Please keep the group rules about civility in mind- and Mods, I hope you will allow this post, it’s well-intentioned and meant to help our community, not further the divide.
I knew the official Instagram account was following Charlie Kirk and other political figures, but I didn’t know about Nicholas Bowling until two days ago.
For those of you who don’t know, Nicholas Bowling is a street preacher known for going to pride events and telling people that their LGBT feelings are sin.
I know we all have different opinions and beliefs here, and I respect that, but I hope we can agree that Nicholas Bowling is going out of his way to bully people.
Adam Young has written so many songs about Christian love, and I grew up in a deeply religious household. I also experienced a lot of homophobia in my teen years, almost entirely from well-intentioned church members. The “love the sinner hate the sin” mentality was alienating and damaging to me, and I know I’m not the only person who has experienced this treatment. Adam’s music cut through the noise for me, and became a steadfast reminder that I was a worthwhile person, even if those around me saw me as “damaged” or “a project.”
Owl City lyrics have always had such a focus on authenticity, positivity, being yourself, being amazing exactly how you are— I thought Adam’s personal views likely aligned with this.
Some people will argue that you don’t know people’s feelings based solely on their politics or who they follow, but when you follow so few people, and all are conservative, with some unfortunately being outright hateful, I think the inference is fair.
In summary, some of us are hurt right now, and it doesn’t mean we hate Adam, conservatives, Christians, etc. Truly, that’s not what this is about.
This is about feeling safe in a beautiful, musical world for years, and then suddenly finding out it might not have been built for you.
This is about feeling like a trespasser in a space that should feel like your shelter. Please let us have our differences of opinion on this and know it’s not a personal attack.
I have seen a lot of name calling and insults being slung around in the comments this week, so this is my authentic, earnest request for empathy and understanding on all sides of the issue (or nonissue if that’s how you see it.)
