Never Forget What They've Done to Us: Counterfeit Christians 101
"The only thing you have to worry about by taking your children to a Drag Show is that a Christian could show up with a gun." - Michael Caputo
The book Never Forget What They've Done to Us: Counterfeit Christians 101 is a heartfelt book paying homage to the activists of the country and marginalized people who are dissected and persecuted based on their identity and the choices they make in their daily lives. The book discusses the author's repulsion and disdain towards organized religion. He emphasizes again how he has no choice when it comes to identifying as catholic, even though he has found himself at odds with organized religion again and again. He emphasizes that spirituality is a significant aspect of his life and identifies as someone known for their spiritual demeanor. However, despite that, he still hates associating himself with any religion. But why?
You see, growing up in a catholic household, the author couldn't help but point out the hypocrisy and discrimination that the religion so openly preaches. Michael—who himself identifies as gay—cannot wrap his head around the fact that growing up, he was reminded how no one could love him more than God, yet when he came out to the people of God, he was shunned and met with hostility. The same people who reminded him about how much God loved him now pointed out how his identity—something God created—is the very reason for his displeasure with these so-called Christians who are now calling him an abomination and not one of God’s children anymore.
While he believes that all organized religions are the same, the author remains focused on Catholicism and Christianity, given he wants to share his story and experiences with the organized religion he is too familiar with. Michael repeatedly reminds his readers that he is 100% in favor of all the five freedoms of the First Amendment which includes the freedom of religion. Nevertheless, he is still not a fan of any religion. Caputo hates the overpublicized view of religion, where it is treated like a marketing pitch and divides humans based on religion, which entices hate, differences, and a lack of tolerance. Throughout his book, he emphasizes that church and state should never be intermixed.
The author reminds his readers of his spiritual but not religious (SBNR) status, where he repeatedly says that he loves God but hates organized religion. He refuses to believe that whatever we get preached even comes through God. He strongly feels that God and religion are separate entities and that no human being should ever fuse the two, or any dictionary should ever declare them synonyms. This author remains honest and unapologetic about everything that he has written in this book concerning those people who identify as Christian or Catholic. The author believes that this book is a real eye-opener for all people, religious and non-religious, who have been misled and uninformed, especially in America.
This book is one of the most intriguing reads that dissects the need for organized religion and how it doesn't serve the purpose of humanity. It can be one of the author's books that can either highly offend you or illuminate you to a whole new philosophy regarding religion, God, and spirituality. This book is indeed going to ruffle some feathers, given how many conservatives find religion a sensitive topic. But suppose you are one of those liberated folks looking for new ways of thinking and seeking perspectives on everything and are inquisitive about it. In that case, this book is just the book for you.
New Memoir Provides Unflinching Look at the Gay Lifestyle and One Man's Evolution
“My peers hated me for no other reason than the fact that they thought I was gay. I was only thirteen and often wondered how they knew who I was before I did.” - Michael Caputo
CHAMELEON: A Memoir is a collection of my intimate stories and encounters growing up in a homophobic society. I wasn’t your stereotypical Brooklyn boy who loved watching sports on television or enjoyed playing touch football in the streets. I was raised Catholic and attended three different parochial schools in the sixties and seventies. All that made it difficult to come into my own identity and purpose. It was almost impossible to even think gay. I went from being an innocent altar boy to an older gay man caught up in the middle of the John Travolta sex scandal that put me on the front page of the Daily News and written up in People magazine and the National Enquirer.
Although I lived a straight life in my teens and had a girlfriend whom I was in love with, I was still bullied and bombarded with gay slurs. The constant struggle of trying to fit in left me feeling anxious and depressed for most of my adolescent years. Instinctively, I lived my life like a chameleon to survive and protect myself.
I learned how to play the game once I entered my twenties, but I still had one foot in the closet unless I was out dancing in the gay clubs in Manhattan. I struggled to find my identity, but I was also afraid that I wouldn’t be accepted or loved by my mother, family, or peers anymore if I revealed who I really was.
I held on to my secret for years and, at times, felt imprisoned. I learned about the down-low lifestyle from all those so-called straight guys I hooked up with in Brooklyn. I thought that could be another option for me, and maybe I could have the best of both worlds, too. But deep inside, I knew I couldn’t pull that off. I never lost my desire to have sex with men on the DL but refused to live a double life and use a woman as a beard.
Once I let go of all that guilt that I grew up with and embraced my true self instead of hiding it, I started to live and enjoy my life. This is my journey from being an ashamed and insecure teenager to becoming a proud gay man with a voice that will not be silenced and feelings that will no longer be ignored.
Dear Pat Cooper: What Happened to My Father Pasquale Caputo?
Website: DearPatCooper.com
“And let me tell you something. I don’t have to be your father, you’re not that thrilling! You’re not that thrilling, and I don’t want to be your father!” - Pat Cooper
Dear Pat Cooper, what happened to my father Pasquale Caputo, is a story about my loving family and my absent father. In his absence, I heard memorable stories from my paternal grandmother about that man I relentlessly searched for but would never find. Instead, she taught me how to turn my anger towards my father into love and forgiveness. This book is my last attempt to get my father’s attention, and to finally share with him the beautiful and lasting memories he missed out on by not being around. And lastly, make him realize and know the impact his mother had on my life, how she picked up his slack, and the lessons she bestowed upon me.
I had always wanted to write a book about my father and me as far back as I can remember. At first, I wanted to write about how much I hated him for not caring about my sister and me, but deep down, all I wanted was an opportunity to tell him how much I loved him and missed him being in my life. I tried my best to tell my father that, but he never heard me. Instead, every time we met, he found fault with my clothes, my manners, and always the rest of the family. These attacks became part of his persona and a way of not getting too close to me or anyone else in our family. He hated us with every fiber of his being, and I could never understand why.
What did any of us do to make my father keep away from the whole family and go find himself a new one? It never failed; no matter how many times I tried to connect with my father, Pasquale Caputo, all I ever got from him was Pat Cooper, the angry comedian.
My journey hasn’t been an easy one, and the pain never goes away. However, my main purpose for writing this memoir is to help others who have gone through a similar heartache. If my story can help at least one person or child who has had an ego-driven, emotionally unavailable parent, then my purpose has been achieved.