People with disabilities are a cultural canary in the coal mine

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People with disabilities are a cultural canary in the coal mine

September 6, 2011 by John Knight

Before modern methods of ventilation and gas detection became common, coal miners would take a canary into the mine to warn them about the presence of dangerous gases like methane and carbon monoxide. As long as the bird could sing, the air was safe for the miners. If it died – everyone got out as quickly as they could.

People with disabilities, especially children, have played and are playing a similar role for the culture. When people with disabilities are openly abused and killed, it shows a deep danger for all of society.

Just three examples:

The eugenics movement in the United States started against the ‘feeble-minded’ but quickly grew to include the poor and those who were the wrong skin color.
Hitler didn’t begin by murdering Jews; he authorized the ‘mercy killing’ of a child with multiple disabilities as his opening effort.
Pregnancy ‘reduction’ has existed for some time for women who were pregnant with more than three babies. Until just a few years ago, however, doctors would generally not reduce pregnancies down to a single child – except when one of the children was identified as having a disability.

The recent New York Times Magazine article, The Two-Minus-One Pregnancy, is shocking – women who have gone through extraordinary financial expense and physical difficulty to conceive a child are intentionally destroying a healthy twin so that they only have to deal with a single baby.

But it is no surprise. Our babies with disabilities have been warning us for some time that this was coming. And like the canary, by not getting away from these poisonous, murderous cultural fumes, more children are dying.

Posted in News | 25 Comments

25 Responses

on September 6, 2011 at 7:53 am | Reply Debbie Henry

My first grandson was born with the blessing of Down Syndrome. He daily blesses me. Ninety percent of babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome in their mother’s womb never see the light of day –murdered in their mother’s womb. That makes me cry. GOD cries, too.
on September 6, 2011 at 10:44 am | Reply Alan Cristie

The government in my country has been talking about legalizing abortion for a long time, and eventually it’s gonna be approved for the now called “women rights”. I pray God that this dead canary in the US would be seen here in Brazil.
on September 6, 2011 at 11:22 am | Reply links for 2011-09-06 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 6, 2011 at 11:42 am | Reply John Paul DeWalt

Thanks for the impetus to go ahead with as story with this type of scenario. God help us for all the dead canaries. He watches them as much as He does the sparrows.
on September 6, 2011 at 6:08 pm | Reply Althea

You said this sooo very well. Thank you.
on September 7, 2011 at 2:21 am | Reply links for 2011-09-07 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 8, 2011 at 4:41 am | Reply links for 2011-09-08 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 9, 2011 at 2:42 am | Reply links for 2011-09-09 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 9, 2011 at 9:48 pm | Reply Teamsters, Apologetics, Worship, R.C. Sproul and the Poached Egg | ChosenRebel's Blog

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on September 10, 2011 at 2:22 am | Reply links for 2011-09-10 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 12, 2011 at 3:07 am | Reply links for 2011-09-12 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 14, 2011 at 1:23 pm | Reply links for 2011-09-14 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 15, 2011 at 4:36 am | Reply links for 2011-09-15 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 16, 2011 at 2:36 am | Reply links for 2011-09-16 | The 'K' is not silent

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on September 21, 2011 at 8:07 am | Reply Miscellany 13: Being Human? - Hieropraxis | Hieropraxis

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on December 28, 2012 at 10:12 am | Reply What Does it Mean to Be Human? « School of Christian Thought

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