Free speech alley is such an interesting place. Where else can you be accosted by the Air Force, LSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry, the Cannabis Action Network of Louisiana and Brother Jed Smock, disciple of God, within 15 feet of each other?
And of those speakers who feel obliged to confront you, which are the most abrasive? Certainly not the traveling evangelists whose sworn duty is to convert all college students. Certainly not those whose prime ambition is to enlighten the wicked sinner students spreading their filth across the campus grounds.
The most interesting aspect of their arguments is not what they say, but how they say it. Oftentimes ranting into the air, their message seems clear and repetitive: those they point at are going to hell. Once I was directly called a god-hating fornicator. I can’t exactly say why, but hearing something so absurd brought a huge smile to my face. I was called disrespectful for my grin. And, naturally, I’m going to go to hell for writing this column. Critical evaluation is not taken lightly by fanatics.
The evangelists seem to be making an unintentional mockery of their own beliefs while providing a sort of circus-like environment many students (myself included) find entertaining. Others find the spectacle offensive and distracting, and still others find it saddening. I have also heard some students have called for their banishment from the campus altogether.
    I have to disagree.
I do have some respect for them. They, unlike so many others, choose to exercise their freedom of speech in an attempt to reach others. Unlike so many others, they are aware of their rights, and use them rather than let their voices stay unheard. Unlike so many others, they realize that if their voices are heard they may actually reach someone. It is true that to many they seem to have pell-mell views, but at least they are good citizens. They may be loud, obnoxious and potentially wrong, but they have that inalieable abilty to speak as they will. And as dubious as it sounds, that right is more precious than whether or not their views are questionable.
They’re provocative, no doubt, and I wonder if they get satisfaction from what they do, but in a way they belong there. This campus has a spaghetti-limp political atmosphere, and they seem to be the only ones who can stir it up. Democrats can’t do it. Republicans can’t do it. Yet students consistently argue with the evangelists, and yelling matches abound.
From an argumentative standpoint I have never understood the students who actually try to have a discussion with the evangelists. The need for mutual understanding is clear, but it’s difficult, nay, impossible to reason with someone of the fanatical persuasion. Were they actually reasonable and passionate about what they do, they would realize that sometimes the most profound way to reach others is through subtlety. Most students don’t care to be harassed and yelled at as they walk to class.
Until they realize how inane their yelling is, they will continue. So if you disagree with them and want them gone, walk past them without a second look. The Amish do it. It’s called “shunning.” Just because they are exercising their freedom of speech doesn’t mean you have to listen.