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Making a World of DifferenceChristian reflections on disabilityGod in a wheelchair?MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE: This book has been a long time coming. Roy McCloughry has a long-standing concern for disability issues and has been researching them, on and off, for several years. This book is the fruit of that work. McCloughry's co-author is Wayne Morris, the co-ordinator of CHAD (Church Action on Disability). One of the challenges for the authors is to achieve a seamless and consistent treatment of their subject. There are some excellent chapters which reflect McCloughry's reputation for bringing Scripture to bear on contemporary issues. He writes with clarity, directness and conviction. He grasps nettles and faces the reader with demanding issues: are people with disabilities made in the image of God? does the Old Testament prohibit disabled priests? is disability the result of sin? And how do you react to this statement: 'Since God is the giver of all things, he is also the giver of disabilities'? Solid biblical evidence is given to support this assertion. I am much less comfortable with the book's endorsement of Nancy Eiseland's thesis of 'the disabled God'. The book describes her seeing 'God in a... wheelchair' as 'a moment of revelation about God'. This thinking is developed further by others who suggest that the incarnation is a disabling event and since Jesus carries still the scars of the crucifixion he has disabilities in heaven. And is it going too far to say, 'God has been changed by the experience of being human'? The purpose of this line of reasoning is to challenge 'the idea that non-disabled people are the theological norm', which in itself is a reasonable challenge. But in the process the meaning of words has to be modified and special pleading admitted. The same is true of the chapter on healing and wholeness. A distinction is drawn between 'cure' - restoring function - and 'healing' - promoting well-being. This is helpful since, for example, deafness is not a sickness to be healed but a function which needs to be restored. That there is sensitivity among disabled people to the question of healing is understandable. Many people with disabilities have suffered deeply at the hands of enthusiastic friends and healers. That is why a healing charter is included, to guide people away from false expectations and introduce some understanding into the way people with disabilities are regarded. But the charter attempts to deal with so many specifics that it runs to about 1,000 words and becomes utterly unmemorable. Would it not be better to devise a crisp list of, say, half-a-dozen biblical principles capable of application to various specific situations which safeguard dignity and deal sensitively with people? The Golden Rule would be a good starting point! The book makes clear that the failure of the church historically to respond to people with disabilities appropriately lies at the heart of our current difficulties. It applies the doctrine of the church as the body of Christ to this issue. If the principles espoused in this section were worked out in practice considerable progress would be made towards the proper role of people with disabilities finding fulfilment. An up-coming test of the attitude of churches will be presented in 2004 when the Disability Discrimination Act comes into force. It is sure to require many churches to spend money to adapt their premises to become 'disability-friendly'. This will test how far a church has travelled along the road of accepting people with disabilities into the body of Christ. What of the two-author challenge? No, they did not succeed. There are several points at which one finds inconsistencies. Mostly they are minor. Nor was I able to subscribe to all the views expressed; but in the main body of the book the arguments were put thoughtfully. However, the opening two chapters stand in stark contrast to much that follows. They left me feeling that I had just had two rounds with Mike Tyson! They describe and espouse the radical views of the disability rights movement with an aggression and with half truths that nearly had the book tossed in the bin. Only the fact that I had to write a review kept me reading. I thought of suggesting that you skipped the opening chapters, but they have to be read to understand the way 'disability' is being understood by the writers. But you are unlikely to enjoy them. It's a pity; it needn't have been like that. David C. Potter© Evangelicals Now - October 2002 |