For example, Americans with disabilities attend school, live independently, work, marry, receive assistance, enjoy the benefits of medicine and technology, and are protected by law from discrimination and exclusion. People with disabilities are appreciated for their contributions to society. Advocacy groups abound, services are available as never before, access to public spaces is assured, and negative attitudes are quickly silenced.
Life has not always been so good, and certainly many challenges still exist.
Medieval attitudes
Once upon a time, fairy tales and legends were used to explain why some children were born with a disability. Folklorist D. L. Ashliman says medieval cultures considered “misshapen” infants, or children who failed to develop, to be demonic, or the offspring of elves and trolls. In the stories, these evil creatures kidnapped human children and left their own offspring—called “changlings”—behind for the human parents to raise.
The tales also prescribed how the changlings should be treated. A common theme was the hope that kidnapped children would be returned from the underworld when the evil parents saw how sorely their changlings were mistreated. Fear of the devil, the belief that disabled children had little value, and the conviction that they'd be a drain on scarce resources, led societies of that day to approve the neglect and abuse of children with disabilities.(1)
Ashliman credits advances in science and medicine with the erosion of these arcane beliefs, and the adoption of more enlightened attitudes, but science and medicine have not always been good for people with disabilities. The 19th century's Darwinism gave rise to the 20th century's eugenics movement, which offered society new excuses to dehumanize anyone considered “not worthy of life.”
Victoria Brignell writes, “Supporters of eugenics called for government policies to improve the biological quality of the human race through selective parenthood. They linked physical and learning disabilities to a range of social problems including crime, vagrancy, alcoholism, prostitution and unemployment. Eugenics quickly gained many backers on both sides of the Atlantic, including leading politicians and opinion formers.”(2)
20th century attitudes
Out of this grew the Nazi holocaust, in which thousands of people with disabilities were killed by lethal injection in medical centers two or three years before the erection of gas chambers and ovens for the extermination of Jews and others. But it wasn’t only mad men in Germany who embraced eugenics.
The cream of Western societies of all political stripes advocated and implemented programs to prevent the immigration and procreation of people deemed unfit. The list of disqualificating conditions included “arthritis, asthma, deafness, deformities, heart disease, poor eyesight, poor physical development, and spinal curvature.”(3)
Programs to forcibly sterilize people with disabilities were enacted into American law long before they were introduced in Germany. Such policies were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1927 and later gave cover to the Nazi’s “final solution.” In some states, they continued into the 1970s.(4)
The eventual repudiation of eugenics after World War II did not end all the horrors for people with disabilities in civilized countries. Before the disability rights movement gained strength, people with disabilities were often segregated into institutions and schools, treated as second-class citizens, neglected or tortured, subjected to experimentation, and exploited.(5)
Attitudes today
Sadly, current practices encourage the eradication of disability through abortion. Powerful tech figures such as Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Peter Thiel are pro-natalist, but also outspoken supporters of allowing only the best children to be born.(6)
Recent advancements have resulted in longer lives for people with Down syndrome, but at the same time there are now more tests that identify affected children in the womb so their births can be prevented. Some of these tests that are performed early in pregnancy only indicate when a baby has a higher risk of the condition. Many high risk babies are aborted before later term confirmatory tests can be done, and thus without the proof they have the condition. Iceland claims to have eliminated nearly all instances of Down syndrome, and other countries are not far behind.
Genetics cannot say, however, that these babies are not human. The offspring of human beings are human, with or without a congenital defect. The Bible early on affirms this fact. Animals and plants reproduce “after their kind,” but human beings procreate in the likeness of Adam, who was made in the likeness of God (Genesis 1:12,21, 5:1-3). For this reason, human beings—even ones with disabilities—are significant to God.
Mankind has not been stripped of the Creator’s image by the sin nature (Gen 9:6), nor is disability proof an individual lacks it. People who are unconsciousness, or unable to perform certain functions, still bear His indelible mark and can declare His glory (Psalm 149:4-5).
While technology can reveal the genetic or disease-based causes of many disabilities, and offers some cures and treatments, science and medicine are not the source of everything that is to be known about humanity, or the origin of disabilities. They reveal the groans of a fallen creation (Romans 8:19-22), but will deny or discredit its spiritual cause. For this too we rely on special revelation.
Jesus’ attitude
The account of the man born blind is indicative of attitudes in Jesus’ day toward people with disabilities. His disciples are among those who supposed that blindness was a punishment for sin, either the man’s or his parents.’ This idea flowed from an Old Testament teaching about blessings for obedience and curses for unconfessed sin, and tended to overlook the fallenness of nature (Deuteronomy 28:11,28-29).
As another OT book reveals, there’s not always a one-for-one relationship between a particular sin and a specific dire consequence. In Job’s case, bad things happened to a good person as a test of his continued loyalty to God (Job 1:20-22).
If we’re honest, we know that we have not received punishment in this life for every sin we’ve committed. As Jesus would point out, sometimes people are given a disability in order that God’s glory will one day be revealed in a way that could not have happened without it (John 9:1-3, Luke 5:24-26). How and why this is applied to particular people remains a mystery.
