I attend a fairly large university (about 24,000 students) and one of the main focuses of the university is cultural competence, which is something it recognizes as "students will recognize and respect multiple perspectives and cultures." So everyday I find myself surrounded by just that. I meet someone new all the time who sees things differently than I do and I absolutely love it. I love learning about different cultures and religions and if people disagree with how I feel I love to be able to have a discussion about it. I thrive on learning and discussing new things, and I feel as though a lot of students, and staff, at the university would agree that they love that, as well.
But what do you do when the new religion and culture is someone preaching hate?
There are two "preachers" on my campus who have made their presence very known within the first three weeks of class being in session. One of their recent teachings was that "sex gives you cancer," and honestly, I would love to see the research done on that because wouldn't that be a buzz kill for humanity? But these people aren't telling us that sex causes cancer to inform us and let us know that it's something we should probably think twice before doing. No, they're telling us this because they see sex as morally wrong and they will say anything to get us to stop doing whatever they see fit.
However, my favorite preaching is the one that I, a 19 year old female, am going to hell solely based on the fact that I choose to wear shorts, or pants in general. I'm sorry, but I'm going to wear what I want to wear. If it's hot outside then you can bet you'll catch me in my Nike shorts and if it's cold outside you can bet that you'll find me wearing leggings simply because I want to. I don't think that me wearing pants is morally wrong and if you, then that is fine! Let's have a conversation about it instead of you yelling at me in the middle of my campus because of my clothing choices.
Lastly, I need to touch on the subject of students listening to these people who are preaching hate. The sole reason these men and women are still on our campus is because they are getting the attention that they want. They have crowds of people arguing with them and shouting right back at them and this is what those people thrive on. They know they aren't going to change your mind, but you stopping and taking time out of your day to listen to them is showing them that you are acknowledging their presence and giving thought to what they are saying (even if it's bad thought).
So next time you see me and I turn down taking one of their little Jesus comic books from them and question me why, know that I am all about supporting others and their religion, but I am not about to accept something from someone who thinks it is okay to preach hate to others.
