Twenty Answers About Deaf Culture

Well, I guess it is time to let you in on the answers. Since there are several answers you will not expect, I will also put some reference information to help show you that I’m not just making this stuff up. If you want to see the quiz without the answers, go here: http://theundershepherdsobservations.blogspot.com/2008/05/twenty-questions-about-deaf-culture.html


1) Current authors about Deaf culture say, the Bible teaches Deaf people can’t be saved because they can’t hear.

TRUE
Unsaved modern writers want to make Christians and the Bible look like a bunch of illogical, illiterate idiots. Such is the case of James Roots who in his book “The Politics of Visual Language: Deafness, Language Choice and Political Socialization” written in 2000 said, “The Bible declares repeatedly that a person must hear the word of the Lord, and that faith in Jesus will “open the ears of the deaf and the mouths of the dumb”. Saint Paul stated that “Faith comes through hearing the Word of God” (Romans 10), which Saint Augustine influentially interpreted literally to mean that “This impairment [i.e., deafness] prevents faith” (Contra Julianum Pleagianum, 3, 10).
Notice how, in this statement, he does not use God’s Word to define the error in what Saint Augustine said. He used Saint Augustine to redefine Scripture. In this one statement he does three things: He impugns the omniscience of God, he maligns the authority and accuracy of Scripture, and he implies Christians still think this way. If only he knew a few Deaf Christians he would know the “hearing” spoken about in this passage is the hearing of the heart and not the hearing of the ear.

2) Currently there are no books that teach Christians still believe all Deafness is the result of sin.

FALSE
Michael J. Hoggatt wrote “Moving to the Manger: A Journey from Exclusion to Inclusion” in 2008 and he said, “The idea that one’s disability is the result of sin has been proven time and time again to be a ridiculous notion; however, it seems that many in the church still cling to this belief despite the overwhelming evidence against it.” He then did go on to say a Godly person living with a disability could prove this to be ludicrous.
Thank you Mr. Hoggatt for perpetuating myths about people “in the church.” The true church is a gathering of saved believers living in the love and wisdom of Christ. Mr. Hoggatt makes no distinction between the unsaved thinking they are the church and the real church members.


3) Many years ago all school interpreters believed the Bible.

TRUE
Here is where you can get half credit for an unclear question. I should have qualified this statement by saying, “Many years ago all school interpreters in America believed the Bible.” How can I make this statement? Remember back when Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet returned to America from Paris to establish a school for the deaf in Hartford, CT? At that time there were no school interpreters for the deaf. It was the Reverend Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet interpreting for Laurent Clerc serving as the first school interpreter.
It is also not hard to imagine that every interpreter in the Hartford school believed the Bible. Why? Rev. Gallaudet established the school to be the “gate of heaven” for the deaf children. His goal was to instruct the deaf children about the, “the immortality of their souls, of their accountability to God, of their future state of being, of the destinies which await them, of the corruption of their own hearts, of the necessity of repentance toward God, and of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ”.


4) Two Christians brought an organized signed language to America for the purpose of evangelizing the Deaf community.

TRUE
Both Rev. Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc were very open about their faith in Jesus Christ and their desire to reach the deaf community in America with the gospel. One good source is Laurent Clerc’s journal he maintained about the voyage from France to America called “The Diary of Laurent Clerc's Voyage from France to America in 1816.” This can be viewed at: http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/lib/docs/687.htm


5) The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf prohibits Christian Interpreters from using the Biblical model of correction before using the RID Ethical Practices System.

FALSE
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf encourages any person, “involved in a complaint situation to make every effort to resolve the conflict without implementing the EPS, when possible.” So even RID certified interpreters can feel free to engage the biblical model for correction taught by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17.


6) There is a Christian Member Section in the RID.

FALSE(See comment on number 7)

7) There is a Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Intersexed, and Transgendered Member Section in the RID.

TRUE
As of this writing (February 24, 2009) the only member sections in the RID are: Deaf Caucus, Interpreters in Educational and Instructional Settings, Interpreters in Legal and Court Settings, Interpreters with Deaf Parents, Interpreters for the Deaf-Blind, Interpreter Service Managers, Interpreters and Transliterators of Color, Video Interpreter, and the Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Intersexed, Transgendered Interpreters/Transliterators. There are no Member sections to advance the cause of Christ in the RID. What does this say about Christian members of the RID?


8) Alexander Graham Bell would permit the use of the Rochester Method of sign language for people who were completely deaf.

TRUE
Alexander Graham Bell was a student of sign language for a while. He desired to make English the “native language” for the deaf community. You will find it interesting to read: “The Question of Sign-Language and the Utility of Signs;” 1898; by Alexander Graham Bell. Found here: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/magbell:@field(DOCID+@lit(magbell37600801))


9) Alexander Graham Bell believed Darwinian Evolution and not the Bible.

TRUE
In a letter to his parents dated January 27, 1873 A.G. Bell said: “Geology has shown us that the scriptural account of the Creation cannot be taken in a literal sense. To me it is infinitely more reasonable to suppose that Man is lineally descended from a monkey, than that he was moulded out of a piece of dirt!”
Bell was an avid reader of Darwin and even advised others to consider Darwin’s writings.


