Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on Obama and U.S. Drone Policy

As usual, the “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” team is on point. I don’t have much to add to what John Oliver covered other than a hearty, “Amen!”

When I Finished My Slaughter- (A Poem Typecast)

A Perfect Example of Why We Fear Those Who Are Supposed To Serve & Protect Us

This is a sad situation... But, not a unique one in the USA. All too often police officers are guilty of intimidating, illegally searching, beating, and even shooting citizens who have broken no laws or only committed minor infractions. 

Are there good cops? I'm sure there are plenty. But, they don't nullify the actions of the bad ones.  A police culture has been cultivated in this Nation which allows for the systematic abuse of citizens and the regular cover-up and minimization of the offenses by police departments when the offenses come to light. That is one reason why the average citizen, regardless of ethnicity, feels instant fear and/or trepidation when they have any reason to interface with a police officer. You never know for certain when being pulled over for minor issue, such as a seat belt infraction in this case, that you won't be shot. Even after the citizen, Levar Jones, had his hands up, Trooper Sean Groubert was still shooting. Ironically, Jones was even apologetic toward the officer after being shot. 

Amazingly, in the situation shown in the video above, it appears that the officer is now actually being held to account for his actions. Only when police are regularly punished for violating the rights of citizens and stop seeing themselves as the "masters" rather than true public servants will the overall situation change in this country. 

This situation is rides on the tails of several recent, unjustified killings of citizens by Police that have hit major media sources. 

For regular updates on offenses against citizens by police and related information, like Cop Block on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CopBlock

US and Allies Now Bombing ISIL in Syria

Map of Syria-

Based on reports, the U.S. and certain allies have launched a bombing campaign against ISIL targets in Syria. Based on the reports of unnamed officials, all actively participating nations involved, other than the United States, are Arab nations. Though it has not been officially confirmed, those reports assert that Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain have participated in the air strikes. Official confirmation or denial of those reports will apparently be forthcoming. The bombings are said to have been primarily centered on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa in Syria thus far.

The first wave of strikes began at approximately 00:30 GWT and lasted around 90 minutes. More strikes are expected to follow.  Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said that The U.S. and "partner nation forces" began air strikes on ISIS targets utilizing a combination of bombers, fighter planes, and Tomahawk missiles.

The Pentagon spokesman also said, "The decision to conduct theses strikes was made earlier today by the US Central Command Commander under authorization granted him by the Commander in Chief. We will provide more details later as operationally appropriate."

For more information on the situation, please visit the links below:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/us-begins-bombing-isil-positions-syria-201492313622252650.html

http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/22/world/meast/u-s-airstrikes-isis-syria/

Headed to Friendship, In. – Down by the Riverside (music video)

My ’94 Buick Roadmaster Wagon is packed up and ready to head out. I’m excited about getting to Friendship, In. even if just for the weekend. When I was a teen, I used to go down in June for two weeks and work at a little cafeteria during the summer musket shoot and accompanying flea market events. They have the event twice a year in June and September.

I love getting back as an adult any time I can. For me, it’s like stepping into a time machine. Very little has changed from the 90’s to now. The smells, “feel,” and hospitality are all the same. Today, I’m taking one of my oldest friends and my twin, 14 year old sons. They are the age I was when I went to work in Friendship the first time. If you’ll be down there this weekend, look me up! I’ll have my guitar in tow for jamming purposes and a fresh bottle of Scotch for sipping purposes :)

I have yet to get to the newer, “Whispering Beard,” music festival down there, but plan to next summer.

Here are some links about the town and events if you aren’t familiar:

http://www.friendshipfleamarket.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship,_Indiana

http://www.whisperingbeard.com/festival/

A Prank Too Far- When Does a Prank Stop Being Funny?

