I AM writing in response to the recent visits from fundamentalist street preachers -- "Bible beaters," if you will -- to our school's amphitheater in the last two weeks. I have had extended conversations with both of these men, one of whom is from Jacksonville, Fla. and the other from northern Georgia.
In situations like these, the first thing the University community should be doing is listening intently to discover one thing: whether these fundamentalists are speaking heresy or not. As far as my knowledge of Christian scripture is concerned, neither of these men were blaspheming the Bible. If you sit down and read any of the gospels, Paul's letters to the Corinthians or any of the Old Testament prophecy, you will find mention of the judgment, hell-fire, brimstone, etc. that these men have been preaching. If they were heretics, then why did the crowds grow in size on each subsequent visit? Obviously, they struck a nerve here in the University, and many students deemed them worthy of their time.
The trouble arises, however, in two areas: interpretation and style of translation. For centuries, Christians have been unable to agree on how to interpret scripture. These men preach a message of consequence for living in and justifying sin (sex outside of marriage, homosexual relations and drunkenness were the mainstays, I believe). They have scripture to back them up. As for style, they preach with a degree of intolerance and abrasiveness. "My job is yelling at people," "Most of you girls out here are whores, and most of you frat boys are drunkards" and "If you are a Catholic, you are going to hell" are just a few examples of their offensive statements.
While these street preachers may not be heretics, I think it's fair to say that they are going about things in a disastrous way. They fail to translate the Bible into our common vernacular and end up leaving many misunderstandings in their wake.
Using sweeping generalizations and derogatory slurs like "queers," "whores" and "terrorists" qualify them as out-of-touch individuals who aren't aware of proper decorum for civilized conversation. No wonder the world sees the Church as intolerant.
Additionally, they fail to point out the following: First, that they are only qualified to judge Christians, not the rest of the world. Second, they used to sin just as frequently as the rest of us, but now they have been separated from that sin through Christ. Finally, they fail to point out that Jesus offered a message of consequence, true, but also one of unconditional love. The message preached has to be both: Jesus condemned sinners, but He loved them at the same time.
My last concern rests on the shoulders of us as a student body. I witnessed many equally bigoted and intolerant actions from these audiences in the last two weeks. From ignorant obscenities to juvenile acts of defiance, our students have spit, cursed, poured water on and made out in front of these men -- all to prove a point.
But the only point that I see being delivered is that we are just as intolerant as they are. If we are a people looking for serious truth to the questions of homosexuality, Catholicism, abortion, relativism, evolution and the like, then why are going about it with immature sensationalism? Why are we attacking these men like wounded animals defending themselves from predators? Shouldn't we be sitting down and engaging in honest conversations? Shouldn't we be listening, getting the facts straight and making rational judgments based on those facts? Instead, we are mocking these men, laughing at our own jokes, and having a grand old time at their expense.
Not everyone questions the reality of existence and the claims of dogmatic religion. But if you do, and if these two men have engaged you or left you questioning your beliefs in any sort of way, I strongly encourage our student body to look for the real answers. And that comes from an empirical investigation on both sides of each argument. I believe the answers are out there, and the Christian Study Center and many of our libraries are great places to begin.
Harrison Jones is a fourth year in the College.
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