[Faith-talk] blindness and faith issues question

Fri Dec 19 05:25:08 UTC 2014

i don’t think it matters if she was blind or not. 
 as a pastor myself, if i hear about something concerning a member in my congregation i’ll ask them about it regardless of their blindness or lack there of as i truly care for everyone. i would like to think that’s exactly why this   pastor did this as that’s what i would do but, if not, shame on him. either way, he gave you sound advice.
Timothy Clark Ministries 

  http://www.timothyclarkministries.blogspot.com

On Kislev 27, 5775 AM, at 0:20, justin williams via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> I agree; I'll bet the blindness had something to do with why everyone got
> all up in your business. 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Faith-talk [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sheila
> Leigland via Faith-talk
> Sent: Friday, December 19, 2014 12:17 AM
> To: Beth Taurasi; Faith-talk, for the discussion of faith and religion
> Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] blindness and faith issues question
> 
> hi Beth I wanted to read the entire thread before I weighed in on this
> subject. When my husband who is also totally blind were dating, we didn't
> want to spend our evenings together with his mother so most of the tie I
> cooked dinner and he came over for the evening. It was maybe once or twice a
> week and it never involved overnight stays.
> the only evening transportation was cab so going out for dinners and such
> was to costly. so I do understand the questions that you have. It bothers me
> that people got involved by going to your pastor about this. 
> I wonder if they would do this if you had been sighted. My hunch is probably
> not. That bothers me more than your pastor's advice. It would be differrrent
> if you had gone directly to your pastor. My pastor know that is I need his
> help I will go to him directly and he knows that my husband expect the same
> advice when it comes to moral and spiritual matters whether we are blind or
> not. We had this conversation early in our relationship to this church.
> On 12/17/2014 1:16 PM, Beth Taurasi via Faith-talk wrote:
>> 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
>> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Faith-talk mailing list
> Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/faith-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> Faith-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/justin.williams2%40g
> mail.com
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Faith-talk mailing list
> Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/faith-talk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Faith-talk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/timothyclarkministries%40gmail.com