(This blog was first published on my Wordpress site at: http://lukeaustindaugherty.wordpress.com/2014/05/20/a-prank-too-far-when-does-a-prank-stop-being-funny/

An interesting phenomenon has developed over the last several years via the reach of youtube- the rise of independent, "professional" pranksters. These are creative people who started out small, and due to their consistent and well-filmed prank videos, have reached a certain level of internet fame. For some, that fame and the ad revenue it produces even makes for a full time personal income allowing them more time to focus on their art of creating prank videos.

If you are into the prank videos on youtube, you may know some of the primary pranksters well. Many of their videos go so viral that even if you aren't into watching the pranks, you will see the links posted on various social media sites. Other videos become so popular that they are referenced in major news stories nationally and internationally. A few of the "kings" of youtube prank channels are Jack Vale (the Pooter guy), edbassmaster, Roman Atwood, Vitaly at VitalyzdTV, Tom Mabe at MabeInAmerica, PrankvsPrank, The Scary Snowman, Dennis Roady, MagicofRahat, and others. Some of these pranksters have also learned the trick to being one of the "popular kids" as it were. That is, you team up and tell the populace that the other person is cool too. So, some popular pranksters often team-up to do videos and pranks together. It is brilliant cross marketing and pools their creative resources as well.

These viral pranks range greatly in their nature, style of execution, and subject matter. Some are just goofy "fart" pranks pulled off in public spots, stores, or elevators. See Jack Vale's video's for the best examples of these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2JI0k9HuZk&list=TLKXjhdizraY0h8kPBOQJwSP8c4Sf0N7aw

Others are also very simplistic in nature, but always have a great payoff, such as the Scary Snowman videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZfOCuVXeio

Hey, fake farts and people getting startled have always been and will always be funny. Video pranks will vary from those simple and relatively harmless versions all the way to some very potentially dangerous ones. Some pranksters have also made a real effort to use some of their pranks to benefit others or have done social experiments to raise awareness of some important issues. I applaud the noble efforts of such pranksters to use their art form in the service of helping others to whatever degree they can.

But, there are two other categories of prank videos that I would like to address. Actually, the two have some overlap. That is, pranks that can potentially (or likely) cause harm to the public and pranks that waste the resources of emergency or police services. I was inspired to address this issue after seeing several of those types of videos being discussed by people on Facebook in the last few weeks. It seems that there is a one-upmanship battle going on between the royalty of youtube pranksters. The nature of some of these pranks is getting more ridiculous and/or dangerous. Please know, I am not a "fuddy-duddy" that doesn't get a kick out of a ton of the pranks I see. Yet, in day to day life, I am not a prankster myself. Since I don't like being messed with personally, I don't dish it out either. But, due to the rise of the "professional prankster" some of them think that saying, "IT'S JUST A PRANK!" after doing something crazy in public somehow puts them "on base" from any repercussions.

As a disclaimer and qualifier, I do not condone violence against another person merely over words or insult. I do support defending one's self when you believe that you are in immediate danger, are being actively and physically intimidated, actually attacked, or are defending another person who is in one of those situations. I would assert that some of these pranksters are going too far and becoming reckless in a way that is dangerous to themselves and others with some recent pranks.

Since I have enjoyed watching youtube pranks for years, I have tried to hold back on being too judgmental on some "iffy" pranks that I have seen online. But, the first one I saw from a major prankster, in this case Roman Atwood, that I think definitely crossed the line is the one below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAPNDjQ3Q28

The "Drive-by Shooting Prank" is just reckless, stupid, and dangerous. If you noticed, one person actually shot back at Atwood's vehicle toward the end of the video. Atwood is lucky that the shooter was a poor shot and no one else had a car handy to chase his SUV down in to return real fire. Here are my main points of contention about that prank:
1. Going to a potentially high-crime neighborhood where people are already on edge and making random people think they are really being shot at is just negligent, unthinking, and lacks compassion. I would like Atwood or any other prankster who thinks such a prank is funny to consider what it would be like to walk out your front door, your small child in tow, to what you think is a real drive-by shooting pointed in your direction. Would that just be "ha-ha" funny? Would that just be all good after your and your child were terrified? I know there was not a small child apparent in the video, but I appeal to Atwood's sensibilities (if he sees this blog) knowing his is a father.
2. The prankster his or herself could actually be injured.
3. The people who believe they are being shot at may assume that they know who is shooting at them: a neighboring gang, a person who they have had trouble with before, etc. and take revenge. Or, they may just go looking for a person who was driving the same kind of vehicle as the supposed shooter to get back at them. That is the type of thing that can happen in the real world.
4. Likely, police or emergency services are called because of such a situation. That wastes resources paid for by taxpayers at large for ridiculous reasons. It also can create a potential investigation that could falsely implicate an innocent person.

