Disabled Musicians
The competition is going on right now; you can listen to several disabled musicians and vote for your favorite. The winner gets a cash prize. It’s not a recording contract, but it begs the question of why the larger ?Idol? style contests do not have more disabled representation. Is appears that the primary disability for contestants is blindness, and musicians like Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder have already shown us that blindness is not really an impediment to musical talent, but this is a good idea. I really think that people with Aspergers, and especially people with Williams, could contribute some great musical entries too.
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Here is a story about a family who wants to change Catholic doctrine so that their daughter can qualify for communion. It’s a touching story, but unfortunately this is not how it works. If faith is negotiable, it’s not really faith, is it? The argument seems to center around the use of wheat vs. rice in the communion wafers. Since people have been burned at the stake for daring to suggest that the wafer does not actually transform into the body of Christ, the very debate over wheat vs. rice (it’s neither) seems bordering on heretical. Denial of transubstantiation is probably the most common cause of public burning at stake throughout Catholic history. It’s also one of the more important things separating Catholics from Protestants — a Catholic who wants to deny transubstantiation might just be a Protestant. The rice vs. wheat is an interesting angle, though. One wonders if Berengarius would have bene treated better if he had pleaded ?food allergy? instead.