On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, The Campus Ministry USA-Brother Jed decided to take advantage of its First Amendment rights and completely harass the school located at the end of the Bible belt. The first time this happened, the campus banded together to throw the real message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the hate group’s faces.
This time, however, the students, still banding together, stood up for their religious views as well as their personal views. The amount of hypocrisy was something to behold as Brother Jed and pals hurled insult after insult at the students, all in the name of Christ. One student was clothed from head to toe—Nike sneakers, fuzzy socks that were midway up her calf, leggings, and an oversized sweater that covered her bottom, as well as other winter garments—was called an “immodest whore.” The woman traveling with Brother Jed was wearing the exact same thing, aside from a large Star of David that was located on the sleeve of her sweater.
The Brother Jed assault did not stop there. After taking note of all the females in the crowd, Brother Jed himself complained at the lack of cleavage from the females present, yet, the women of the crowd were deemed unmarriageable, immodest and immoral. On top of all of this, the unwelcome travelers also decided to share their wisdom with the crowd about how African-American women not only support abortion and shouldn’t reproduce, but also these women eat their aborted fetuses. This wasn't the only thing Brother Jed Smock had to say about our African-American students. In his article about his experience, Jed wrote, "The police did a good job of keeping the beasts under control. Without the tape, the braying donkeys would have been pressing in on us for sure. One tall African-American male was especially disruptive. At times he was even making ape-like sounds."
I am sorry, but this is disgusting. This hate-filled speech that these people are preaching is not what I have ever been taught. How can you stand up and scream words of hate to students and call us beasts while expecting us to listen to you? The god you are preaching is not the God that we know and love. Our God is merciful. Our God is loving. Our God does not sit on a throne and scream that we are unsaved. You do not know our hearts; you do not know our lives. You, sir, have no right to come to our campus and condemn us to hell. The Bible that you have been reading must not have the crucial verses of Matthew 7:1-6.
The last straw occurred when a busty transgender student stepped up to defend human rights that Brother Jed really got interested. He talked about wanting to “feel real silicone boobs” and that the student could just “take more of that medicine to make them bigger.” When the student challenged Jed, Jed, stepping closer to the student, withdrew his hand whilst screaming at the crowd, “Satan is tempting me right now! I will shy away from the devil for I am incapable of sin!” When Brother Jed exclaimed that he is no longer a sinner but a saint, the students went wild. The crowd screamed verses like 1 John 1:8 and Romans 3:23.
This group, like the Westboro Baptist Church, has a God-complex. These individuals do not and could never actually believe the doings of our Father. These people could never comprehend the Ultimate Sacrifice. And yet, they are protected under the freedom of speech in America. This country is great in that our forefathers had a wonderful future planned for us. Freedom of speech is arguably one of the most important amendments given to us. However, this group has abused their right. They may be under protection of the constitution; however, it is our duty as Americans to stand up and fight back when we are under attack. These verbal terrorists that come onto our campuses cause nothing but uproar should expect that while they can say these things they should be ready to receive a strong backlash.
The First Amendment protects American citizens from the prohibition of an established religion, as well as impeding the free exercise of religion, protection of abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. In just that one Amendment, controversy has caused chaos in modern times. It has given way to semi-nonviolent civil wars and the division of the country. When these individuals attack a campus, they are protected physically. They are usually given a corner in the campus, unfortunately where most students pass, to spew their hatred for the rest of the world. It begs the question of is this what our founding fathers wanted? Is this what God wants? No one can give an answer, nor can anyone ever know. However, how can we as students and as citizens speak up against this verbal violence and be praised, but treat others the same exact way?
The hypocrisy is on another level. How can one proclaim that “God hates fags,” while another proclaims that “God loves everyone, even you, you ugly Bridge troll!”?
The answer isn’t easy, but it raises more and more questions. There is a lot of unkindness in this world. People are not lacking Jesus because He is in all of us, no matter how blinded, skewed, or unjust our views are. He is there to show us the way to enlightenment. However, the journey there isn’t a simple one. No one will ever come to Christ when they are being beaten down and abused. More people need to learn that to save others you need to lower yourself and reach out. You need to accept that you are not perfect and never will be. You need to accept that you are not higher than the rest of us. You need to accept that the world is dangerous but people need to be loved.
The next big movement needs to be one of peace, love, acceptance and tolerance. We need to no longer accept the world as it is, but instead practice love, honor, and truth in our words and actions. We must be to others what we would want to be to us. We should always keep our lives gentle, merciful and just. This is what God intended, and if we as human beings cannot accept that, then we will be faced with the wrath of an angry God. Jesus died for our sins, so let’s not put that second chance to waste.