The recently posted video just below, "Killer Clown Scare Prank," inspired a lengthy discussion on Facebook last week between quite a few people. (Graphic scenes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xSNiPx791A

That Killer Clown video is another example of a prank gone too far in my opinion. Many of the comments on Facebook had to do with the assertion that the person commenting would have reacted violently or shot the "clown." Some of that may have been hyperbole, but I would say the majority of the people commenting were being literal. I myself live in a state, Indiana, which has a substantial amount of people who carry a concealed pistol, myself included. It would be reasonable in my opinion, especially in a city like Indianapolis with a crazy murder rate, to fire at a person who you believe is trying to attack you with a hammer, ax, knife, etc. It is inevitable that one of these pranksters engaging in highly irresponsible pranks will eventually be seriously hurt or killed. With so many real tweakers and violent people out there, as an individual on the street, you can't just not act in a situation because there is a 1% chance you may be the target of a prank. Several pranksters have even been punched or slammed to the ground after doing a prank when they faked stealing a person's property or said something highly offensive. Again, I don't condone a violent reaction to words. But, you can't expect to say crazy things to random people in public and not get hit eventually. Of course, it makes for great video and lots of "clicks," so getting hit may be worth it to some pranksters. See the following for an example: (language warning)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYUtNdFwMuQ

Last, I would mention pranks that demean people. Even if done under the label of "helping" these pranks are in poor taste. Sure, people can do whatever they want for the most part and should be able to in making videos. But, I can also share my thoughts. In the following video, helping needy people is done in a way that is demeaning at the same time. If you're going to give homeless folks money, do it in a way that doesn't involve apparently blowing money out of your ass guys. Just because the homeless will take the money any way they can get it, does't mean you should force them to grovel for money from your butt (of course, it isn't really, but that isn't the point)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJvhdyGjZQ4

In Atwood's defense, he has fed the homeless and given money on several occasions in previous videos in much more tasteful ways (see the link below). And, he and his team have made tons of great prank videos as well. He is actually one of the best all-around pranksters online. Though, the push to get more and more sensational has to hit a wall at some point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KJns4mzBng

It is my hope that responsible pranking will continue. But, I implore youtube pranksters to mix in a bit of common sense and refrain from doing obviously dangerous pranks and/or pranks that waste police and emergency services. To my surprise, Roman Atwood, the prankster from the "Drive by Shooting" prank recently discovered a prank that was too much for even him. But hey, stealing gas when it's over $4 a gallon could get you killed anywhere...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCSE75_zHlU

Thanks for reading and sharing! For a bit of comic relief, enjoy this classic SNL skit that relates to this blog perfectly :)

https://screen.yahoo.com/pranksters-prankster-larry-000000471.html

My Pick of the Week- A 1947 Royal Quiet Deluxe Typewriter

As a reader of my blog, you probably don't know what I do for a living besides writing and music. I don't reference it often in my articles. I buy and sell as my main trade outside of creative pursuits. Truth be told, creativity is very useful when picking. After purchasing an item, it goes on one of my ebay stores. The primary being, "Brother Luke's Treasures."

See the link following:

http://stores.ebay.com/Brother-Lukes-Treasures

I tend to buy and sell a lot of the same types of things weekly: vintage clothing, electronics, shoes, housewares, etc, etc. But, I also run across some very cool, interesting, and/or rare items regularly. I've thought for some time about sharing some pictures and information about them on my blog. So, from the thrift stores, auctions, garage sales, and junk yards I frequent, I bring you, "My Pick of the Week."

