Stitching Up The Seams

Link: Changes in Attitude.

A new, more civil conversation is emerging with gays and lesbians on evangelical campuses.

Confessions of a slut-shaming racist homophobe.

…so this is my confession. My gut reaction in these cases is to be a slut-shaming misogynistic misandristic racist homophobe. It’s true. I fear those who are different than me, because they are harder to understand…because they don’t fit in a box I already have labeled, or they seem like they might fit into a particularly unsavory box, or even because I don’t have the time to devote to getting to know them and determining whether they are truly frightening or not.

But in the seconds after my gut-reaction, I experience a deep connection with the person against whom my emotions were just raging. They probably never know I feel this connection to them. But after my initial, shameful, stupid knee-jerk emotion, I am deeply moved by compassion for them. I realize that there are people out there who don’t get beyond their knee-jerk reactions and prejudices, and I wonder in those moments what the person I am thinking about has gone through at the hands of such bigotry. And I say to them silently, “I’m on your side. I may be afraid of you on a level that shames me, but I will fight for you and I will listen to you and I will see you. I am on your side.”

This may seem disjointed. And perhaps even offensive. I can’t quite help the disjointedness as I’m still sorting through my thoughts, but the offense is not meant at all. That’s why this is a confession. I am ashamed of my gut reactions. As someone said earlier today, I’m walking in the right direction. There are barriers and things that are trying to hold me back, but I know more certainly than I know anything that in fighting to abolish prejudice and hatred within myself first that I am walking in the right direction.

Read more over on my blog.