10) Alexander Graham Bell encouraged deaf people to marry deaf people.

FALSE
Bell misunderstood genetics and followed the teaching and logic of Charles Darwin. This lead him to write "Upon the Formation of a Deaf Variety of the Human Race" in 1884. This fear also caused him to be opposed to residential deaf schools, deaf clubs and all deaf social events because it might lead to deaf people marrying deaf people. He applied the ideas of natural selection to the offspring of the deaf parents and thought it would cause a “deaf race” of people.


11) William (Bill) Stokoe is the “Father” of the Cultural View of Deafness.

TRUE
The cultural view of deafness is also called the anthropological view. Is there anyone familiar with Bill Stokoe who would doubt this? Of course not.


12) William (Bill) Stokoe believed the Bible and not Darwinian Evolution.

FALSE
Just like Bell, Stokoe believed in the Darwinian view of Evolution. In “The Study of Signed Languages: Essays in Honor of William C. Stokoe” Douglas C. Baynton said, “Darwin convincingly demonstrated that humans shared many expressions in common with animals, and that the origins of human expression were to be found in their animal ancestors. In short, facial expression was no longer distinctly human, but, like gesture, a mere vestige of our animal past.” Found at: http://books.google.com/books?id=Pc-Rcg2-L0UC&printsec=frontcover#PPA28,M1
Stokoe supported Darwin in his book, “Language in hand: why sign came before speech, By William C. Stokoe” found at http://books.google.com/books?id=ME_64lsKO3kC&printsec=frontcover#PPA22,M1;
Anyone reading the Bible would clearly understand that speech came before sign. Unless of course, you count God placing man in the Garden as “sign language.”


13) Deaf people should focus on evangelizing and teaching deaf people and hearing people should focus on evangelizing and teaching hearing people.

FALSE
Although we each have our areas of comfort and skill, every Christian is ordered to preach the gospel to EVERY creature across the whole earth. Deaf Christians are just as required to reach hearing people as are hearing Christians to reach deaf people.


14) Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet changed his mind and did not become a preacher so he could educate deaf children.

FALSE
It was the Rev. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet that preached in America before going to learn Sign Language, preached on the ship going to England, preached in England and in France while learning Sign Language, preached on the ship coming home from France, preached while supervising the Hartford School, became a missionary to the west after the Hartford School, and became a Chaplain for longer than he served at the Hartford School.


15) Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet’s goal for his school was to lead deaf children to Christ.

TRUE
(See the note on number 3.)


16) After leaving his School for the Deaf in Hartford, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet became the chaplain of an insane asylum.

TRUE

See the “Life of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet: Founder of Deaf-mute Instruction in America” by Edward M. Gallaudet at: http://books.google.com/books?id=xCciAAAAMAAJ&printsec=toc#PPA189,M1 and “Tribute to Gallaudet: A Discourse in Commemoration of the Life, Character and Services of the Rev. Thomas H. Gallaudet, LL. D.” by Henry Barnard at: http://books.google.com/books?id=rxkFAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage#PPA117,M1


17) There are two philosophies about deafness: Pathological and Cultural.

FALSE
Did you forget about the Biblical view of Deafness? Both the Pathological and the Cultural (Anthropological) view of deafness find their basis in Darwinian Evolution. Only the Biblical view is founded on the Creator’s wisdom.


18) Deaf people should learn to read, write and speak English.

TRUE
Of course they should. How else will they reach unsaved hearing people? Even Laurent Clerc learned to write proper English so he could be understood. In fact Christians should learn as many languages as possible to reach as many people as possible.


19) God will judge deaf people differently than hearing people.

FALSE
We will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and answer for what we have done. The scriptures never give special permission to any group to sin. Holiness is required of everyone.


20) Non-Christian teachers teach lies to Christian Interpreters to use them for financial gain.

TRUE
2 Peter 2:2-3 says, “Even so, many will follow their immoral ways; and because of what they do, others will speak evil of the Way of truth. In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories. For a long time now their Judge has been ready, and their Destroyer has been wide awake!”


Well, how did you do? Do you know deaf culture and deaf history as well as you thought you did? Here are the grades: 0-2 wrong = A; 3-4 wrong = B; 5-6 wrong = C; 7 or more wrong = You need to study your deaf culture!

I will be a guest speaker at the Missouri Baptist Conference of the Deaf on March 13-15, 2009; at the St. Louis Metro Baptist Association building; 3859 Fee Fee Road, Bridgeton, MO. I will be preaching the evening message on Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. I will also be teaching a workshop during the day. Come and join us.

Registration costs $75 per person, $125 per family. (Family means with or without children. A couple will be $125.00) If you want to attend part-time the cost is $30 per session. No charge for Sunday activities and worship. $10 for youth to age 21. Be aware that $20.00 of the registration fee is non-refundable. You can make your check or money order payable to: MO Baptist Conference of the Deaf and send it to: Friendship Baptist Chapel of the Deaf, 9125 Manchester, St. Louis, MO 63144