For installment #1, I have a good one for you! After going to my youngest daughter's soccer game this morning, I saw that a church was having a rummage sale across the street. As I moved from table to table, I picked out a few decent picks at a bargain price: a vintage leather briefcase, an old cosmetic travel case, and one or two other items. Then, I felt a "disturbance in the force" and looked around... I saw a beautiful site from across the large room. It was an old Royal typewriter in the original case.

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe -Photo Luke Austin Daugherty

If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you'll know that I love my 1966 Smith-Corona Super Sterling. I generally write all of my current poetry on that typewriter. So, I have a special passion for a good manual typewriter.

Though most everything else was dirt-cheap at the sale, they had a $50 tag on the typewriter. That wouldn't be a bad price if you were looking for a good manual and were going to keep it. But, I'll likely sell it and wanted to make sure there is enough room there to score some dough. I figured there was a slim chance that they would get anyone through the door willing to pay $50 for an old typewriter. There are plenty of folks looking for them online, but you won't bump into a serious typewriter fan everyday on the street. I decided to leave a note with the lady in front that I would pay $30 if it didn't sell for there price and my cell number. To my delight, I got a call from her about 45 minutes before the rummage sale was over and she said that I could buy it at that price. I jumped in my Buick Roadmaster Wagon with one son and our dog and shot over to the church.

I did a pretty basic function test earlier to make sure the unit was serviceable. It needed a normal cleaning, but seemed to be in order. Once I got it home, I cleaned it, freed up a few sticky keys, and got the ribbon advance working properly again. It types like a dream! The ribbon is pretty old and dried out, so the type isn't very dark. I'll get a new one ordered this week. Until then, the old ribbon will serve its purpose.

I must admit, it will be hard to get rid of this typewriter and I may just keep it. In buying and selling, I tend to embrace the drug dealer rule of, "Don't get high on your own supply." That works for pickers too. It is easy to fall in love with items you pick if you pick what you like or collect. Pickers with a "collector" mindset can find it hard to let their picks go. I'm not a collector. But, I do love a good typewriter! Only time will tell if I sell it or keep it :)

Here is the run down on "My Pick of the Week"-

Item: Vintage, manual typewriter

Brand: Royal

Model: Quiet De Luxe portable

Year Produced: 1947 per my serial number research

Includes: Original case, manual, and typing tutorial.

Weight: 12 lb 2 oz for the typewriter alone (contrast 13 lb for my Smith-Corona), 16 lb 6  oz in the case.

Color: Black with chrome accents

Interesting notes: As with some old typewriters, there is no "1" key or exclamation point. You just use the lowercase "L" for the 1 and make the exclamation point by hitting period, then backspacing and hitting shift/8 for the apostrophe. Together, that produces the exclamation point. It is a very solid machine has a fairly light touch with the "touch control" adjusted down. The black knobs on the ends of the carriage are very well made. On my son's Hermes Media 3, those knobs are made of very weak plastic. On this Royal, they seem bullet-proof. The manual is simple and covers just what you need.

If you have never used an old typewriter, it can be a unique typing experience compared to modern computers. If you are a writer, utilizing a typewriter can have an interesting impact on your process and unlock new creativity. In either case, I suggest you take an old typewriter for a spin sometime. For more information on vintage typewriters, this is a great website:

http://typewriterdatabase.com/

See below for more pics of my new Royal! I have included full pictures of the manual that you can magnify if you have the same unit and want to find out something about your own machine functions :) 

Type from a 1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter- (old ribbon) -by Luke Austin Daugherty

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter- by Luke Austin Daugherty

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter- by Luke Austin Daugherty

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter- by Luke Austin Daugherty

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter Manual- by Luke Austin Daugherty

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter manual- by Luke Austin Daugherty

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter Ribbon Change Instructions/Manual- by Luke Austin Daugherty

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter Manual/Function sheet- by Luke Austin Daugherty

1947 Royal Quiet DeLuxe Typewriter Manual Sheet- pic by Luke Austin Daugherty

Please Vet Your Social Media Shares- Here is an Example of Fear Porn Bullshit

Screen shot of the video link below

We all have them... Facebook friends who just lust after "Fear Porn." You know, spooky stories with only a meme or link to a sketchy website for "evidence" of some new terrorist threat, food that will kill you, something that will cure cancer, or some other ridiculous news story.

