Disability, Dignity and Freedom

SOEF Stockholm 2023

European Disability Network & heartbeat

Introduction

• Why are you here?
• Why are you interested in this topic?

Terminology

• The word disability in your language?
• What does disability mean to you?

The UN- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

• UNCRPD is an international human rights treaty, which exists to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all disabled persons.
• All EU Member States have signed and ratified the convention.

https://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/crpd/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-crpd

Community / Churches Situation

• How many people with disabilities are in your church?
• How many in your community?
• In your workplace?

Community / Churches Situation

If it were possible to gather all the people with disabilities in the world into one nation, that mythical nation would number 1.3 billion men, women and children. That nation would be the world’s third largest country, after China and India. (WHO 2023)

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That nation would have a number of unique characteristics. That nation would…

• have the least access to education – 90% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school (UNESCO)
• have the lowest proportion in the world of its population in employment -unemployment among the persons with disabilities is as high as 80% in some countries (ILO)
• be the poorest nation on earth - 20% of the world’s poorest people have some kind of disability, and tend to be regarded in their own communities as the most disadvantaged (The World Bank)
• have the least access to any sort of transport – persons with disabilities find inaccessible and unaffordable transportation 15 times more difficult than for those without disabilities (WHO)
• be the least evangelized nation with the lowest proportion involved in a church…

Disability in the EU

Disability in the EU

Disability and Church Communities

• 1.3 billion people or 16% of the world’s population live with some form of disability, and of these, between 110 and 190 million have significant difficulties in functioning, according to the World Report on Disability.
• Estimates are that 80%-85% of churches don’t have any level of special needs ministry.
• Only 5 to 10% of the world’s disabled are effectively reached with the gospel, making the disability community one of the largest unreached — some say under-reached — or hidden people groups in the world.

Disability and Church Communities

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• More than 90% of church-going special needs parents cited the most helpful support to be a “welcoming attitude toward people with disabilities.”
• Almost 1/3 (32.3%) of special needs families said they had left at least one church because their child was not included or welcomed.
• Nearly 50% (46.6%) of special needs parents said they refrained from participating in a religious activity because their child was not included or welcomed.

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“Jesus, aware that this population would be overlooked, made people with disabilities a target group of the Great Commission (Luke 14:12-24).”

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Minorities

9 from 10 babies with Down’s syndrome are aborted

• 90% of women whose unborn babies are diagnosed with Down´s syndrome choose to have an abortion (BBC 2020)
• Also the overall number of abortions for babies with disabilities are increasing - babies with a cleft lip and palate, spinal spifida etc.
• Under the current law in many countries, abortion is allowed up to birth if a baby has a disability including Down’s syndrome.

Down syndrome abortion

Disability and Dignity

Down Syndrome in Media

Maybe God has approached you personally?

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What can you do to raise awareness or encourage some improvements?

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In your community?

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In your church?

How do people with disabilities enrich our church?

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What could be a first step for you personally?

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Spiritual Freedom vs Healthcare

Wings for Wheels, Latvia 2007-2023

People with disabilities in meritocracies

Burden or Enrichment?

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Katharina Becker

Head of heartbeat

06/05/2023

Foto: Andreas Krone

“There’s just a lot of super-talented, hard-working people in China that strongly believe in manufacturing. And they won’t just be burning the midnight oil, they’ll be burning the 3am oil.”¹

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Elon Musk in an interview with the Financial times

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Public Sector Meritocracy in 212 European Regions²

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Source: ResearchGate

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The results of 77 studies show: Especially younger generations in western countries have a perfectionism problem.³

Self-optimization in meritocracies

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• fear of poverty
• loss of reputation
• inability to provide for oneself or one's family

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Higher expectations:

• keep pace with populous countries and AI
• Compensation the losses of recent crises:
• 42-hour week to save the pension system (Siegfried Russwurm, President of the Federation of German Industries)⁴
• work more overtime to cushion the consequences of the Ukraine war and the increasing shortage of skilled workers (Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP)) ⁴

WHO:

• 745,000 deaths worldwide due to overwork

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• number of deaths from heart disease related to working long hours increased by 42 percent between 2000 and 2016

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• number of fatal strokes increased by 19 percent ⁵

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Relaxation oases?

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Do we fit in?

