Sunday, December 13, 2009

Since the time of the early bible stories disability humor has existed. You may be skeptical of this assertion so let me set the record straight.

First we have Adam's sons Cain and Abel. Without a Cain you are obviously un"abel" to walk if you have a bad leg, therefore not only addressing disability but the evolution of walking on two legs or one good leg and one gimp leg.

Cain also means "yes" in Hebrew. Well it sounds more like Ken, but Barbie didn't mind, if fact when Ken asked her about procreating, she was agreeable except they are not anatomically correct. This could be viewed as inappropriate conversation and maybe it would be if Ken had more parts, but he doesn't! What kind of doll is he anyway? Isn't that a disability? This is why the story of Cain killing Abel is an analogy of losing your "abelness" and needing a "Cain." If you lose your "Abel"ness or ability to walk without a "Cain" or as modern English a "cane." See Cain wasn't "bad" or "evil" for killing Abel (ability) Cane just carried the stigma of being a sign and symbol for humankind of being "differently abled" As the bible says: "And there will be a mark/sign upon your head. It will thus say "I killed this Able" or in English translation 2,000 years later I am removed of Abel or Dis-Abled.

The stigma of disability is represented by the inherent selfishness of Cain, his constant whining to the lord, his poor farming ability, his jealousy, sibling rivalry, and aggression. There is a common misconception that all disabled people are selfish, whiners, lousy farmers, jealous of abled-bodied people and aggressive. We now know through scientific research that most disabled people are not that aggressive.

The "mark" of Cain was his disability. Now what was his disability? Perhaps the inability to not kill people. Should we hold this disability against him? Why are some disabilities cool and others not okay? I guess you can make an argument that murder is not a disability but an evil act, but who knows the conversation Cain and Able had or what really happened.? Here is what really happened according to the Almost Dead Sea Scroll text written almost two thousand years ago found a few miles from the Dead Sea in a little pond locally known as "The Almost Dead Sea."

I interpreted this scroll myself after reading the definitive translation dictionary book: "Dead Sea Scrolls for Dummies"

Here is the excerpt verbatim:

Abel: Ha ha You're disabled!

Cain: No I'm not!

Able: Ha ha yes you are! You can't even farm good and you like to murder people too!

Cain: I never killed anyone!

Able: Yeah well I'm telling Dad that you killed me!

Cain: You liar! If you tell him that, I'll kill you!

Able running off : Ha ha ha ha nanee nanee booboo I'm telling!

Cain chasing after him. "Able look out for that lion!"

Lion: "Growl Munch munch chew chew."

Cain: Oh crap. I know I'm going to get blamed for this!

Now that we know the real truth about Cain and Abel and how the disability stigma began, the next article will be about addressing the proper measures for eliminating disability stigma and misconceptions.

This is an excerpt from a new book on humor and disability which is a work in progress.