Generally, when you examine the social media pages of these types of folks, you find a regularly watered tree of social media bullshit. They see no reason to vet anything. As long as it supports their particular ideology, faith, or political leanings, they post that new link for all to see. There can be a particular relish for Fear Porn with these types. They love to be seen as "in the know" among their social media peers and enjoy getting other people's blood pressure elevated with their posts.

"What is 'Fear Porn?" you may ask... My definition would be, "Bullshit stories on the Internet which are originally constructed by intentional liars and then shared like a virus by credulous people with a desire to make life seem more exciting artificially."

Though, I do enjoy the definition on the Urban Dictionary website for comedic reasons:

"Fear Porn- Conspiracy theorist information used to generate sexual excitement in Red necks, religious extremists and dudes that live in their mom's basement."

I found myself considering the issue of Fear Porn sharing when I first logged on to Facebook this morning. A Facebook friend had shared a new "story" from another person's page. It was a video with the caption, "Yesterday mexican police tipped off the texas melita that iSIS WAS GOING TO CROSS OVER IN TO TEXAS AFTER SUNSET. TEXANS SETUP A WELCOMING PARTY. 25,000 ARMED TEXANS MET THEM last night as they tried to cross. The ones not shot quickly retreated."

The moment I saw the post, my skeptical antenna picked up the story's BS qualities: no actual source cited, poorly constructed caption, original poster is some 'Murican type dude trying to gain a following on social media the easy way. Believe me, he'll pick the low hanging fruit with no trouble at all.

Here is a link to the original post. Be warned, it may not be up for long if the original poster catches too much flack over it.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10203630995269504

Then, I clicked the video. Seconds into it, I thought, "Hey... this is just a video of the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot in Kentucky!" I have never been there, but have known some people who have years ago. The event includes a night shoot where a bunch of people blast their machine guns into the hillside using tracer rounds.

For contrast, here is another video of the same night shoot from another person in 2006:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31vm3-BQRJU

Here is the thing my friends; we live in an age where ANYONE and I mean AAANNNNYYYYYOOOONNNNEEEEE can use a re-edited video, a picture from some war or old news story, a photoshopped image, or create a quote meme to propagate total bullshit on the Interwebs. As a human, alive in the modern age, and on social media, you MUST become good researcher. You MUST employ an appropriate level of skeptical analysis. You MUST do your due diligence before sharing wild news stories and such. When bullshit stories and memes are shared, they contribute to the sum total of wasted time for and the dumbing down of your fellow humans on social media. Are there every amazing stories, new discoveries, and/or staggering events that happen? Sure. But, thanks to irresponsible sharing on social media, the fewer true stories are made harder to find by the many fake ones.

It helps to have an epistemological foundation based on demonstrable evidence and reasoned logic rather than emotional whim, faith, and confirmation bias. In the digital media age, skepticism is the appropriate mode.

There are some great online tools which make sussing out Fear Porn bullshit easy: Google, Snopes, Google Image Search, and many more. They are free... please use them :)

Here are some memes that I created which relate to this issue. Please feel free to use them when confronting Fear Porn and other Interweb bullshit.

For credulous posters of BS who actually believe it...

Gandhi meme by Luke Austin Daugherty

For those who quote mine, but particularly quote mine using fake quotes...

Abraham Lincoln meme by Luke Austin Daugherty

For those who do not even bother to Google search before posting...

