Cerebral Palsy is defined by the Mayo Clinic as follows: Cerebral palsy is a disorder of movement,
muscle tone or posture that is caused by an insult to the immature, developing brain, most often before birth. Does this make me retarded? No. Does it mean I'm sick? No. Does it mean I'm less of a person? No. However, this is what some people believe. I'm not gonna call anyone out specifically but there is someone who thinks that I should give up on life because I'm handicapped. Let's disregard the fact that I've graduated high school early, I'm in college, I'm 28 and have managed to live on my own for 11 years and that I've survived 101 grueling surgeries... None of that matters because I've been afflicted with something that I have no control over. I understand that some cultures view handicapped people differently, but when you've been in America for decades, it's time to let go of your prejudice.
I find it hard to believe that in this day and age, somebody could still be so socially backwards, prejudicial and ignorant. We live in a time where the world has become a melting pot. People need to learn to understand each other if we want to get anywhere. I'm not saying we have to like each other, I'm saying we should be tolerant of one another.
Hiding behind religion doesn't mean you have a golden ticket. You can't call yourself "a good Christian" and then be a bigot. It doesn't work that way. Going to church every Sunday doesn't make the way you act Monday - Saturday ok.
This whole rant boils down to two things: hypocrisy and tolerance. The only way that we are going to be able to see each other eye to eye is to set aside our differences and try to understand one another. Until we do that, we can never really make progress.
