Discussing Amy Kenny, part 3

I

The discussion sessions for My Body Is Not a Prayer Request have finished, but I wanted to share some further resources for those who are interested in following up on topics we touched on. 

Anabaptist Disabilities Network: https://www.anabaptistdisabilitiesnetwork.org/

Christian Reformed Church Thrive: https://www.crcna.org/disability

(Episcopal) Deaf and Disabilities Ministry Exchange: https://www.facebook.com/DisabilityMinstryExchange

Presbyterians for Disability Concerns: https://www.facebook.com/PresbyteriansForDisabilityConcerns and http://www.phewacommunity.org/pdcdisabilityconcerns.html

RespectAbility: https://www.respectability.org/ and https://www.facebook.com/RespectAbilityUSA

UCC Disability Ministries: https://www.facebook.com/UCCDM/ and https://uccdm.org/ 

United Methodist Committee on Disability Ministries Ministries: https://umcdmc.org/ and  https://www.facebook.com/DisAbilityMinistriesUM. Deaf and hard-of-hearing ministries is a separate group, https://umdeaf.org

II

On 193, Kenny offers a reading list. I have expanded this into the other topics of this series, as well as a few updates that post-date her book, with a look at liberation theology and history, which forms the foundation of all the books. Links included for those I have written about.

Black, Kathy. A Healing Homiletic: Preaching and Disability. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996. Pioneering application of Eiesland’s principles in re-visioning the implications of healing in the gospels.

Bushman, Richard. The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities. New York: Vintage, 1993. A survey of one of the few trickle-down theories that have worked, chapter 3 traces the Enlightenment notion of a well-ordered body, but doesn’t carry through to disability (although that is not the topic of the book).

Cone, James. A Black Theology of Liberation (50th anniversary edition).  Maryknoll: Orbis Books 2020. With Wilkerson, important background for Kendi as well as the tone of the disability movement.

Davie, Ann, and Ginny Thornburgh. That All May Worship: an interfaith welcome to people with disabilities. Washington: National Organization on Disability, 1997. OP, available online: https://sacredplaces.org/uploads/files/462725613607030908-that-all-may-worship.pdf.

Davis, Lennard, ed. The Disability Studies Reader, 4th ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. Wide-ranging textbook, a more comprehensive version of the Nielsen history listed by Kinney.

Eiesland, Nancy. The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. Groundbreaking application of liberation theology to disability that proclaims God as disabled. Includes a Eucharist that got me into trouble in seminary.

Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation (15th anniversary) Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1988. From a Catholic priest who originated the term liberation theology.

Hiebert, Theodore. The Beginning of Difference: Discovering Identity in God’s Diverse World. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2019. http://flyingkittymonster.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-theology-of-diversity.html

Jordan, Winthrop. White Over Black: American Attitudes Toward the Negro, 1550-1812. Penguin, 1969. http://flyingkittymonster.blogspot.com/2020/05/white-over-black.html

Kenny, Amy. My Body is Not a Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press. https://flyingkittymonster.blogspot.com/2022/08/sturmisch-bewegt.html

Melcher, Sarah, Mikeal Parsons, Amos Yong, eds. The Bible and Disability. Waco: Baylor University Press, 2017. More comprehensive than the Yong book that Kenny cites in her list. https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=51631

Rieger, Joerg and Priscila Silva, “Liberation Theologies and Their Future: Rethinking Categories and Popular Participation in Liberation” Religions 14 (7, 2023): 925 (https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070925)

Walker, Robert L., ed., Speaking Out: Gifts of Ministering Undeterred by Disabilities. United Methodist Association of Ministers with Disabilities, 2012. Ecumenical, stories of people with disabilities called to ministries.

Wilkerson, Isabel. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. New York: Random House, 2020. http://flyingkittymonster.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-caste-for-casts.html

III

News items that came up during the discussions.

Dingle, Shannon, “This is why disabled people were no devastated by the Christian silence on health care” Washington Post July 28, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/07/28/this-is-why-disabled-people-were-so-devastated-by-the-christian-silence-on-health-care/: among the justice concerns that churches need address about disabilities.

