They provide their own links to appropriate language and disability etiquette (PDFs).
The CID's position on disability rights and advocacy is useful in understanding the work of Zacharaiah's Way/P.U.R.E Project, the group Sarah Palin spoke to, on June 29. These ministries mark a significant paradigm shift as regards disability, especially among some of conservative Christianity's worst offenders: those who believe in supernatural healing, with (outwardly-evident) disabilities as a sign of a bad faith.
As documented by the Alaska HSS/ACT exhibit, this threadbare old trope dates back eons. It was recently re-inscribed by ultra-conservative Bob Marshall, who claimed disabled children are a punishment for prior abortions.
Though she was quick to (rightly) correct both President Obama and Rahm Emanuel on their use of bigot language, we heard nothing but silence from Palin on Marshall's views.
Palin persists in labeling her imagined opponents in media — i.e. everyone outside of NewsCorp — "lamestream". Why doesn't anyone point out to Sarah that "lame" is often the first word of awareness around dismantling one's own abelist language habits? Nobody corrects her, at least not in a public way; she never apologizes.
Don't tell me it's for fear of being considered politically correct. Zachariah's Way/The P.U.R.E. Project takes their own challenge to language as seriously as possible:
We're certainly not so shallow to believe or presume that a change of terminology is going to change everything or that it fixes all the problems. But, we believe that most people (yes, even Christians!) automatically dismiss any subject related to disabilities or special needs, simply because they don't think it has any meaning or pertinence to them! We at Zachariah's Way believe that we must get past this mindset (in actuality, heart set) of solely identifying people by what is wrong with them (we even go so far as to constantly identify people by their diagnosis, e.g. there's that little AUTISTIC boy).
We believe it is past the time that we constantly and consistently refer to these sweet, blessed people and their families by labels that are certainly not edifying and at the same time, in many cases, actually serve to misinform and many times actually scare people away from ministry opportunities! Again, we're not so naive to think by using different words that everything will change. We do believe the change is necessary and P.U.R.E. is a much better, positive, and edifying term embodying spiritual truth than what we so commonly use today.
Therefore, as part of this effort, we are introducing a new, positive and accurate description and word for a person with disabilities, P.U.R.E.
That's enough of that. From there it starts to get even more facepalm, but the point is well-taken that language matters, as language so often reveals the etymology of our biases towards some and against so many others.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Al Barger
Dear OhCrap: [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]
For starters, you're mostly just calling names. Now don't get me wrong: I'm all in favor of a little good mud wrestling. If you have a legitimate basic point, and you want to spice it up with a couple of nice sharp jabs, have at. Ann Coulter is really good at that.
Thing is, you're no Ann Coulter. You're so thick with the tortured insults that no one would be able to make out your legitimate point if you had one. But that really doesn't matter, cause you don't.
It appears that your basic actual argument is that it is "liberals" who care about the disabled and people in general, while "conservative" means "big meanies who hate everything good." Therefore, any "conservative" who pretends to care about crippled kids is a liar or a hypocrite. Riiight.
Now, a libertarian extremist (such as myself) might theoretically somewhat object to federal welfare programs on general principle. But not even Ron Paul is going to get too far up in arms over trying to help disabled folk.
But the big majority of self-identified conservatives would be all in favor of trying to help orphans and cripples. The traditional basic distinction is trying to help those who can't help themselves, while looking more skeptically on handing out gubment money to able bodied adults. There's no hypocrisy whatsoever in such people being sympathetic to those who are physically handicapped.
Now, I am an actual fan of Sister Sarah, but I do object to her carrying on about Rahm Emmanuel and her Princess-and-the-Pea sensitivity about insulting crips. I'm sure that as a Christian and a special needs mother, Sarah Palin does indeed truly care about the poor crippled kids. But acting like she's got the vapors and needs a Victorian fainting couch does taste like opportunistic political schtick. THAT would be a legitimate argument.
But [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor] Your lame story is pretty much entirely premised on defining conservatives as "mean people who hate crippled kids, puppy dogs and clean air." That only describes some of us. You might want to refine your definition a bit.
2 - Jordan Richardson
Oh cripples...
I thought you were talking about the gang, Barger.
Thing is, you're no Ann Coulter.
Agreed. He doesn't have her shoulder blades.
Good to see you, Barger, you magnificent bastard.