"Do you even Google" meme by Luke Austin Daugherty

and my favorite for general purposes :)

Smokey the Bear Bullshit meme by Luke Austin Daugherty

My Kids Share Their Top Two Life Lessons

"Life Lessons" photo by Luke Austin Daugherty Copyright 2014

Last week, I gave my four youngest kids a little assignment. I asked them to consider the two most important life lessons they have acquired during their tenure on planet Earth thus far and write them down in brief. They each spent some time working on their answers independently. Here is what they came up with. Being that they are raised in the same household, a couple reoccurring themes surfaced. Maybe there is something here you can use in your own life, no matter what your age may be :) 

Nathanael- 14 years old:

 

1. Don’t waste time on something or someone who is not worth it. Focus on what you are doing.
2. If you want to do something, then do it.

 

Caleb- 14 years old:

 

1. When studying anything, look at the facts.
2. Live in the now.

 

Lydia- 13 years old:

 

1. Don’t live in the future or the past. Live in the present.
2. Every yes to one thing is a no to something else. Every no to one thing is a yes to something else.

 

Charity- 10 years old:

1. Don’t let people talk you in to something you don’t want to do.
2. Every yes in life is a no to something else. Every no in life is a yes to something else.

The Old Man on a Lonely Island (A Poem Typecast)

“The Old Man on a Lonely Island,” page 1 by Luke Austin Daugherty

“The Old Man on a Lonely Island,” page 2 by Luke Austin Daugherty

AHHHHH! Facebook has Crashed! Is it the End of the World? REALLY! Facebook Isn't Working!! :)

The worst event in modern history has just happened... It appears that Facebook is not working. Not for anyone on Earth. In the short minutes since it has gone offline, there have even been videos posted about the issue. 

Here is my advice. In the mean time, read a book, go out for coffee, catch up on my previous blogs... you know, whatever :) 

I think it is a bit nice when modern technology takes a slight pause every now and then just for humanity to catch its breath. So my Facebook friends, enjoy the break and breath life in! :) 

Kudos to the guy who published the video below. You were able to get a video up in less than 15 minutes by my count about the crash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MDmZ_FSEq8

One Click on "Translate" and My Blog Becomes the Tower of Babel

I have been in the blogging game for about nine months now. I absolutely love the ability to turn an idea, poem, essay, or news article into a web posting quickly for anyone to access. When I think back just ten years to what it was like when I was publishing my poetry only in chapbooks, the ability to publish instantly worldwide now is amazing to me. 

Since I started publishing my blogs on Wordpress, I have had readers in over seventy countries all around the world. That is extremely satisfying and encouraging to me. As a writer, the ability to share my thoughts around the world is a precious thing. Hell, I'm still impressed by the telephone, so the internet is a damn wonder to me even in 2014. When I consider the capabilities that creative types have to share their work today vs. one short generation ago, it is staggering. Sharing our ideas with others around the world and visa versa is allowing us all to grow, be challenged, and experience new things. 

There is a story in the Bible about the "Tower of Babel." As different tribes came together to build a tall building for unification, as the story goes, God was a bit worried about the capabilities that people would have if they worked together and had one language. So, He decided to go down and confuse their speech into different languages to hinder their progress and scatter them. See this link for a bit of history on that fable in the book of Genesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel

Artist's rendering of the mythical Tower of Babel

I would say based on the engineering ability of people back then, if the height of the Tower of Babel gave God pause, He is probably calling an emergency meeting in Heaven over the Burj Khalifa. Not only that, but the power of Goggle Translate is undoing the confusion brought on at the Tower of Babel. I speak figuratively of course, as I do not regard that Bible story as a historical event. But, it is worth mentioning for contrast and as a demarcation on the path of human progress. Thanks to Translate and other similar programs, the barriers of human communication are being broken down with a fury. I know the translations can be a bit quirky, but it's a hell of a lot better than trying to read something in an language you don't understand. 

Burj Khalifa, the tallest man made structure in the world at 829.8 m (2,722 ft).

