Striving to remove barriers that prevent us from building Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive, Accessible Communities!
God is not partial and is no respecter of persons. He has made provision for all. The harvest comes forth for everyone. The rain showers upon everybody and the heat of the sun is destined to warm everyone. The verdure of the earth is for everyone. Therefore there should be for all humanity the utmost happiness, the utmost comfort, the utmost well-being. ... God is kind to all. The good pleasure of God consists in the welfare of all the individual members of mankind.
— ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
Building religious community is a sustained, learning centered process that we practice together. We weave shared worship, meaningful dialogue, moral education across ages, consultation, and practical service into one coherent way of life, because we seek the flourishing contributions and participation of everyone.
What is Hypocrisy?
Hypocrisy (noun): behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel; especially: the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion. Source: Merriam-Webster
Religious teachings across traditions condemn this same break between moral speech and moral practice:
- “O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? Great is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.” (Qur’an 61:2–3)
- “Why do you call me, ‘Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)
- “Because this people has come near; with their mouth and with their lips they honor Me, but their heart they draw far away from Me…” (Isaiah 29:13)
- “Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance – these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature…” (Bhagavad-gītā 16.4)
- “Though he recites much the Sacred Texts… but is negligent and does not practise according to the Dhamma… like a cowherd who counts the cattle of others…” (Dhammapada, Verse 19)
- “O hypocrite, renounce and abandon your hypocrisy; do not practice deception.” (Sri Guru Granth Sahib (Ang 973))
- “Strive that your deeds may be cleansed from the dust of self and hypocrisy…” (The Hidden Words (Persian no. 69))
It is also essential to abstain from hypocrisy and blind imitation, inasmuch as their foul odour is soon detected by every man of understanding and wisdom. -Shoghi Effendi
Hypocrisy, in practice, is the gap between what we say we believe and what our everyday systems actually do.
As we build religious community through worship, learning, consultation, and service, many of us proclaim, in one form or another, that “All are Welcome.” But our welcome is only real when participation is actually possible. When we proclaim dignity, equality, and love while leaving barriers built into the environment, and while failing to plan inclusively to remove those barriers, that contradiction is not semantic. It is hypocrisy, inclusive language paired with exclusionary practice. Caring people can inherit these barriers without choosing them, but caring people still have the power and responsibility to remove them.
As community builders, we have to keep this straight: it is not a person’s Disability that prevents participation in community events. It is the barriers built into the environment, and the lack of inclusive community event planning, that block access to the space, the information, and the process. If an event is held in a building accessible only via stairs with no ramp or elevator, People who use wheelchairs are effectively excluded. It is not the wheelchair that prevents access. Clearly, the stairs are the barrier. And when we rely on paper invitations (and other print-only materials), we exclude Blind People and People with low vision from equal access to the same information. Blindness does not prevent access. These Inaccessible materials are the Barrier.
“All are Welcome” is not simply a slogan or just words we put on a sign. It is a universal religious standard, and it is a promise we make. All means everyone, no exceptions. It means the space is reachable, the information is readable, and participation is planned from the start, not negotiated after someone is already shut out. Stairs with no ramp, print only communication, and inaccessible systems do not just create inconvenience. They create exclusion, and caring community builders can change that through planning and follow through. When we repeat “All are Welcome” while leaving those barriers in place, our words become a mask, and hypocrisy is what remains.
Understanding the Barriers
Leviticus 19:14 says, “Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind.” In community life, those “stumbling blocks” are often not literal objects on the floor. They show up in the choices we make about environment, materials, and process, such as print only programs, image based PDFs, videos without captions, and forms that cannot be completed with a keyboard.
One long running barrier is format control. It happens when we choose materials that preserve the creator’s layout, not the reader’s access. When text is turned into images, or when PDFs lack reliable structure and reading order, People using assistive technology can be blocked from the content entirely.
Another barrier is how we run our gatherings. If key information is presented visually without being made available in another way, or if participation depends on a sequence people can only follow by sight or by rapid “everyone do this now” cues, then the routine itself becomes the gatekeeper. Making access real means planning the information and participation path so it works through more than one way of accessing it.
A third barrier is decision-making without the people most affected. When we plan without People with Disabilities involved, barriers can remain invisible to us, no matter how caring we are. People experiencing the barriers are the most qualified to identify what is blocking participation.
Our stairs without a ramp, print only communication, image based PDFs, captionless media, and inaccessible forms do not “create challenges (Ableist Language).” They block People with Disabilities from entering the space, accessing the information, and taking part on equal footing. Keeping those barriers in place while displaying “All are Welcome” is hypocrisy: the message promises belonging, but the design delivers exclusion. Caring people can inherit these patterns, but caring people can also choose to change them. Belonging is simple and measurable. Belonging means People with Disabilities are expected. Belonging means they are included. Belonging means they can contribute. Belonging means they are valued because the environment, materials, and process are built for them too. Belonging means they can participate fully as equal members of their community.