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COVID-19

• no records of how many persons with disabilities died from COVID-19

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• Barrier free information material at a late stage of the pandemic

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• Deaf people could no longer read lips - comprehensive solutions were developed late and not widespread

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• Isolation for fear of contagion

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COVID-19⁶

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Impacts

• 7 out of 10 were at risk of depression (WHO-5 Mental Well-being Index)

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• Loneliness particularly widespread among the youngest (18–34 years) and unemployed

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• Respondents with disabilities in a more financially precarious position than their non-disabled counterparts, even when having a job

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Ukraine⁷

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• 46% of displaced households have one member over the age of 60, 36% have a member with chronic disease, and 25% a member with disabilities (handicap international)

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• forgotten in planning escape routes and evacuation

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• forcibly displaced and now living in collective shelters, host communities or other countries

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• The number of persons with disabilities still present in war-affected or enclaved and occupied regions remains unclear

Ukraine⁷

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• the categories for having specific needs:
• pregnant and breastfeeding women
• older persons
• unaccompanied children

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• Persons with disabilities not registered
• no support based on their specific needs

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• Methods for identifying persons with disabilities rely on “visual cues”

Ukraine⁷

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• difficult to access information, services and humanitarian assistance
• special disabled cars or ambulances not readily available in a war zone
• left behind, because
• unable to move
• bed-ridden
• having mobility issues
• Mothers with children with disabilities decide to stay home because they don’t know how to evacuate their children

Ukraine⁷

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• most shelters are not accessible
• some IDP centers have communal showers and toilets in basements, which can only be reached by the stairs,
• others lack adapted facilities for the day-to-day care requirements of persons with disabilities
• Many left their assistive devices behind and cannot afford to buy new ones
• Humanitarian workers are struggling to reach areas affected by ongoing hostilities and non-government-controlled areas

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https://europeandisabilitynetwork.com/stories/

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People with disabilities in the Bible – and the church

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The enrichment of our churches by people with disabilities

• many people benefit from accessible spaces
• Elderly
• parents with strollers
• We
• experience the closeness of Jesus (Mt.25, 40)
• experience concrete answers to prayers
• recognize our own blind spots, which leads us to a deeper humility. ⁸

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"Perfectionists need to find more love for their own imperfections - and those of others."

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• we have the chance to show them the grace Jesus Christ has shown us – and find more love and grace for our own imperfections

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People with disabilities are made in the image of God

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• Blind people show us how to listen carefully and help us to look at things from different perspectives

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• Autistic people show us how to be honest and live honestly

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• People with intellectual disabilities show us how to live deep and pure relationships

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Except people with disabilities!

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“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms”

(1. Peter 4,10)

Each of you

Examples of people with impairments or disabilities in the bible

• Moses needed an assistant to compensate for his speech impediment

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• The lepers in 2 Kings 7 overcame themselves and returned to the city, even if they were probably only known as the lepers in this place, outsiders in society and unwelcome

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• Paul is said to having been visually impaired or probably had a seizure disorder. He needed a writing aid, but this didn’t stop him from writing.

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People with disabilities in the bible open up new ways of reading the texts

• the blind man (John 9)
• Illustrates that people with disabilities are not to blame for their impairment

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• Jesus says in John 8,12: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

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• The story of the blind man illustrates how Jesus opens our eyes. Every one of us has been blind, until we opened our eyes and hearts for Jesus and his good news.

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Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. (1. Cor. 12,12)

• Everyone gets a task in the Church

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• One conclusion: If some of us are the arm, the leg or the foot of the Church and if people with disabilities aren’t able to fulfill their role because of inaccessibility – than

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A Church without people with disabilities is a disabled Church

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Roland Walter

https://youtu.be/zR7CupSVrGQ

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Who am I?

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I Say Yes To Life

Roland Walter

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Conclusion

• Perceive, take seriously, include - we need ALL.
• A church without people with disabilities is a disabled church. 

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• That which is good for those who seem weak, that is good for us all.

Sources

• 1. Financial Times on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfyrQVhfGZc&t=3506s

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• 2. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research

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• 3. Deutschlandfunk Nova: https://www.deutschlandfunknova.de/beitrag/ansprueche-wir-haben-ein-perfektionismus-problem

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• 4. Kreiszeitung: https://www.kreiszeitung.de/politik/kommentar-christian-lindner-ueberstunden-statt-kriegssoli-wir-muessen-weg-von-dem-leistungsdruck-91633922.html

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• 5. WHO: https://www.who.int/news/item/17-05-2021-long-working-hours-increasing-deaths-from-heart-disease-and-stroke-who-ilo

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Sources

• 6. European Agenca Eurofound: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/sites/default/files/ef_publication/field_ef_document/ef22019en.pdf

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• 7. handicap international: https://www.hi.org/sn_uploads/document/Factsheet-Ukraine-Disability-2022-EN-final.pdf

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• 8. Einheit in Vielfalt – Behinderung, Disability Studies und Mission – Inklusion als Leitkonzept der christlichen Gemeinde

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