Deaf Groupies???

Some churches consider "deafness" a sin? What theological reason can be advanced?
So far have never heard any church consider "deafness" a sin!

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
CSign said:
Let's try not to generalize Shoshana. I see where you're coming from, but not all hearing people are like that. There are even people who have no experience with deafness, who understand that the inability to hear and/ or speak doesn't change their level of intelligence or make them less than.
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Agreed.
 
CSign said:
Shoshana- I realize I was "telling you how to act" which is what bothers you.

I'm sorry!!!!!!

But, it pains me to read something like that... But I retract my last post where I responded to your comment. I do hope though, that you know we are not all like the "ignorant hearing people".
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Finally.......... You're getting there....
 
drphil said:
Some churches consider "deafness" a sin? What theological reason can be advanced?
So far have never heard any church consider "deafness" a sin!

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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drphil - I don't know of specific religions that preach this, but I do know there are a number of individual churches that practice this. I'm not sure if this is due to the religious theology or due to a particular preacher (preaching his interpretation), or overzealous groups with a church.

I have been approached several times as have many of my Deaf friends. There are stupid people everywhere... and they are breeding... :eek3:
 
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I think that it has something to do with faith healing. Some people believe that you will be " cured" if you just have enough faith. If you have a problem it means you don't have strong enough faith.
 
sallylou said:
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I think that it has something to do with faith healing. Some people believe that you will be " cured" if you just have enough faith. If you have a problem it means you don't have strong enough faith.
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*praying really hard* I believe, I believe, I believe....

*poof*

I'm Cured! Wahoo!! 100% DEAF!!! Yay!!! :laugh2:
 
Shoshana said:
very true! and Swicthed at Birth is a good show, dont get me wrong BUT it bothers me how many people watch and all want to hear "emmett" speak. I went on fan page on facebook and almost every post was about wanting him to speak, or for something to change or something.
and yea, I dont like when hearing people tell me how to feel or act, it is insulting and rude of them.
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I like the show too, but hearing people wanting a deaf character or deaf person in real life to change to fit their values is very off-putting (putting it very lightly).

I am deaf and chose to not speak in general. I have to admit, if I was dating somone like the character Emmett (so cute!!), I would not care if they spoke or not, I'd still love them (assuming I was in love with them and not dating someone I had no interest in). If they chose not to speak in general, but WANT to speak to me as a gesture, just as they open their mouth, I'd give them a kiss on those lips to show them they don't have to, the gesture (of a gesture?) was enough. If they still want to speak with me after that, that's them not me trying to change them. Ok, I'll stop being silly. (OK, I've read my previous sentence about ten times and it still doesn't seem right-proper English, ARG)
 
drphil said:
Some churches consider "deafness" a sin? What theological reason can be advanced?
So far have never heard any church consider "deafness" a sin!
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I have never heard of a church consider deafness itself a sin, but I have heard opinions that deafness is a *result* of sin, particularly sin committed by the parents of the deaf child. Which is false, of course.

This seemed to be a more common view among the older, WWII generation... not so much the Baby Boomer generation.

Supporting a view with well thought out theology? Since when does the average Christian do that? Theology is the last thing the average pew-warmer wants, in my experience.
 
sallylou said:
I think that it has something to do with faith healing. Some people believe that you will be " cured" if you just have enough faith. If you have a problem it means you don't have strong enough faith.
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Many years ago, I was given a sheet of paper with a 'healing prayer' on it. I was advised to pray really hard for a prescribed amount of time. I was assured by this fellow that at the end of that span of time I would be 'cured' of my deafness. Needless to say, the time came and went and there was no such result.

I promptly threw away the paper.

Maybe I just didn't have 'enough' faith. :roll:
 
CSign said:
I was at lunch one day with my son and family. There was a group of people sitting at a table signing. When I walked by, I signed "hello" and we started a conversation. Turns out they were all hearing from the Mormon Church. They learned how to sign to connect with those who are Deaf and convert them into the Mormon religion.

