blessedarethebinarybreakers

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Disability Theology Resources

Welp, this is one day late to be in Disability Pride Month, but exploring disability is well worth doing all year long anyway. Here's a new masterpost of my favorite books, podcasts, and YouTube vids on disability theology and praxis. I'm also always happy to offer recs if there's something specific you're looking for!

You can also find stuff in my #disability theology tag.

Top Books:

Loving Our Own Bones: Disability Wisdom and the Spiritual Subversiveness of Knowing Ourselves Whole by Rabbi Julia Watts Belser. Fantastic exploration of the Torah / first five books of the Bible through a disability lens, by a queer disabled feminist rabbi. I particularly adore the chapters on Moses! .

My Body Is Not a Prayer Request by Amy Kenny. This was really fun to read concurrently with Rabbi Belser's book because they bring up a lot of the same scripture but of course come at it from different faith perspectives; the book also offers lots of practical changes and stuff churches can make to fight ableism / increase belonging .

How Ableism Fuels Racism by Lamar Hardwick (he also goes by the Autism Pastor on social media) .

Disability: The Inclusive Church Resource by John Hull offers essays by various disabled (Protestant) ministers on the ableism they face and how they experience ministry, if you're interested in that!

Top Podcasts, YouTube, etc.

The Autistic Liberation Theology Podcast hosted by Laura Sommer — I may be biased because they're one of my best friends and I often guest on the show but genuinely some of the best theology around chronic pain and being Autistic I know of; bonus points for mixing in lots of trans stuff!  For instance they talk a ton about Jesus being Autistic, and reading him through a trans lens; and three of the eps are me and Laura going on and on about Joseph of Genesis being neuroqueer hehe .

Another podcast I sometimes guest on is The Word in Black and Red, which offers leftist takes on every book of the Bible! (eventually. We're only into Leviticus right now lmao). Anyway I don't rec the whole podcast, but there is one episode where Laura and I offer an introduction to disability theology! .

The Mad and Crip Theology Podcast interviews folks about their academic papers on disability theology, very neat. A good starter episode: this one “on Queer and Crip Sexuality and the Disabled Christ” .

Everything Happens is a podcast that explores faith in the midst of suffering, from chronic illness to sudden accidents to disability and more .

Sorry to toot my own horn so much lmao but uhhh I also have a YouTube series called Disabled AND Blessed where I explore disability theology!! First vid is about being Autistic and stimming in church hehe I also once did a livestream discussing the Gospels' endlessly complex healing narratives

“Secular” books that helped shape my own theology

Feminist, Queer, Crip by Alison Kafer. Ahhhh I wish I could get everybody to read this one haha — but it is an academic work so probably not fully accessible to every average person. Lots on queer-and-crip time, one of my favorite concepts, and the importance of being able to imagine a better world. .

What Can a Body Do? How We Meet the Built World by Sara Hendren (2020). Fantastic book digging into recent disability history, present, and future with focus on the “misfit” theory of disability where body and world interact with each other disharmoniously, and the creativity disabled people employ to make them more harmonious  .

Exile and Pride, Eli Clare (1999). One of my favorite books of all time. Connects disability, queerness, rural life, trauma, and more. Clare is one of the originators of the concept of the “bodymind” (though he talks about that more in one of his later books) .

Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. Real practical ways to do disability justice. Lots on the intersections of race and gender and class etc.

Other good (theological) stuff:

I love Unbound's series on Disabling Lent, lots of fantastic, varied disabled perspectives .

The Bible, Disability, and the Church: A New Vision of the People of God by Amos Yong. Written by an abled person with a son with Down Syndrome soooo it's got that flavor to it, not my fave — but the couple of chapters on Paul and on heaven are absolutely worth a read! .

My Body and Other Crumbling Empires byLyndsey Medford (2023) This memoir connects faith, chronic illness (especially autoimmune disorders), and the sickness at the heart of Western Empire / the Protestant work ethic.  How can we learn to work with instead of against our bodies? How can we rebuild our world to treat all bodies with the love and gentleness they deserve?

