[Faith-talk] blindness and faith issues question

Thu Dec 18 21:41:01 UTC 2014

Hi Beth
How is it that your pastor knows about the possibility of your friend moving 
in?  Were you concerned, asking advice?  Is he the kind of pastor that wants 
control so people have to talk to him about things?  And I'm behind in email 
so I may see these kinds of details as I read, but the relationship of your 
pastor as authority and you is of almost more concern to me then the issue 
of you having your friend there.
In Christ, Maureen

-----Original Message----- 
From: Beth Taurasi via Faith-talk
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2014 2:16 PM
To: Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion
Subject: [Faith-talk] blindness and faith issues question

Dear List members,
I don't normally post here much, but I have a situation that calls for
some blindness education, but it seems like all the blindness education
is going nowhere.  I had a little phone conference with my church's
pastor, Glynn, and he told me that all practicalities are trumped by the
Bible's commandment for women and men not to sleep in the same
apartment, no questions asked.  He didn't approach it in a nasty way,
but I'm concerned.  Blake, my boyfriend from Arizona, is an alumni of
the CCB.  He's coming over here to spend a week with me in Denver, but
we've got the problem of the church saying he shouldn't sleep in my
apartment.  Well, even if he didn't, the building I live in has some bad
people in it.  Case in point, there was a guy so demented in the laundry
room once that demanded I not touch his clothes, and I told him in a
rather curt way that "I'm blind, I had no clue those were yours."
Because of this, I have an aversion to community laundry rooms.  A
caregiver goes down and does my laundry for me.  Plus the machines are
not ADA compliant.  Ugh.
But that's beside the point.  It  just proves that some males don't know
how to take care of themselves in this building.  The other option the
church gave me was to have Blake's mother with him on the trip.  Nope.
That's not possible, Blake wants to see me and only me, and his mom
doesn't want to come.  Reasonably, I think this is fine since Kathy, the
mother, does not have any motivation much to get up and go to exotic
places or whatever.  All she is doing these days is working the studio.
She teaches tai kwon do.  Blake on the other hand is no longer active in
the studio.
The church has also suggested that Blake live somewhere but not my
apartment for the week.  I keep explaining that my apartment building is
located near a bus line, the 9.  Glynn didn't seem to think this was ok
though.  Blake and I have prepared for this moment, where the church
people tell us not to stay in the apartment together.  Hey, we don't
want to have sex or anything stupid, we just need places to sleep.
Where in the Bible would it justify Blake having to sleep somewhere
else, outside the apartment's walls?
Then, Blake and I discussed Glynn's weird thoughts.  Blake suggests
Glynn tour the CCB.  I plan to explain the situation a bit clearer to
Glynn: Blind people must live near a bus or light rail, must have
tactile microwave buttons which hotels don't have, must have a labeled
and marked environment which a lot of hotels don't have, and more
importantly, for Blake, must have someone his mother trusts. She doesn't
trust all males in my building because she's never met them.  Kathy
can't meet those people because she is not apt to going to Denver.
Kathy is a worried mother who lost her other son to a murder suicide,
which I won't go into.  All I'll say is that it was the boy's sick
girlfriend who killed him.  Kathy now knows I would NEVER kill her son.
Why would I!
Of course, Glynn tries to put his Biblical commands in the way of
independence.  Where, I ask, does independence end and biblicality
begin?  Where do my rights as a blind person end and the right of
Christians begin?  Does Jesus know all this could take place?  He healed
the blind, not taught them skills.  I also graduated the CCB, so skills
are important.  I can travel, and from time to time, I take a bus
downtown.  Not bad, you say, but with those resources, I can also get
door to door transit via access a ride.  Blake needs to be able to take
advantage of that transit.  So it looks easy to say and I conclude that
Blake must stay here, but what do you guys think of this!  What do you
guys say would be a solution to the problem? We understand that sex
belongs in the context of marriage.  It is legitimate to think this way,
and the bodies are from a fallen world, but I want a forward answer as
to what we could do to solve the church and our problem?  What should
Blake and I say to Glynn about the sleeping arrangements if they are
brought up again? Should Glynn, the pastor, go on a tour of CCB and talk
to staff about their lives as blind professionals?  Do you think as a
Christian who is blind that there need to be modifications made to a
lifestyle where cars are the norm?  Thanks in advance.
Beth

-- 
Check out my Wordpress blog: denverqueen.wordpress.com or you can reach me 
by skype at denverqueen0920

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