Only in Bertha, Minnesota. A teenager with autsim attends church services with his family. His autism causes him to act in a manner that those without knowledge of his condition might perceive as threatening. He makes loud noises. He leans up against people. This is very threatening to people that chose not to get to know someone with such a disability.
The young man and his family have been attending services at a Catholic church for many years. He had never attacked or physically harmed anyone (although it was alleged that he stuck a girl - an allegation denied by the family). However, he has grown into a very tall and husky young man. People in the church went to the pastor to express concerns. His presence was threatening to them.
Happy Mother's Day, Carol Race. After the church requested and was granted a restraining order against the young man, Adam, the Race's defied the order and brought Adam to services on Mother's Day. A few days later, a law enforcement officer showed up at their home to give Carol a ticket for violating the order. Fortunately, Carol has decided to make an issue of the events.
This situation provided many teaching opportunities. Is Adam any worse than some of the young children that scream during Mass? Do people complain about that? Could some of Adam's peers offer to play cards with him in the "cry room"? Could the priest consider having a short Mass for just the Race's? Could there be an agreement that the Race's would attend a particular Mass every weekend and those with concerns about Adam could attend another Mass?
Also, while I am no lawyer, I do know that a restraining order is issued for two reasons: 1) that there is good reason to believe that a person will likely harm other people or property (not the case with Adam); or 2) a person is a nuisance. Obviously, the reason the restraining order was issued is because some of the parishoners view Adam as a nuisance.
There are many instances in Scripture where Jesus has direct contact with people that have some type of disability. I don't recall any instance where Jesus viewed a person with a disability as a nuisance. In fact, Jesus embraced the person and most often healed them. One would think that the parish might want to consider embracing Adam and his family - a family that faces the many chances of trying to help a member with special needs live a fulfilled life.
For the Minneapolis StarTribune article, go t0:
http://www.startribune.com/local/19085694.html?page=2&c=y
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