wave of crisis, we have seen many people want to identify why we are having problems. Important research results have recenlty come out which further support the need for mental health awareness around violence, as well as not shifting the blame to those who are different and therefore must be the problem.