All that said, I will be taking advantage of the translate option on Blogger, Google's blogging platform. Every new blog that I post on my Wordpress site and a selection of some already published will also be on my new Blogger site. There is a Translate gadget right on the front page which will allow people all over the world not only to read my blogs, but have the option to read the blogs in their own language with ease. 

Please check out my new Blogger site at the link. Feel free to follow me there or on Google + and check out the Translate feature. 

http://lukeaustindaugherty.blogspot.com/

Confessions of a Former Homophobe: Same Love

(This blog was first published on my Wordpress site Jan. 28, 2014)

“They call us ‘Homophobic’! I ain’t scared of no queers! They are the ones going to hell! They should be scared!” This was the line shouted by my red-faced, Independent Baptist pastor from behind his sacred pulpit nearly fifteen years ago…

Let me first back up even more to my childhood. Born in 1977, I was primarily raised in the 80’s. It was a time when there were no obviously gay characters on regular TV and, “Money for Nothing,” by Dire Straights had the lyric, “that little faggot with the earring and the make-up,” playing on the radio. The 1980’s saw the end of the golden age for those who wanted a primarily “gay free” pop culture. Outside of the correlation in the media between the outbreak of HIV/AIDS and homosexuality, I don’t remember any other references to gays in the media during my childhood.

I didn’t have any inherent dislike of gay people growing up. Though, being called a “fag” or “queer” by a peer was considered highly unfavorable and generally started a fight. Even though homosexuality wasn’t a primary topic of conversation during those years, when it was mentioned, it was always a negative thing…if not spoken of with disgust. “Queers,” were people you had to watch out for. They were the kind that messed with little boys. I don’t recall a single correlation of homosexuality with anything less than evil in daily life or the media until I was in my teens. If I’d grown up somewhere other than Indiana, that may not have been the case. But, my childhood was in the 80’s and I was a Hoosier.

During all my school years, I didn’t know anyone who was outwardly gay in school until I was a senior; one girl who came out as a lesbian. I did not know her well, but did give her a ride home from school once. Even with all the negativity toward gays growing up, I had no dislike for gay people. Or rather, since I didn’t really know any, I didn’t dislike the idea of there being gay people.

I remember the TV movie, “Doing Time on Maple Drive,” in 1992. Jim Carrey was in it and played the alcoholic brother of a young, closeted, gay man. I really liked that movie. I recall thinking, “I wonder if I’m gay?” I didn’t feel gay, but I didn’t have a girlfriend at the time either. After a day or two, I concluded for certain that I wasn’t gay. That’s one reason conservatives don’t want shows like that on TV; they actually make you think and ask deep, uncomfortable questions.

The first gay person I actually became friends with was named, “Walter.” He was a prep person in the kitchen at the country club I worked at part-time on the weekends my junior and senior years of high school. He was a nice guy and was always joking. Once, I had a mishap in the kitchen and said, “Damn! I almost poked my eye out!” He told me that would have been horrible, because my eyes were pretty. After that, my other busboy friends nicknamed me, “Pretty Eyes.” It wasn’t a derogatory name. They weren’t making fun of me because a gay guy thought I was cute. It was just a nickname; like how we called the sous chef, “Spider.” But, I don’t know how he earned that moniker.

Walter was a cool guy and very kind to everyone. I got upset one time when a guest of the Club was joking about gays in Walter’s earshot. I could tell it hurt him and that bothered me. There was another gay man that worked there for a while. He was the head chef and was a jerk. I learned that like the case with every type of person, so far as race, religion, or sexuality goes, being gay doesn’t make you act one way or another. Regardless of your identity, you are in charge of your character.

It wasn’t until I became a Christian and started really caring what the Bible had to say that I found out that gays actually were evil after all. I got “saved” the summer after I graduated high school and began attending a fundamental church when I was nineteen. At my first church, they didn’t talk a lot about gays. Most people were nice. They loved gays, but just despised their sin like you were supposed to. Only after the pastor left and that church dispersed did I end up in a church that really hated gays in a “holistic” fashion.

