the UN

I was looking at the news this evening and this headline caught my attention:

The U.N. approves disabled convention
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/12/13/un.disabled.ap/index.html

IN BRIEF:
"The convention advocates keeping the disabled in their communities rather than removing them and educating them separately as many countries do.

"It guarantees that the disabled have the inherent right to life on an equal basis with the able-bodied and requires countries to prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee equal legal protection. Countries must also ensure the equal right of the disabled to own and inherit property, to control their financial affairs, and to privacy over their personal lives."

Cultures of the past and even in certain regions currently kill the weak among them. The weak are considered unimportant and either despised or forgotten. And especially an individual who is not only weak, but "different" will be singled out for injustice. Take for instance our brothers and sisters suffering in Vietnam of horrendous birth defects as a result of America's use of agent orange in the Vietnam War who are likely to be killed or abandoned by their parents.

Certainly that example is extreme, but there is still injustice in America. You may not find people openly killing or abandoning, although those things happen often enough, but the presence and voice of people with disabilities is certainly diminished here. The three most common responses of the general population to people with disabilities are apathy, fear, or patronization. It bothers me when I hear "Oh, well that's a shame." Especially when they are referring to my Emma and then add a comment about how she's so beautiful despite her cerebral palsy and crippled hand. Those things are part of her, and it's unfair to her to wonder what if....

Each person should be accepted and valued for who they are no matter what state that who is in. We all share the imago dei. It is not given to some and withheld from others. One night we were discussing the imago dei in Beauty and the Christian Life and I was.... bothered... when someone theorized aloud that they didn't know if people who have severe disabilities share the imago dei. That's ugly. The imago dei is the foundation for my theology and the way I value and treat other people, and thus the reason I care about news such as this.


Quotes I liked from the article...

"Attitudes need to change. Societies need to be more inclusive and accessible and persons with disabilities need to be more empowered." -New Zealand's U.N. Ambassador Don MacKay

"The disabled do not see themselves as being limited in life by their circumstances, so neither should we. We must respect people with disabilities as equals, exercising the same fundamental rights under the law." -General Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa





In other news (haha I like puns)....
I started moving into my new house today. And this is my last night living with my roommates Jessica and Jenna. It's sad, espcecially since my space is nearly empty. We just listened to "Good riddance" by Green Day...