This Here Flesh, Cole Arthur Riley (2022). An incredibly beautiful book, poetic and searing…explores the goodness of embodied life and intersections between disability (particularly chronic illness), Blackness, queerness, womanhood, and more. Each chapter focuses on a different emotion (anger, joy, lament, love…) to teach us how to honor and listen to what we feel in our bodies. CW for accounts of sexual assault and other forms of and abuse and trauma, as well as accounts of antiblack racism.

Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, Kate Bowler (2018).  If you’ve been steeped in any kind of prosperity gospel, “if you pray hard enough you’ll be healed” type Christianity, I highly recommend this book.  Bowler writes with gentle honesty about how her chronic pain and then cancer compelled her to move away from that kind of harmful Christianity into a faith with room for doubt, grief, and a God that holds her in her suffering.

My podcast Blessed Are the Binary Breakers focuses mostly on trans experiences of faith, but I do bring up disability a lot; these are some of the disability-focused episodes: . - "Holy Pride in Disabled Experiences and Insights" . - "Our Pride Is Not a Sin: A queer & disabled Christian lens" . - "Marginalized Bodies as Spectacle and the Good News in Jesus's Disabling Wounds" . - Ep on my reading of Acts 8 through a trans & Autistic lens (the eunuch is very trans-resonant, while I playfully imagine Philip as autistic) . - "Goodness Embodied: An intersex, nonbinary first human and a disabled risen Christ" . - “No End to Transphobia without Uprooting Ableism — exploring embedded forms of oppression”

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

the idea that jerking off every day makes you a depraved sex addict is so nuts the current obsession with declaring anything a sex/porn addiction is so fucking stupid why am i seeing other queer people and people on the left capitulating to this regressive shamey bullshit. experiencing pleasure is not sinful or overindulgent. we cannot be going around telling people they're not allowed to be horny and not allowed to have whatever amount of sex they want to have.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Intersex people are meant to be intersex.

We were not "supposed to" develop any way other than how we actually did.

We are not a failed version of something else.

We are intersex, worthy of respect as we are.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

I like to think that God looks upon his trans children and smiles seeing our creativity.

He smiles as he sees us continue to be who we are despite the hatred of the world.

He sat with us as we picked out our names and was the very first to use them.

He’s patient when we are indecisive because he knows that learning who you are takes a while.

When we just want to scream because we don’t know who we are or who we’ll be, he simply hugs us and smiles, telling us that he knows. He knows who we are and he loves every part.

He looks upon us with pride as we change and grow and heal.

He was there for the very first haircut, the very first outfit we felt comfortable in, he protected us when we came out and will continue to protect those who do. He protects those who aren’t safe to come out, those who are scared and confused.

And when the day came that we looked in the mirror and finally recognized the person looking back at us, he was right with us whispering,

“I told you you would make it. I love you.”

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Happy Feast of St. Peter & St. Paul! I'm sure they'd love sharing a day

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Queer Pride Worship Service — Tonight!

Hey friends, my queer advocacy org More Light Presbyterians is holding a Pride worship service tonight, Sunday June 22, 2025, at 7pm EDT! The brilliant Rev. Shanea Leonard is preaching and I am pumped to hear their message.

If you'd like to attend, fill out this google form to receive the Zoom link — or else message me for the link!

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Queer Pride Worship Service — Tonight!

Hey friends, my queer advocacy org More Light Presbyterians is holding a Pride worship service tonight, Sunday June 22, 2025, at 7pm EDT! The brilliant Rev. Shanea Leonard is preaching and I am pumped to hear their message.

If you'd like to attend, fill out this google form to receive the Zoom link — or else message me for the link!

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

who else is feeling like a poor banished children of eve? who else is mourning and weeping atm ? just me? am i the only one @ the valley of tears right now?

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Jonathan made David swear again by his love for him; for he loved him as he loved his own life.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

we seriously need to stop conceding to the personhood trap when it comes to abortion rights. is a fetus a person? thats a spiritual question. i dont care about the answer. should another person dictate what someone can do with their body? simple answer: no.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

My denomination's queer advocacy org is hosting a Zoom space where folks 21-30 can gather tonight, May 21, at 7pm EST!

Queer Christians from any denomination are welcome. Here's the google doc to register to get the Zoom link. Hope to see you there!

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

A Queer Easter Vigil: resurrection after religious trauma

In the latest episode of Blessed Are the Binary Breakers (yes, it's been a while!!), I interweave my own story of deep trauma and hope of healing with Jesus' journey to the cross and tomb. After spiritual harm, how do we rise to new spiritual life?

