Thread by @CrucibleOfThght

I don't typically "post angry," but I'm angry, and this deserves a response. After Tim Walz's VP acceptance speech last night at the DNC 2024, where his teenage son Gus was shown crying and shouting with pride over his dad's nomination, a certain ugliness ensued. /1🧵

2/ Unsurprisingly, pundits across the Trump far-right camp launched a flood of hate and ridicule against Gus and his emotional display. Witness these absolutely horrid posts by the likes of Ann Coulter and other right wing influencers.

3/ Maybe Ann et al didn't know that Gus was diagnosed as a teen with nonverbal learning disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety. But that doesn't matter - their idea that Gus is so weird because of the specific way he loves his dad so unashamedly,

4/ that it deserved a tweet seen by millions of followers, as a way to mock his Democrat dad's family? Sick, sick, sick, sick, sick.

Truly sick.

5/ We just saw, exposed for all to see, the true heart of someone who will do literally anything to attack their political opponents. What a difference from the love and acceptance and joy and cheer that I saw on full display from beginning to end of the DNC speeches last night.

6/ Yes, Gus's reaction immediately struck me as "otherness" also: but I've been spending time with plenty of divergent people lately, in missional contexts which tend to be full of people who just don't fit the mold of most typical people. But I've realized: they're people too.

7/ So ridiculing Gus was the farthest thing from my mind. I wish I could say the display didn't make me uncomfortable - it did - but not to ridicule him.

And unfortunately, I guessed right away, as did many other folks, that it was going to result in ridicule from the far right.

8/ And so the empathetic people immediately started posting "We're gonna have to stand up for Gus, guys."

Sorry to say, our guess was correct. And that says a lot about how certain elements of our political discourse have devolved.

9/ So here's my appeal to you: if you find yourself reacting with ridicule or repulsion at someone who's just not quite the same as most of us, BE CURIOUS about that reaction. What is it inside you reacting that way? Maybe it's to someone neurodivergent like Tim Walz's son Gus.

10/ Maybe it's like Kamala's tatted-up stepdaughter Ella. Maybe it's a person with Down Syndrome. Maybe it's someone who violates that old-school polite dress code. Maybe it's a confusingly androgynous person that just doesn't fit a comfortable gender binary.

11/ Maybe it's the flamboyant gay person. Maybe it's a couple - or throuple - that doesn't meet your morals for a relationship. And lest I sound too one-sided - maybe it's a guy wearing a right wing slur on their hat? Or carrying a rifle? Or an FJB shirt? Or a street preacher?

12/ The details don't really matter - I'm talking about *anyone* you encounter that makes you instantly and distinctly uncomfortable.

When you sense yourself reacting like that, it is the perfect time to query yourself, and a real opportunity to grow a little bit.

13/ So in that moment, ask yourself with genuine curiosity why that reaction just happened. Was it fear? Was it anger about violated norms? Wonder about your sense of discomfort in the presence of "otherness." Wonder about what inside you maybe feels unsafe in that moment.

14/ Wonder about how God thinks about that person. Think about how Jesus constantly interacted with "the other," always with deep care and compassion. Ask the Holy Spirit if that reaction is unrighteous, and invite change into your heart. How can you bring peace and wholeness?

15/ And then, invite the Holy Spirit to reframe your thinking. Give God your unqualified, unambiguous "yes" to change whatever is unholy in your immediate reactions to otherness.

Because I know this about God: God answers our own prayers to change ourselves.

16/ While prayers to change others or change our situation often seem to go unanswered, I'm pretty sure that the one kind of prayer that always gets answered is prayer to change ourselves - even if the answer isn't what we thought it would be.

17/ The one consistent call from Jesus, and John the Baptist while leading the way for Jesus, was "repent" - change your thinking. It was rarely "stop sinning." God seems to have a special response to those who seek God's own heart, who seek to see and love others like Jesus did.

18/ In this moment, Gus Walz is today's example of "otherness," of just not being the prototypical human we expect. Tomorrow it will be someone else. It might be someone we know, but usually not. Doesn't matter; we must stand in the gap. Don't let them be shamefully "othered."

19/ We can all do better. The best way to change our world is to start seeing each other just like God sees them: with love, with compassion, with respect, with care, with dignity. Let's do this. Let's set the example. THAT will change the world far faster than who's elected.