3 - Al Barger
Brother Jordan! XOX, Al
4 - OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin
@Al Barger, you are talking really loud, but you don't seem to have very much to say.
Can I help it the RWNJ still have a long way to go as re: disability, and Joni Eareckson Tada's ministries, Zachariah's Way, and Sarah Palin can actually do something to help them along, if she would?
Don't you wonder what Mrs. Palin thinks of the ADA, given teabagger antipathy to it, and she's never said, though she talks openly about all sorts of stuff? I do.
Anyway, glad you enjoyed the post. Your reaction ensures there will be many more like it. I would encourage you to also comment on my other two articles, since I'm new at BC. Thanks.
5 - OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin
Now, I am an actual fan of Sister Sarah, but
For all you confused conservative/traditionalist/easily-threatened males who 1- think the screen name is certainly a joke, 2- would rather not process simple complexities, e.g. I like Sarah but do not like her politics and 3- still get all their ideas about women who love women from their porn.com subscriptions and booble searches, let's just get this out of the way. Go ahead and take this oppty to fall back on your conservative thought patterns and take the screen name literally, because it's true.
I like a lot of things about the person, or what little we can know about "Sarah Palin", the phenomenon. There are some things I genuinely appreciate about her. I do not like anything about the politics. Her followers seem to me even more extremist than she is. These are the opinions of one person, so what?
What about that is so difficult to comprehend, especially by the people with the superior genes, the superior morals, and thus the superior lifestyle choice?
6 - Clavos
Perhaps the fact that "there is no there there"?
7 - OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin
Your lazy, binary, either/or, off/on, black/white thinking will always leave you perplexed in a complex world. That's your guys' problem, not mine.
8 - roger nowosielski
Hey, don't knock the computers, Crush.
9 - OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin
Well, computers have an excuse for all/nothing behavior, they're mere computers, after all. In my book, real live people have no business emulating them but what would a big dummy like me know, in the face of all the superiors at BC :D
10 - John Wilson
Our uber-conservative governator here in California cut aid payments to disabled, crippled, home-bound and generally poor people first chance he had when opportunity presented itself in the form of a $20billion budget shortfall, in spite of that 'savings' (actually, just a displacement) only amounted to $400million and had a hugely disproportionate effect on mere humans.
No word that Ahnold is going to cut his own salary, nor those of the legislature, 1/3 of which are his own party parasites who are able to frustrate a budget with a mere 1/3 minority.
Everyone else can suffer while the Perfumed Princes of the noble right preserve their own money.
11 - El Bicho
"No word that Ahnold is going to cut his own salary"
Exactly how do cut zero, John?
12 - Clavos
Your lazy, binary, either/or, off/on, black/white thinking will always leave you perplexed in a complex world.
Relatively speaking, of course...
13 - uffda
A couple thousand people who had to pay tickets isn't what I would call "poorly attended." The event was local and poorly advertised. More than a couple thousand people was an unrealistic expectation, quite frankly.
The rest is just hackery.
14 - Al Barger
OhCrap- First off, I recognize that a good jab from me in comments is likely to bring attention and traffic to your story. I am not new here, and this basic pattern has been repeated certainly at least 100 times over a period of a few years. I intend it to do that. You're most welcome. I will try to find a minute to check out your other stories.
But you're seriously talking mostly pretty much gibberish here. It's not that I am incapable of understanding a complex thought. It's that 90+% of what you're saying doesn't have any real clear thought for me to understand. What you self-congratulatorily call "complex" thinking is not complex nor sophisticated - merely vague and muddy with no clear point other than general disdain for your bogus straw-man idea of neanderthal "conservatives."
On the other hand, you SAY that I don't have much to say. Well, I only had a couple of fairly simple points to make - but there were actual discernable points beyond just general disdain.
Again, in a nutshell my main point was that wanting to help people, and wanting to help disabled people especially, is not the sole domain of liberals. Now, as a rightwing nutjob and student of Ayn Rand, I am inclined to think that conservative types are generally more interested in the actual welfare of people, while a lot of liberals are more interested in feeling good about their own compassion or (for liberal politicians especially) in appearing to care about children and cripples and whatnot.
Then again, it is not for me to take everyone else's inventories. So I should just leave it to say that conservatives care as much about people as liberals do, but that they have sometimes somewhat different ideas of how to go about it.
For example, personally I am opposed to the ADA. I see the costs, and question much of the benefit. To answer a point that you have brought up here at least a couple of times, no I do not wonder or care in the least about Sarah Palin's view of the ADA.
