Hope is social. You can tell how much hope you have by which way the people are moving in relation to your life. If people are dropping out of your life you know that you are in a hopeless situation because people are instinctively averse to hopelessness and they signal this by the way they act. Churches actually talk about hope a whole lot but when it comes down to it you can find out what they believe what constitutes a hopeful existence by the way they treat you. Generally if you have enough “life gems” (looks, decent job, car, house, SO, etc..) they will surmise you have hope. If not, not so much.
Christians generally have a public and a private position on the phenomenology of the faith. The public position is God giving blessings and never forsaking you, etc.. The private position is, not so much. It is understood, even by strong Christians, that God is vastly oversold. It is also understood that if he wasn’t, there would be a lot less Christians because let’s face it, in America everything is oversold. That’s why most people embellish their resume (because everyone else is doing it so one must to land an interview). People who don’t “experience God” are suspect, but there are a heck of a lot more of them (even strong Christians) than one would like to think.
The idea that “life is a gift” doesn’t apply to adults, particularly adults with disabilities. As an adult with a disability I know my life is certainly not a gift. I know this because if my life were a gift it would be received as one. This is why I’m an antinatalist (against humans propagating). If I were to have a child it would likely have one or more disabilities. I know from my own experience that as an adult it would be treated like crap in church. I get that Christians are natalists and pro life but it’s hypocritical to bring people into this world and then, if they happen to have a disability, let them languish.
Authenticity is an existential threat to Christianity. Generation Y and Z are not afraid to ask 3am questions at 8pm. This spells trouble for the church, especially because most churches are like a real life version of social media where we present our highlight reel while shoving our behind the scenes under the rug. Christians claim life works a certain way and God does certain things. But when your lived experience flies in the face of this Christian fellowship becomes a lonely, isolating place. When you are off their map you have to try to build a completely new map with a completely new social circle and this takes a lot of work, hurt, and effort.
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