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Above all else, crucifixion was a spectacle: The Roman Empire’s way of making a show of its brutality in order to terrorize dominated peoples into submission.

If you dared dissent, you knew what end awaited you: You would be stripped of your autonomy, stripped of your dignity, and finally literally stripped bare before a crowd, your naked, wounded flesh a warning to others to comply, or die.

Today, transgender and intersex persons are likewise made into a spectacle.

Our bodies and private medical histories are put on display for others to gawk at, pity, or judge. New laws attempt to strip us of our God-given free will, denying us the autonomy to respond to God’s invitation to participate in the ongoing creative act that is embodied life.

In school and at work, at home and in church, we face every manner of violence. And when these evils wound us to the point of suicide, or when we are murdered, our deaths are lifted up as a warning: “See what happens when you refuse to comply?”

But through the cross, Jesus transformed shame and death into new life. Though he was the one who was stripped, his execution exposed both the evil of Empire, and its ultimate fallibility.

When we dare to be who God made us to be, society’s spotlight may make us feel like one raw wound, exposed and vulnerable. We may even be subjected to social death.

But we refuse to be ashamed any longer for being the beautiful embodied spirits, inspirited bodies that God calls beloved.

Even when others try to strip us of dignity, status, or autonomy, Christ brings us into joyous, abundant life. The cross is not the end of the story.

From "A Queer Easter Vigil: resurrection after religious trauma" on the Blessed Are the Binary Breakers podcast

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

evangelicals being like "god made men to do This and be like This and women to do That and be like That that's just how it is" and it's just a picture of a white man and woman following traditional gender norms makes me so insane like you boring fascist fucks. god made 2 million species of beetles. god made whales, ducks, humans, and 1500 other species capable of same sex behavior. god made fish and amphibians that change sexes. god made more than 30 different intersex variations in human beings. god, in his infinite curiosity. wake up!!! fuck!!

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

A guide to NPD for anyone who doesn't understand it!

What is NPD?

NPD, or narcissistic personality disorder, is a mental illness in the cluster B personality disorder category.

NPD usually stems from childhood abuse or other unhealthy childhood situations. In my case, abuse.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms of NPD include an unstable sense of self, prioritizing yourself, having unstable relationships, having low/no empathy, and depression/self hatred.

These can be improved upon, but disordered thoughts will likely remain for most.

Can pwNPD have healthy relationships?

Yes, with effort and work. Plenty can have healthy and successful relationships. (like me, for example, in a loving relationship with my boyfriend)

We have a to be a bit more aware of how we treat others, but it helps when both the person with NPD and the partner set boundaries with each other. With communication, we can be great partners.

And yes, we can feel love and care about our partner(s). Empathy ≠ love. Empathy ≠ compassion.

Why does the term "Narcissistic abuse" harm pwNPD?

Because of the name, anything said about "narcissists" is also associated with us, even if you weren't talking about NPD. If you were, that's just blatant ableism.

Many of also call ourselves narcissists either just as a descriptor or to reclaim it.

Other terms like emotional abuse, gaslighting, and plenty others describe the same thing without ableist roots. Please, speak out about your abuse, but avoid using ableist terms.

But my therapist/psychiatrist uses the term "narcissistic abuse," how can it be ableist?

Sadly, ableism isn't that uncommon from medical professionals. Plenty use terms like "narcissistic abuse" and other ableist terms.

Why not just advocate to change the name of NPD?

Even if the name changed, it would still be ableist. We have another cluster B disorder that got a name change that we can look to for example of what happens.

You used to be able to be clinically diagnosed as a "psychopath," which has since been changed to ASPD. However, people still use the terms "psychopath" and "sociopath" to refer to ASPD. All the stigma around those words still applies to them.

I imagine similar would happen if we changed the name of NPD. It wouldn't matter, we'd still be called narcissists. And the term would still be ableist because it would still hurt us.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

The word you are looking for is “selfish.” Not narcissist, not sociopath, selfish.

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

I love religious queer people so much especially non-Christian religious queer people. I know it can be hard to be queer in religious spaces and hard to be religious in queer spaces but your existence as both religious and queer makes the world better.