By Andy Hale

Have you ever considered that we have a theology of bodies? Now consider our views of people who look differently than we do and are affected by our theology of the body.  

Passed down to us from colonialization, Antebellum, and post-Civil War, we have inherited misconceptions and ableism, specifically about black bodies, that prevail to this day.   

“Ableism silently pretends that our bodies are unimportant in relation to how we understand and experience God, primarily because people who consider themselves to have normal bodies believe that their experience is the default experience for all bodies,” said Rev. Dr. Lamar Hardwick on the CBF Podcast Conversation.  

“Ableism in religion shows up this way by implicitly assuming that to be disabled or Black or female is a sort of subcategory of humanity that renders the ways those bodies experience God as invalid or unimportant.” 

Hardwick, the lead pastor of Tri-Cities Church, sat down to discuss his new book, How Ableism Fuels Racism. Lamar also contributes to Christianity Today, Huffington Post, and Autism Parenting Magazine. 

Listen here.

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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the Associate Executive Coordinator of CBF North Carolina. He’s also served as CBF’s Church Start Specialist, the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton, and the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge. Follow on Twitter @haleandy.