Jesus encountered many people with disabilities during His sojourn on Earth. A notable instance was His healing of Bartimaeus, one of His last miracles before the resurrection (Mark 10:46-52). Several points in the account relate to attitudes about disability:
►Society had sidelined Bartimaeus. He literally sat by the side of the road. And, when he excitedly called out for Jesus’ attention, people around him tried to silence him. Had they ever helped Bartimaeus beyond the occasional handout? Was there a job he could have done rather than being reduced to begging? Why didn’t they help him get to Jesus?
They probably didn’t think they were mistreating him, but they violated the spirit of Leviticus 19:14 – “You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind.” They were behaving like the disciples who, earlier in the chapter, attempted to prevent children from getting near Jesus (Mk 10:13-16).
►Despite his disability, Bartimaeus was capable of spiritual discernment. While others identified Jesus as a man from Nazareth, Bartimaeus called Him “Son of David.” He saw Jesus as the promised Messiah, the Son of God!
A man of honest insight, he also correctly discerned his own spiritual condition in relation to Jesus. He knew he needed mercy (Luke 18:13). How many people without disabilities had made that discovery during Jesus’ earthly ministry?
►When others counted him out, Bartimaeus refused to comply. He boldly and bravely persisted in his cry for help, despite being outnumbered and outshouted. He took responsibility for his own future and, when called, made his way to Jesus.
►Jesus refused to by-pass Bartimaeus, and instantly the crowd’s annoyance turned to elation. They seemed happy to learn that God truly does exalt the humble (Psalm 113:5-7). No one is excluded! God is truly filling His banquet hall with “the crippled and blind and lame” (Lk 14:21). “Cheer up! He’s calling you!” is not only the call of God to people with disabilities, but to everyone.
►Jesus courteously asked Bartimaeus what He could do for him. To put this in contemporary terms, even though He knows all things, Jesus “empowered” the man to articulate his own desire. Christ-like caregiving does the same, not presuming to know what someone wants or needs, but patiently soliciting input, and humbly submitting to their choices.
►Jesus acknowledged Bartimaeus’ faith and offered him another choice. He said, “Go your way” but, unlike the rich young ruler of the same chapter, Bartimaeus decided that his way would be whichever way Jesus was going (Mk 10:17-22). Once healed, he dropped everything to follow Jesus. The road that led to Jerusalem would become the road leading to the cross.
If Jesus had adopted the attitudes of people of His day toward the disabled, He would have ignored Bartimaeus, as well as the “bent woman” of our last post. His neglect would justify our own. But that is not what He did. He sought out people with all kinds of disabilities. He listened to their pleas. He did what He could for them, which was to heal them!
Adjusting our attitudes
The question is, what can we do for people with disabilities? We can love them and care for them and bring them to Jesus. Following His example and His words, the early church reacted with grace toward children with disabilities, literally rescuing them from the trash heaps of the Roman Empire.(7)
Sadly, it wasn’t until passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 that many churches began ensuring access and opportunities for people with disabilities. Much more can certainly be done. Church bodies are encouraged to not only evaluate whether their facilities, services, activities, and outreach programs comply with relevant laws, but also whether they reflect God’s love and the truth that all people are created in the image of God.
We need to promote the adoption of technologies and programs that will help people affected by disability. The goal is to eradicate ill-treatment, not to eradicate people with disabilities—born or unborn—through killing. With all the advantages we have today, there is no excuse but to create a welcoming and a nurturing environment for people with disabilities, and their families.
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Extra: Get to know Michael Murray, a Christian author with cerebral palsy. His Bible studies are available through Nobody Left Out Books.
Image credit: William Blake's Christ Giving Sight to Bartimaeus (remastered color), public domain; https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:7222.
Endnotes:
1. Changelings, An Essay by D. L. Ashliman, 1997, https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/changeling.html
2. The Eugenics Movement Britain Wants to Forget, by Victoria Brignell, September, 2017, https://newcastlevisionsupport.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/The-eugenics-movement-Britain-wants-to-forget.pdf
3. Of the History of Eugenics, by Victoria Brignell, https://claudiosaponaro.com/2023/01/25/of-the-history-of-eugenics-victoria-brignell/; also published as When America Believed in Eugenics, https://www.globalresearch.ca/when-america-believed-eugenics/5743548
4. Eugenics: Compulsory Sterilization in 50 American States, by Lutz Kaelber, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Vermont, https://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/; information on the state of Michigan as compiled by students, https://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/MI/MI.html
5. When the Disabled were Segregated, by Victoria Brignell. New Statesman, December 2010, https://ukdhm.org/when-the-disabled-were-segregated-new-statesman-december-2010/
6. More and Better Babies: The Dark Side of the Pronatalist Movement, by Daphne O. Martschenko and Julia E. H. Brown, Hastings Bioethics Forum, January 14, 2026, https://www.thehastingscenter.org/more-and-better-babies-the-dark-side-of-the-pronatalist-movement/; The New Eugenics in Medicine, by Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA, Jan. 23, 2026, https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/119554
7. Original Christian Voices Against Euthanasia, by David WT Brattston, https://www.diakonima.gr/2017/03/16/original-christian-voices-against-euthanasia-david-w-t-brattston/; also Infanticide in the Ancient World, by Sandra Sweeny Silver https://earlychurchhistory.org/medicine/infanticide-in-the-ancient-world/
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