Re: why do we fear the blind?
Well, I for one found the article an interesting read, but was a little put out that the author chose to primarily focus on the way blindness is viewed in third world countries, and very little discussion of the USA and UK which has similar prejudices even if they aren't as quite as noticeable.
However, like others I have experienced the blind people are cursed mentality more than I care to. Most of the people with that backwards, ignorant, and totally ancient mindset are religious. They seem to have some weird notion that I am blind because their god made me blind, that he cursed me for some inexplicable reason, and then tell me I need to pray to him and seek his forgiveness for my sins so I can see again. That is extremely insulting and very frustrating.
I happen to remember a particularly annoying case when my mom and I were walking through a convenience store just to pick up some basic supplies like bread and milk when some guy walked up to us and said he was a minister. He said that he had just finished his seminary schooling and had been ordained at some local church. If he had left it there it would have been fine, but he had to ask about my blindness which my mom answered. He made a very rude and condescending comment to my mom, "you know god has cursed him for your sins. If you repent and seek God's forgiveness he'll heal your son."
I swear I could have kicked that jerk's teeth in. My mom was angry, and I was angry. He was insinuating that either my mom or I had done something to tick God off so bad that he would curse me with blindness which wasn't true. It was the first time I encountered the blind people are cursed by God type of reasoning, and sad to say it was not the last. It seems the more a person is into the evangelical and fundamentalist church doctrines they have such biases towards the blind that it is some curse from God rather than a medical condition.
I had such an experience today. A couple of young guys showed up on my doorstep wanting to preach to me about the book of Revelation and the importance of getting saved before the second coming of Christ. As soon as they found out I was blind they automatically started in with asking if they can pray for me, if they could ask God to restore my sight, and mentioned a remark to the effect that God sometimes curses those who are not living according to his will. I get so fed up with that mindset because there is no proof of that, its an insulting assumption, and one that ultimately blames the person or persons with the disability for their own medical condition rather than as an act of nature.
That said, I think the main reason sighted people fear blind people is simple ignorance. As has been said most people have never met a young blind man or woman who can competently live alone, travel to and from work on the bus, cook, clean, etc so are ignorant that such people exist. At most the average person when asked about blindness automatically thinks of their aging parent or grandparent who has gone blind fairly recently who can't cook for themselves, maybe can't dress themselves properly, need help figuring out which proscription to take, etc and are the worst example of a blind person because the condition is new and they haven't spent a life time developing orientation and mobility skills, developing organizational skills, learning to do other things from a blind person's point of view. Those elderly are often just as ignorant about blindness as the general community so often fail to do things that a much younger person who is blind would do or could learn to do. As a result blind people everywhere are given this stigma of being near helpless just because dear old Grandma Smith couldn't do much after she lost her sight, and had no idea there were various agencies around to help her adapt to her blindness.
URL: http://forum.audiogames.net/viewtopic.php?pid=176202#p176202
_______________________________________________ Audiogames-reflector mailing list Audiogames-reflector@sabahattin-gucukoglu.com https://sabahattin-gucukoglu.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/audiogames-reflector
