Say Anything Blog

Working with children suffering from Autism, had I been a member of this church, I would have argued passionately for finding a compromise that would have allowed this child to remain, there were options. But, and this is very important, neither the state nor these parents should have any power over the Church to estalish their own policies in such matters, it is called Freedom of Religion, it is in the Bill of Rights, don’t believe me, look it up. That is why some people supported the priest, he is their spiritual leader, they trust his judgment in such matters.

I don’t think this was the Christian thing to do at all, I think it makes the Church appear unloving and out of step with the love of God. It was lacking in compassion and understanding by the priest and others involved. On the other hand, if this child interrupted the services on a regular basis, caused some members to feel physically threatened and the spiritual needs of others to not be met, it is unreasonable and unfair to the congregation for the parents to demand they allow him to remain in the service. In this media age, quite often the Mass or service is shared by audio and even video to other parts of the church, wherein the child could have received the spiritual benefit, while not hindering the service.

There were options, there was another way! But, in our Christian bashing age, it is much easier to criticize the priest and members of the congregation that were ignorant about autism and who were operating out of fear of the unknown. Yes, I am sure that is the best way to build bridges - attack the church and demand they conform to political correctness.

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.

It’s a bit disturbing to see some arguing in the comments that the priest was right to seek a restraining order against this family.

Really?  You can’t see that the priest gave them so many options before he had to resort to that?  He offered them the cry room, live streaming video, and even home services.  The mother turned them all away.  What options were the church left with?

This kid was over 6 feet tall and 225 pounds.  When you say “big and scary” sarcastically like that, it makes me wonder what would happen if someone that same size hit your kid, because that’s what he did.  He struck another child.  That’s something that has to be taken seriously.  It’s clear that his parents cannot control his outbursts and this kid’s mother is obviously ignoring the fact that he IS a threat to the people around him to, as you are doing, make him out to be some type of social martyr to draw funding to your cause.

No one’s buying it.  This kid’s obviously a physical threat to other people and if you’re not willing to acknowledge that, I genuinely feel sorry for you.

K_lunch: You brought out some interesting facts that add dimension to the story. Thanks!

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.

K_lunch: You brought out some interesting facts that add dimension to the story.

No problem - I saw the full report of it the other night with both sides of the story, not just the biased portions that the msm and Samantha like to use to make this church, congregation, and priest look bad to drum up sympathy for their side.

What’s “my side”?

What makes you think I am interested in making anyone look bad? I can’t imagine that merely posting a link to the story with a minimum of comment qualifies as such.

Any thoughts on the first piece of info I posted on resources to help include autistic individuals in faith communities?

<s>One</s> Two more questions, how/why is my comment about the tone of other people’s comments on this issue construed as wanting to make the church (I’m presuming you mean either the Catholic church or the world wide body of Christians, if not please offer clarification), this congregation, or this priest “look bad?”

How did you get to, “attack the church and demand they conform to political correctness” from what I posted?

Samantha: Unless someone uses your name or clearly indicates they are addressing you in their comments; please understand that we often use the words of the thread only as a springboard to give voice to our concerns. I for one never assumed you agreed or disagreed, only that you mentioned some people commenting had defended the priest and his actions, and I was simply speaking to that issue, it was never directed at you.

No matter the age or state of health, for a military man it is always glorious to tilt at windmills, rescue a fair Dulcinea and be a gallant knight in armor in a glorious cause.

Neiman, I’m still interested in how you came to your “attack the church and demand they conform to political correctness” assessment.

Samantha, That is such a cute little kid on your avatar.