Needless to say, I was offended and found it to be disgusting. They learned ASL for all the wrong reasons.
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Hmm, I too thought you were saying the last para. ironically, just as SallyLou did.

I really admire people who learn languages to connect, to communicate, regardless of any benefit they might receive from it. I've had to learn different languages when I lived with family in another country, when I was working overseas, and to connect with my own daughter, mostly selfish motivations. If someone's school or business or religion drives him or her to learn Hindi or German or ASL to reach more people, I think that's great. I've had many conversations with people in different languages where I didn't identify myself as not being native XX (but then, I always figured my accent or lack of fluency said all that was needed), and I wasn't trying to defraud anyone. And when it comes to ASL, I think the more people who know it the better, for my daughter. In an ideal world, we'd all be able to communicate regardless of mode. I wish ASL were offered in every public school, every college. Don't care if people use it to talk about sports or to spread the word about their religion.
 
Yes, I have encountered such people IRL. Unfortunately, they are also often drawn toward ITP's. It says a great deal about their world view and the view they have of themselves...usually very, very distorted on both counts.:P
 
CSign said:
I was at lunch one day with my son and family. There was a group of people sitting at a table signing. When I walked by, I signed "hello" and we started a conversation. Turns out they were all hearing from the Mormon Church. They learned how to sign to connect with those who are Deaf and convert them into the Mormon religion.

Needless to say, I was offended and found it to be disgusting. They learned ASL for all the wrong reasons.
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Geez...it is nice that they learned ASL because we need more people to know ASL but not to force Deaf people to convert. Scary!
 
I've never been popular, so I guess I've never had a 'groupie'. From what I have read, I should consider myself lucky, yes?
 
best thing to do with door knocker church freaks, is to strip off your clothes and answer the door with a bottle of whisky, and say ,'welcome to hell' guaranteed they'd never come back! lol
 
Grummer said:
best thing to do with door knocker church freaks, is to strip off your clothes and answer the door with a bottle of whisky, and say ,'welcome to hell' guaranteed they'd never come back! lol
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wouldn't be surprised if some of them came back because they were "curious" :naughty:
 
I get a few every semester. Nice, curious kids from the college. I am the only deaf person a few have ever met.They took ASL in high school from a hearing teacher.

I hope they do meet others. Being the token Deafie is difficult. Try to "represent" well. :)
 
well maybe you just have to peak in thru cracks of the curtain before the stunt i suppose
 
shel90 said:
Geez...it is nice that they learned ASL because we need more people to know ASL but not to force Deaf people to convert. Scary!
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I'm with you Shel.

Just so I'm clear with everyone- I'm all for people learning ASL. It just irks me that they learn it strictly to convert people to another religion. My feeling is that people should come to their own conclusion as to what religion they do or don't want to follow. I'm all about information sharing, but don't shove it down peoples throats.
 
Hi I'm a student learning ASL because I just love learning languages in general. I'm also learning Arabic and plan to learn french. I already speak english and somali. I find ASL to be the most difficult to pick up because as a hearing person i have no connections within the deaf community so i don't get to practice it except with other students i know. This is probably why when someone like me meets someone who is deaf we can be a little over enthusiastic. I mean most hearing people we know don't even get why we want to learn the language, so being around someone who values the language more than we do is nice. Oh and i'd already been learning ASL when i first saw Switched. I like that they often sign to beginners and repeat signs i think it's very helpful. As far as people wanting to get to know/ be with someone ONLY because their deaf that's just stupid. Everyone deserves to be with those who like them because of who they are and not just one part. People who do stuff like that are missing out on getting to know people they say matter to them. Um so sorry for the long post i just had a million things i wanted to say.
 
Wirelessly posted

It is the Deaf Groupies that make it twice as hard for me to get to know other fellow Deafies for the first time because we all have to sift out who is genuine all the time. While I am elated that I am able to be with people like me, it saddens me that Deaf groupies are like a damp blanket. That and the fun of getting together being spoilt by Hearies staring at you non-stop the all time (how rude). Rant over.
 
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