College campuses are liberal environments where the merging of ideas occur, minds are enlightened, movements form, protests happen. All of this makes it the perfect breeding ground for religious converts. In only my first year of college, I have witnessed all types of preachers, societies, and converts on campus. Some of them have made me lose all hope for the world, some made me nostalgic, and others . . . I've learned to tune out.
The lone preacher.
Almost every day there is a man in the center of campus. He has his own microphone and he talks into it for hours. I can never hear exactly what he was saying but I always hear a few snippets with words like "hell" and "women." I, just like most everybody else has learned to ignore him.
The Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jehovah's Witnesses are known for knocking on people's doors and annoying them, but on my city campus, and even throughout the city, the Jehovah's witnesses stand in a spot somewhere with stands that hold their pamphlets in multiple languages. They just stand there, observing the students passing them by. They don't usually initiate conversation unless you approach them. They always seem to be in a good mood and their commitment is unwavering.
The Catholics.
This one particularly stood out to me because I'm a Catholic. There were two priests dressed up in their formal wear. They both held signs that said something like, "Let's talk about God." Students were actually stopping to have a casual deep conversation right there.
The Flat Earth Society.
On my walk to the subway, I encountered an interesting group of people. They had a big poster and wore t-shirts that announced what they were doing there, they were part of The Flat Earth Society, trying to convince passing students. Some students stopped to argue. I walked right by trying to hold my tongue. A girl walking next to me told me, "It's not even worth it to try to convince them." Sadly, she's right.
The yoga people.
Another group of people with an unwavering commitment. It could be 30 degrees outside and there's the yoga people with their knit hats and Canada Goose jackets, trying to stop every passing student to convince them to "donate" money to buy their "life-changing" book.
Men handing out books.
They just showed up one morning, out of nowhere. Nicely dressed men (although one of them suspiciously had on a trench coat and sunglasses) handing out little green books of the New Testament. They were there to greet me when I came out of the subway, then they were there again on the corner, and then on the next corner. Then in one hour, they vanished.
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