The only other congregation I knew anyone at in the same town was, “Victory Baptist.” I’d been to a revival there and it seemed lively. So as a newly married couple of twenty-one, my wife and I started attending. Over the several years we attended there and I did some ministry, the general disdain for gays was more than apparent. They weren’t “gays” anyway. Gay means happy and gays are actually miserable people you know. They should only be called, “queers,” “fags,” “Sodomites,” or other similar terms.

The ideology was an uncomfortable fit for me, like a sweater two sizes too small. But, I was a young, impressionable man. And the most important thing was they had “Bible” on their beliefs. The Bible DOES say to stone homosexuals in the Law. Jesus DID validate the Law of Moses. Paul DID say that those that burned in lust for the same sex were worthy of death. Not only that, but those who supported them. I didn’t particularly have anything against gays, but my God did. I didn’t want Him mad at me, so I accepted that ideology for a span of time.

Let me give you a “through the looking glass” view of what it’s like to be in that place dogmatically… You say you aren’t “homophobic” because you aren’t afraid of gays in a one-on-one way. (I mean, they’re sissies right? So they can’t beat you up.) Yet, you are terrified of their impact on the culture. Even the idea that the traditional, fundamental voice may lose the cultural microphone in America is unspeakable. Any one getting to speak a positive word publicly for gays equals persecution of you personally. The “Gay Agenda” is evil, anti-God, and wants to kill your Christian liberty in America. That’s what the fundamental pastors say anyway. You outwardly express that you, “hate the sin, but love the sinner,” though you quietly despise the sinner too. They are an abomination to God. You can’t love God AND love those that spit on His Word at the same time in any genuine or uncondescending way. You won’t even allow yourself to enjoy watching, “Ellen.”

In the end, the pastor’s racism got to me more than his homophobia. The Bible disagreed with his racism after all, just not his dislike of gays. So, I talked to him about the racism privately. After being called an, “Antichrist,” I left the church. But, the condemnation of gays followed me out the door in the Bible tucked under my arm.

As I grew in maturity and compassion, that “too small sweater” was growing ever tighter. To be clearer, I was very compassionate toward gays prior to adopting Christian dogma about homosexuality. It took my religion to numb my natural instincts for some years. I did not hate or despise gays during those next few years. I actually had quite a love and understanding that I had to forcibly repress in order to align with my sacred text. The final nail in the coffin for the negative convictions I had embraced toward LGBT individuals came in 2012…

One day, when I was messing around on Youtube, I saw a video posted called, “Same Love.” I had no idea what it was nor who, “Macklemore,” was, but I clicked on the link…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlVBg7_08n0

I watched that video which now has nearly 110 million views when it was a fresh posting. I was sitting alone at my laptop in the house. I don’t recall where my family had gone that afternoon. The words of that song, the story, and images were exciting a part of my human conscience that I had turned off for over a decade. It actually made me cry. I think I watched it several more times right after. But, even though it moved me deeply, I wasn’t bold enough to share it on my Facebook wall at the time.

I had already been wrestling with my faith and beliefs in general for some months. But that song was a sniper’s shot directly to one specific conviction that had to be confronted and done away with. Since then, I have allowed myself to fully break free from ancient and repressive dogmas. My natural instincts to love other people, regardless of sexuality, exist unhindered. I am actually ashamed of the quiet and disingenuous spite for homosexuals that I carried for those years. It wasn’t a preeminent thing in my life. Yet, it did exist. It sat deep under the surface, but ready to be activated when occasion called for it. That is sad. I apologize to the LGBT community for my lack of insight toward homosexuality during that stage of my life. I am sorry for not lifting my voice for your freedom in our culture earlier. I will now.

There are moments and events that can be a tipping point for things in our lives and in our culture. But for me, I will never forget where I was the first time I heard the song, “Same Love.” Many thanks to you Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, and Mary Lambert. Much love to you. –Luke Austin Daugherty

-Copyright 2014, Luke Austin Daugherty -All Rights Reserved