The post that follows this one was a mistake. A big honking mistake. Yesterday the stat counter for Chewing the Fat was going nuts. I had 364 visitors by 9AM and I went to see where they were all coming from. Turns out the post I wrote about 'My Student's Penis' was picked up by reddit and all sorts of people were popping over to read the post. I got a kick out of the fact that visitors, not knowing this was a disability blog came for penis and left with a love story between two people with disabilities. Alright!
But on that same reddit list was a post that was entitled:
If Intelligent Design Is Genuine How Can Creationists Explain Disorders Such As Autism and Mental Retardation?
I looked into it and there was all this chatter going on about how the existance of Autism and Intellectual Disability proved that there could be no intelligent design, no presence of God. They were all being so very sophisticated and so very witty and urbane in their attack on the anti-evolutionists.
Personally I don't understand why anyone fears the concept of evolution, I think it has nothing to do with faith ... Good God ... I've evolved over time. But what bothered me was the incredible arrogence in the implication that either autism or intellectual disability must be the result of some incredible cosmic burp ... that they could have no role in an intellegent design, they they had no value to add to the human condition. As I read the comments I became deeply pissed off.
So, I decided to blog on this issue. I didn't have time, so I clipped the title and pasted it into my blog post window and then saved it for the future. I set the date wrong as I was rushing and when I came on this morning I found that just the title had published and there were already responses.
OH NO ... I hope those readers come back ... I would never have said that. I believe that the best of humanity is the breadth of humanity. I believe that people with disabilities have a place and a role. I believe that we are each of us necessary and we are each of us needed.
But now all I'm doing is rushing to get something else up to explain that line on the next post. Please forgive my sloppy work, I'll be more careful in the future.
Oh dear, that is hilarious, computers, don't you justlove them! I did think it was an unusual post, i just thought you were in a mischievous mood this morning!
ReplyDeleteStephen
Once, when I first learning how to email (back in the dark ages!) , I accidentally sent a personal email, intended for one person to EVERYONE on my mailing list. I sometimes think our technology has its own warped sense of humour!
ReplyDeleteI actually knew it was a mistaken/erroneous post. Your heart must have sank when you saw it.
ReplyDeleteDave,
ReplyDeleteIf I had read that yesterday I would have probably thought someone hacked into your account.
You must feel terrible, but those 'e-mistakes' have happened to everyone I know, we'll have to come up with a name for it.
Ah, computers, technology and oopsies. Gotta just laugh sometimes at how a simple touch on the wrong key can have many a person going, "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Oh crap!"
ReplyDelete:)
I KNEW when I saw your post on Saturday, that the title would bring you a lot of "interested" readers...!
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I was a bit puzzled this morning about your post....You've got to watch what you post at 1AM. By that hour, its already morning over here in the middle east.
I guess computers can have "brain farts" too...LOL
ReplyDeleteDear Dave - refering to the issue of evolution and people with disabilities being used as proof against intelligent design - 2 points:
ReplyDelete- antidisability sentiment (as you call them in First Contact) also called ableism or normalism raises its ugly head. The archaelogical record contains instances of pre homo sapiens hominids providing care for people with disabilities proving that valuing people with disabilities has been around for a long time - maybe longer than antidisability sentiments?
- I think that the view that the existence of people with intellectual disabilities disproves intelligent design implies an incredible arrogance - who is so perfect that they can assume that others are mistakes???
I believe in evolution - no, actually, I don't *believe in* evolution, I know it's true. But if Intelligent Design were true, well, there are plenty of reasons God would want autistics and DS people. Maybe He wants us for our special attributes - the cognitive strengths many autistics have, and the social skills many DS people have. Maybe He's experimenting. Maybe He wants some variety. Maybe He'd be baffled as to why anyone would think autistics and DS people weren't supposed to be and NTs were!
ReplyDelete