Live Forever With Stephen Hawking!

[Winchester]

I'm irritated by the people who are sitting around all smug with their souls, looking down on other forms of life.

[AccountDeleted]

It was a really smug comment about what a waste he's made of the hidden blessing that ALS is.  I'm sure you could hire an underground surgeon to sever your spine and make you a paraplegic since it's such a spiritually enviable position to be in.  

 

 

I guess 'haters gonna hate' and those who want to see evil in something that wasn't meant that way will do so.

[beatitude]

I guess 'haters gonna hate' and those who want to see evil in something that wasn't meant that way will do so.

 

Even though you had good intentions, describing severely physically disabled people as being 'trapped in their body' is considered very offensive within that community, as is the idea that they have a special spiritual opportunity. If you think about it logically, we're all 'trapped in our bodies'; we can't fly out of them, we're all physically limited, and those limitations can alter dramatically during a person's lifetime. Even though able-bodied people know this on one level, they rarely see themselves as trapped. Physically disabled people tend not to see themselves as trapped either, and I'd guess that Hawking feels no more restricted by his body than you feel by yours. As for the idea that physical disability affords a wonderful opportunity to focus on the soul, a lot of disabled people have reacted quite angrily to this idea (including disabled people who are religious themselves). It's because the idea of disabled people as somehow having special spiritual opportunities has led to a fetishisation of suffering and a romanticisation of vulnerability in some circles, which is far from helpful.

[AccountDeleted]

Even though you had good intentions, describing severely physically disabled people as being 'trapped in their body' is considered very offensive within that community, as is the idea that they have a special spiritual opportunity. If you think about it logically, we're all 'trapped in our bodies'; we can't fly out of them, we're all physically limited, and those limitations can alter dramatically during a person's lifetime. Even though able-bodied people know this on one level, they rarely see themselves as trapped. Physically disabled people tend not to see themselves as trapped either, and I'd guess that Hawking feels no more restricted by his body than you feel by yours. As for the idea that physical disability affords a wonderful opportunity to focus on the soul, a lot of disabled people have reacted quite angrily to this idea (including disabled people who are religious themselves). It's because the idea of disabled people as somehow having special spiritual opportunities has led to a fetishisation of suffering and a romanticisation of vulnerability in some circles, which is far from helpful.

 

 

I started to respond in a really sarcastic way because I find your words offensive in the extreme, but then I realized that you have no idea what I was trying to express and you probably don't realize just how you come across. Sometimes a person just wants to take offence, and nothing can be done about it and I also don't know if this is some kind of 'hot button' for you so instead of sarcasm, I will make one last attempt to express my point. If you still wish to take offence, then I have to rest content that I have tried, and at least my friends and family with disabilities know what I mean.

 

First, I do doubt your 'guess' that Stephen Hawking has never felt restricted by the limits of his body and my own guess is that there were times when even he wished that he had full use of all his physical abilities. Although the disabled people I know do not like to think of themselves as 'handicapped' or even 'disabled', they are all aware that they have physical limitations that not everyone has. And yes, we are all 'trapped' in our bodies, but some have less ability to use them than others - reality.

 

Even the Deaf community (with whom I worked very closely at a Deaf college for two years) have who are very aggressive about their 'normal' status and proud of being part of the 'Deaf community' don't all speak with one voice about their disability. They have disagreements on whether or not their deaf children should have the cochlear implant. While those who were born profoundly deaf do not see deafness as a disability did not want their children to have the implants, those who had gone deaf as children or who had some degree of hearing left, usually wanted to give their children the opportunity to live in a hearing world with hearing ability. I say this to point out that not everyone in any community usually agrees about everything.

 

My comments about the spiritual opportunity involved with a disability was not meant to indicate that disabled persons have 'special spiritual opportunities' and the very weird (to me) statement that these lead to a '... fetishisation of suffering and a romanticisation of vulnerability in some circles'  has me a bit confused as to your meaning. Do you think I am advocating that a person somehow disable themselves in order to achieve some spiritual state and to think of this in a romantic way? Far from it.

 

What I am saying is that suffering is redemptive - which is a valid part of our Catholic theology. We don't look for or choose our suffering, but when dealt some in our lives, we make lemons out of lemonade by uniting our suffering with Christ's. This gives us a different perspective on disease, disaster and disabilities.

 

It is said that someone who is blind uses more of their other senses: their hearing and sense of smell and touch become more enhanced. So if one's body is disabled, then perhaps we can use our mind more or focus more on our soul? It is possible that a person who is physically disabled can become more aware of the other faculties that God has given to them - the mind and soul.

 

So what's to stop someone who can't use their body, like Stephen Hawking, from using more of his mind? Obviously nothing because he has done so and everyone knows he is brilliant! So carry it a step further and ask why he can't also use his disability to focus more on his spiritual life?? Of course he could, except for the fact that he is an atheist. So my comments were basically that he has a beautiful opportunity to do something for his soul - but he doesn't because he is an atheist. My pity is not for his body, which will eventually die anyway, but for the fact that he doesn't realize that he has more than just a mind to use - he has a soul too.

 

If you still don't get what I am trying to say, then so be it. You say '...a lot of disabled people have reacted quite angrily to this idea (including disabled people who are religious themselves).'  - this hasn't been the experience I have had with my own disabled friends. Not everyone is a Catholic, so they don't all understand what I'm saying about suffering, but so far, no one has taken offence at my suggestion that even though they are unable to do some physical things, they are still free to use their minds and their souls.