Douglas Whaley

While doubtless most of the sales of my atheist thriller “Imaginary Friend” have been to nonbelievers, I’ve been pleased to hear from a goodly number of readers who believe in God but contacted me one way or the other to tell me how much they enjoyed reading the novel.   The reason is that while it does express an atheist viewpoint, the novel is really about how atheists are discriminated against in a way that Americans would not tolerate if such hatred was casually focused on any other minority.   All sensitive readers can appreciate why that is wrong.   Moreover the book truly is a thriller.   It begins with an explosion at half-time at a college football game that immures our protagonist deep inside a collapsed stadium, and the action moves from one tense event to the next until it climaxes in an ending that scared me when I finally finished the book, waited a month to see what I had, and then re-read it and was much bothered by the fact that such extreme...

David Vargo and Me A lot has happened this year and it’s all been terrific.   As readers of this blog may remember, for the first time in my life I decided to snowbird in Florida, leaving my Ohio home in late December (cats in the car), and moving to Wilton Manors, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, for January, February, and March.   On Saturday, January 12, I went to a event at a gay bar and this very handsome man came walking by me.   Not one to let these adventures escape, I made a funny remark to him, and he turned, gave me one of the most dazzling smiles I’ve ever seen, and made a funny remark in reply.   We’ve more or less been together ever since, first in Florida and now in Ohio. Barney and Mama Help David Work His name is David Vargo.   He’s a graphic designer by occupation, but his background is in theater, including acting at a professional level, and, at one point in his youth, moving to New York to study Shakespeare at the National Shakespe...

A most extraordinary letter has been moving around the internet.   It’s from a man to his daughter who’s announced that she has disowned her son because he told her he was gay.   Here is the letter:  [Click to enlarge] Imagine her shock at receiving this letter.   From her point of view she had done the right thing, probably for religious reasons, and now is branded by her own father as a heartless bitch.   Wow! Here’s another letter, this one from the viewpoint of the disapproving parent:  [Click to enlarge] I’m willing to suppose that in both cases the parent really loved his/her child, but felt that disowning that child was the best step for the good of the family and probably for the good of the child.   What could make a parent take this attitude?   The obvious answer is homophobia—a fear or distaste for homosexuality—but that’s too glib a response.   Where did the homophobia come from?   There are two primary so...