Why this hypocrisy keeps reproducing itself in community life
1) Access is treated as charity instead of belonging
A lot of religious communities default to a “helping” mindset: we serve them; we accommodate them; we do something nice for them. That framing is part of the problem, because it treats access as optional and conditional rather than a basic expectation of community life. Many caring people use the word charity when they mean kindness. The problem is not kindness. The problem is a framework that keeps People with Disabilities as recipients instead of equal participants and partners, and that treats access as optional instead of expected. See: (Charity vs. Service: Do You Actually Know the Difference?)
The social model clarifies what gets missed in charity framing: the barrier is in the environment and the system, not in the person. This critical point must stay central, because it tells builders exactly what to change. (The Importance of Changing our Mindset from the Medical Model to the Social Model of Disability)
2) “We don’t have anyone like that here” becomes a self-fulfilling story
When People with Disabilities are not present, communities sometimes assume access is unnecessary. But ableism includes ignoring People with Disabilities as community activities and event planning take place, creating barriers that keep people away in the first place. (What is ableism, and what is its impact?)
Inclusive event planning guidance exists precisely because access has to be designed and planned for in advance. Location, communication, transportation, and participation details determine who can actually attend. (Tips and Suggestions for how to Plan for a Welcoming and Inclusive Accessible Event or Gathering)
3) Convenience and aesthetics get prioritized over equity
Inaccessible publishing choices are often defended as “this is how we’ve always done it” or “this is what our tools produce.” But print-first workflows and “PDF-as-the-default” create discriminatory barriers because they prioritize layout control for the creator over usability for the reader. (Exposing the Design Failures of Using Print with Online PDFs, Which Create Discriminatory Barriers to Accessibility and Inclusive Design)
The same dynamic shows up when communities don’t provide accessible materials as a normal practice because “not having accessible materials” is itself a barrier. (How to make materials Accessible to your Blind Friends)
4) The cost of access is emphasized; the cost of exclusion is ignored
Religious communities often focus on the expense or effort of accessibility, while overlooking what exclusion actually does: it blocks participation in programs, services, events, and communications—cutting people off from belonging and value in their community life. (Removing Barriers)
Treating accessibility as a discretionary add on, something done “out of generosity” and only when convenient, misunderstands access as charity rather than as removing barriers that should not exist in the first place. (Charity vs. Service: Do You Actually Know the Difference?)
5) Disability is framed as a “special case” instead of an expected part of community life
When disability is treated as an exception that disrupts so called “normal” community life, accessibility is ignored until someone complains or is harmed by exclusion. Sadly it often remains ignored anyway! The social model rejects that framing by naming barriers as the problem and shifting responsibility to the community planners and event hosts to remove them. (The Importance of Changing our Mindset from the Medical Model to the Social Model of Disability)
When People with Disabilities are ignored in community planning, barriers predictably remain invisible to the planners because the exclusion is built into the system, not into the person. (What is ableism, and what is its impact?)
More than 1 in 4 adults in the United States has a disability. (CDC: Disability and Health Report) When religious community treats accessibility as charity, assumes “no one here needs it,” prioritizes convenience over usability, and debates cost while ignoring the human cost, the result is not inconvenience. It is exclusion. People with Disabilities are blocked from worship, learning, consultation, and service that are already theirs. That is why hypocrisy keeps reproducing itself: the welcome is announced, but the action excludes people by design. Calling that contradiction what it is, hypocrisy, is not about shaming people. It is about telling the truth so we can change what is changeable and build community life that actually includes the people who are already part of it.
Final Thoughts
“All are Welcome” must mean the welfare and inclusion of Everyone. That standard cannot coexist with stairs-only access, print-only information, image-based PDFs, captionless media, missing audio description, and inaccessible processes that exclude People with Disabilities from worship, learning, consultation, and service. That contradiction is hypocrisy—not in intent, but in outcome. Disability is not rare and it is nothing new—more than 1 in 4 adults in the United States has a disability (CDC: Disability and Health)—so exclusion is not an edge case; it is the community denying its own members belonging, value, participation, and leadership. Consistently ensuring equitable participation of People with Disabilities in community gatherings and events by planning ahead for Accessibility transforms exclusion and discrimination into a culture of inclusion, respect, belonging, and value.
Choices create barriers, barriers create exclusion, exclusion harms People with Disabilities.
It is way past time to match our welcome with action. Choose accessibility as a standard practice, remove barriers on purpose, and advocate for full participation by People with Disabilities in every gathering, program, and service.
Disability Rights and Collective Action Advocacy in the Religious Community
- Interfaith disability advocacy has produced concrete guidance for accessible worship and participation. (That All May Worship: An Interfaith Welcome to People with Disabilities (PDF))
- Congregational accessibility networks provide assessment tools and practical steps to identify barriers and change congregational practice. (Congregational Accessibility Network: Congregational Assessment Survey (Survey Introduction))
- Disability-led organizations offer faith-community guidance focused on advocacy and inclusion rather than charity framing. (Disability Belongs: 6 Ways Faith Communities Can Advocate for Disability Inclusion)
- Accessibility educators publish detailed, practical guidance on removing everyday communication barriers that block participation. (Harvard Digital Accessibility: Creating Accessible Emails)
- The Shining Lamp publishes disability-rights advocacy resources focused on removing barriers in programs, services, events, materials, and communications. (The Shining Lamp)