Garson, Justin, “Seeing Depression as Having a Purpose Could Aid Healing” Psychology Today June 19, 2023. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-biology-of-human-nature/202306/how-seeing-depression-as-purposeful-may-promote-healing: on the question of why conditions are labeled “disorders”.

Kase, Em, “Make your local LGBTQ+ Pride Event Wheelchair Accessible” https://unitedspinal.org/make-your-local-lgbtq-pride-event-wheelchair-accessible/: far too few “inclusive” events are really inclusive

Velle, Elaine, “National Gallery of Art Apologizes for Removing Visitor with Disability” Hyperallergic July 25, 2023. https://hyperallergic.com/835400/national-gallery-of-art-apologizes-for-removing-visitor-with-disability/: “So many disabled people have had experiences being excluded at galleries and not being able to attend. A lot of times, disabled people get exhausted from having to ask over and over so they just stop.”

Discussing Amy Kenny, part 1

A church in the Indianapolis area is conducting a summer reading group for three books. The first was Ibram Kendi, How to be an Anti-Racist. The second, which I am leading, is Amy Kenny, My Body is Not a Prayer Request. The third (late August) will be Anastasia Kidd, Fat Church. 

This post shares notes and thoughts from the first group session, July 23, 2023.This places the start of the discussion during Disability Pride Month, which centers around the ADA signing on July 26, 1990. 

I see a common root among the three books: liberation theology, a movement whose origins come from Latin America in the 1960’s (although, historically, one could make the case that the principles and many movements date to late antiquity). Liberation theology argues that the Bible shows a God who has a particular concern for the oppressed, who has worked through history to bring change for these groups. 

When I was in seminary, our disabled students group allied with the African-American students group on the basis of liberation theology. We discussed the problems arising from judgments based on external appearances without considering the abilities of those involved. The three books in this group are linked by attitudes and activism informed by this approach. Kendi’s work shows the need for anti-racism: action and advocacy against racist attitudes and structures (it should also be noted that Kendi narrates his own growth in this area). Kenny likewise calls for anti-ableism: challenging prejudice and discrimination in attitudes, and structural changes, including but not limited to the built environment and exclusionary practices. 

We discussed points of contact with disability, including:

• the vagueness and problems of rapidly evolving language, of often not knowing what to do, not having a diagnosis, having an unusual condition, or being misinformed (this can also include the difficulty of keeping up with medical advances, such as recent findings in neurodiversity)
• seeing people for who they really are, not for the disability
• not talking about it, or using euphemisms ("infantile paralysis" for polio, "differently abled") and similar fearful responses akin to early reactions to HIV
• some churches that do not believe a disability exists, which is especially true of those with neurological differences being told to behave or believe and be healed; as the book title indicates, some churches have taught a theology of miraculous healing instead of inclusion in the community 
• being "out": many disabilities are invisible, and because of discrimination concerns, the people who have them are often reluctant to disclose
• general invisibility: it was only in the 1960's that people with disabilities began to appear in public social life; today's social media has been helpful in resolving this, as well as creating a sense of community and support 
• impairments that are not viewed as a disability, vision correction being one example--this has a long history, including the Reformation theologian John Calvin (see section IV here) or being letf-handed (once regarded as a sign of being cursed, and still difficult in many situations)
• housing is still a problem, with refusals to accommodate and a general lack of physical access features. 

We then discussed various topics that arose (and touched on others that we will likely come back to).

• One of the first steps is to recognize that the modern idea of "normal" is a fraud whose origins lie in statistical methods that are used to create and then justify categories and ranks. Further, “disorders” are often the result of differences in development or structures, or normal reactions to events (e.g, ASD, PTSD). See Jonathan Mooney, Normal Sucks (New York: Holt, 2019). http://flyingkittymonster.blogspot.com/2021/06/just-setting-on-dryer.html
• Universal Design is a movement emphasizing the benefits for everyone from accessible design—e.g., ramps and power doors benefit people pushing strollers or delivering packages. (https://universaldesign.ie/). This also relieves the feeling of being singled out as "that" person who has to be accommodated.
• Striving for justice needs to include accounting for opposition to the ADA from many churches, seeking equity so all can participate, and inclusion at all levels of organizations. 

The study uses a discussion guide provided by the Christian Reformed Church Disability Concerns unit, and my review after first reading the book.