Three Christian preachers started to preach outside of the University of Idaho library Tuesday, getting students attention and exchanging questions and opinions.
UI has seen this charade before — this is the third time this year a religious preacher has visited the UI campus and preached publicly. The scene is eerily similar each time — a traveling radical preacher starts his speech, a large group of students gather and engage the preacher, and he spouts off radical Christian ideals and offensive opinions about homosexuals, women and lifestyle choices. Students disagree and start badgering the speaker, which continues into a full-on confrontation between the preacher and student section, not to mention the significant police presence in the background.
The scene has been played out multiple times.
Let’s be clear. These men come to universities around the country, not to convert students or engage students in a meaningful conversation about religion and ideas. No — they do it because they want attention and an audience, even if the attention is negative and the audience wants them gone.
These preachers know going to university campuses
, which are notoriously progressive, and yelling radical religious ideals will insult, rebuff and enrage most students. But they do it anyways, because it draws attention to their ideas, even if it is in a detrimental fashion.
But most importantly, they do it to get students to partake in the absurd behavior as well.
This event does not engage students in a logical, purposeful and civil conversation about religious ideas, but causes them to stoop to the preachers’ level, which creates an embarrassing event for both the student body and UI.
Religion has always been a topical issue for college students, and students should discuss these ideas through civil discourse that analyzes multiple opinions.
One example is the “Marriage for all?” Campus Conversation put on by the Department of Student Involvement that discussed “the various perspectives about marriage equality and the movement to extend rights that come with marriage.”
Or the Veritas Forum, which hosted an event Thursday in the Jeb Auditorium entitled “Faith or Reason: Can any religious faith be considered a sound worldview?”
Or the debate between nationally known author Andrew Sullivan and local pastor Douglas Wilson entitled “Is civil marriage for gay couples good for civil society?”
These are all great examples that allow for a respectful and analytical conversation that will add new ideas and perspectives for students to consider.
Unfortunately, the preaching session that was viewed on Tuesday is nothing more than a shallow, misguided attempt to discuss meaningful ideas, headed by idiotic attention-seekers.
What is a student to do?
The simplest and most powerful action a student can take in this particular situation is to walk by and ignore them — not to say you cannot argue with them, not to say they are right, but to say you are above it.
The irony of writing an article on these preachers while also telling students to ignore them is fully present — however, it must be said.
Student involvement in these preaching sessions gives the power to the presenter. Without attention and emotional response from the students, these preachers would be wasting their time — and maybe, just maybe, not return to the UI campus.
Ryan Taranelli can be reached at [email protected]