RE: Your opinion of Sarah Palin - You SAY that you somehow sincerely like her, but that us neanderthal wingnuts just aren't sophisticated enough to distinguish the complexity of your thoughts. But we might beg forgiveness for taking your pen name sarcastically in that pretty much absolutely every single thing you say about her is negative.
You as much as say in so many words "I do not like anything about the politics." Well, she's a politician. So not liking anything about her politics seems to be pretty much dismissing anything about her of public import. In what way exactly do you sincerely like her?
Finally, I note that the almighty Comments Editor is a big fat doo-doo head. My comments were fairly mild, for starters. More specifically, they weren't really particularly personal, but pretty much just a careful reflection of the column author's silly language and cheap rhetorical jabs.
I appreciate the critical tone being upgraded from the early BC Wild West days of yore, but geez, don't be such a WUSSY.
15 - roger nowosielski
Why don't you come to your point, Al? Can you summarize it in a sentence or two?
And BTW, an answer to your question, "in what way exactly do you sincerely like her?" could well be: she might be a good f...k (especially if one-night stands don't particularly offend you).
16 - Dan
Hi Al. Cool flashback to the Yeagly appearance.
I might be wrong in my presumption here, but I think what Ohcrap... wanted you to figure out is that she has a lesbian crush on Sarah. See, since lesbian love is complex and sophisticated, your backwater sexual notions that are restricted to shame and mysogynistic orthodoxy wouldn't allow for you to comprehend the full spectrum of sexual influence.
Of course I know you to be a particularly sharp and tricky hillbilly, so you may be ahead of it all anyway.
17 - roger nowosielski
A sharp and tricky hillbilly?
An oxymoron by anyone's conception.
18 - Dan
Frankly roger, I find your bigoted attitude toward people of backwood to be both ignorant and disgusting. Thankfully your kind are dying out as more and more people do not see it as oxymoronic to be sharp, tricky, and a hillbilly.
19 - OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin
@Al, your understanding of where I personally am coming from is irrelevant.
Be grateful I took the time to write any explanation, at all.
You'll just have to keep reading if you wish to know more. Or, you can ask Dan, or any other normal person, since they are hip to the very obvious.
20 - OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin
And BTW, an answer to your question, "in what way exactly do you sincerely like her?" could well be: she might be a good f...k (especially if one-night stands don't particularly offend you).
Well, you're wrong about that, @Roger. I don't think of her in that way. True, I do admire her good looks, but f*ck-and-discard mode or f'ing someone to put them in their place is reserved for people I respect the least. Like, say, conservative males. My hobbies.
Respecting Sarah Palin...yeah, there are some things I respect about her, but her RWNJ political stances are not among them. These seething conservative all-or-nothings are not equipped to comprehend something even that basic, evidently. Oh well, one can't expect much from that lot, anyway.
I do find the entire phenomenon fascinating, if only because I'm a politics junkie and American politics has never seen anyone like her, fbofw. The longer I blog on this topic the more I find people thinkin' how I'm thinkin' but they're not at a point where they can articulate it.
But I am, so, I do.
21 - OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin
A couple thousand people who had to pay tickets isn't what I would call "poorly attended."
Well, @uffda, I suppose we should be thankful the liberal dem hitler stalin auschwitz death panel media didn't report it as "several thousand" oh wait that's just what the communist/MSM/jealous of Sarah because she's pretty AP reported.
American conservatives are such size queens.
I just found it interesting that the event was a numerical flop and that actually made the news at all. As suggested, there could be multiple reasons for the flop besides yours. We both could be wrong.
22 - OhCrapIHaveACrushOnSarahPalin
Relatively speaking, of course...
Aha. Now that was funny. Touché.
23 - Jordan Richardson
Thankfully your kind are dying out as more and more people do not see it as oxymoronic to be sharp, tricky, and a hillbilly.
Is that a real thing?
24 - Dr Dreadful
Yes, Jordan, it's known as Al Barger.
You have seen photos of him, haven't you?
;-)
25 - rogernowosielski
"Frankly roger, I find your bigoted attitude toward people of backwood to be both ignorant and disgusting."
They are "people of backwood," Dan, by your own admission, so the description fits. Have I touched a nerve?
And BTW, my oxymoronic reference was half in jest. Lighten up, fellow, smell the roses, get some love, whatever . . .