I haven't really been on this site in a while, but I noticed that there may be some christians on this site so I figured I would ask this question:

I was diagnosed with Aspergers at around 2, parents didn't really talk about it all my life, started looking into it at 18 which helped me understand why I thought the way I do. I became a christian at 20 and I am currently working on my masters in Seminary.

As I researched Autism and Christianity, I noticed that the majority of resources were for the parents of autistic children, strongly connected to the curebies, or if they were helping actual autistics, it lumped us in with all physical, mental, and spiritual disabilities.

I am wondering if anyone in this group knows of any resources that talk about christianity and autism in a correct light, or just aspie christians, how you function in the church and with growing spiritually

this needs to be posted to the politics and religion forum

Already done

thanks

Just at the right time. I just signed up for an account and found this thread, "by coincidence".

A little bit more about myself: go look up my intro thread at http://www.aspiesforfreedom.com/showthre...?tid=21568

I haven't studied the Bible in terms of theological level, but on a practical level many of the same commandments that God has given to the population in general also apply to Aspies without any modifications:

- The 10 Commandments + Jesus upping of the standards in Matthew 7 to state that just thinking of doing it is as good as doing it itself
- Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
- Forgive + Love your enemies.
- To summarise one of those parables; it says love the unlovables. That's what keeps me going on even though the rational part of me wants to have no part to do with Aspies any more.

Notice that just about everything that has been said, Jesus set an example. Extraordinarily high standards.

While I have never identified myself as affected by AS, I see that as Christian the challenges that an AS would face is different from what an NT would face. Of course, that varies from culture to culture, and Singapore is probably very different from where you live, so I son't say anything on this.

Neither do I believe in genetic cures, medicine or whatever nonsense. IMO it seems like scamming money from parents anyway.

Oh, if you need, you can PM me.

In His Love,
190

Many times I feel like I'm not good enough for Christ's forgiveness. My head tells me it's not true, I'm trying to get my heart to understand.
I got a long ways to go. Please be patient with me.

God does not necessarily operate by human logic. By human logic it would be like this:

Sin --> You rebel against God --> Auto send to hell in most efficient manner.

However, the fact that God not only forgives sin but also sent His only Son down to die for us and pay the price shows this is clearly not the case.

That said, logic can only go so far. God can do the rest. Ask Him and be patient.

As said, if you need PM me.

In His Love,
190

Hi there,

You might want to check out John Swinton of Aberdeen University.  He's Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, and has published on autism and spirituality.

The Church of England also has some information relating to the practicalities of including autistic people in worship, prepared by a woman with Asperger's, and I'll see if I can find a link to that.

Not sure what you mean by a "correct light", but I'm assuming you mean a liberal, inclusive theological perspective which sees us all as having gifts to offer in service of God and each other.

This post was last modified: 02-13-2011 12:10 AM by Marcia.

This is very good, I meant with saying correct light as in churches that view autism with respect

I'm sure there are plenty of them out there.

I believe that when Jesus said "Nobody comes to heaven but thru me", he meant thru the same principles he had, not literally through him. I am attached to God and see from where everything is standing that it will all work out where we all go to God in the end. You have to believe it. (I know some people need help.) When you believe it, it's there... in or out of your head, it's real. If you can grasp the concept of infinity, it's easy... just imagine an infinitely huge bright white light that is nothing but that and totally compressed together. It's a big soul that is just growing bigger, and it includes us, and one day it will totally include us. I had to reinvent the wheel to figure it out, because I didn't believe anyone would be able to help me. What motivated me was when I saw a tragedy movie and started thinking of a way around death, because I realized then that I could not stay alive forever, or it was very unlikely. I started thinking about the soul and then I figured out what I wrote in this post. It was also the answer to many questions I had about morality, etc. thruout my entire life. Such a relief.


And that's my religion.

This post was last modified: 02-13-2011 12:37 AM by Ana54.

Forgive me for my ignorance, but are there specific issues relevant to autism and christianity in that particular combo?
There are of course issues around church attendance and other social aspects, but that would hardly be unique to christian churches.

Thats what I would like to know.

I wondered, but didn't get round to asking, if the OP is in the US because I think some of the more conservative churches there may exercise some influence on how parents interact with children with autism.

In the UK, it is more about efforts to be as inclusive as possible, and that includes such things as ensuring wheelchair access, loop systems for hearing aid users, large print info for people with sight problems etc.  

You're right, though, none of that is unique to churches or other places of worship.  The guy I mentioned at Aberdeen Uni is involved in work involving people with a variety of disabilities and exploring their perspectives on church and spirituality etc, and that's being done from a practical/pastoral theological perspective.