There is a bandit on the loose — a Brickyard bandit. No, he is not sneaky. No, he is not sly. But somehow he is robbing us of both our patience and our time. He does not carry a weapon; instead he carries his book tightly against his chest. He’s known as the “Obnoxious Preacher” to students, and it would appear he’s here to stay.
It seems as though students cannot walk through the Brickyard without being tastelessly challenged by this man. If a thought is started in a student’s mind, it is bound to be interrupted by the overbearing assertions of the “Man with the Bible.” I understand free speech and a permit allow him to be on the Brickyard, but one would think that the countless eye rolls, the wide-eyed glares and the harsh grimaces would drive him away. Well, they don’t.
Students are getting frustrated with this bumptious, bearded bigot. When we walk through the Brickyard, we’re on our way to study or eat, not waiting to hear a sermon barked at us. Last time I checked, the Brickyard was not a church. Who wants to listen to someone yelling commands? I doubt even Moses was this gauche about his Commandments.
As I was on my way back from class, I saw the portly preacher surrounded by a crowd of people so I did what any curious person would do: I listened in. At first, I pitied him, but after listening a bit longer my spiking blood pressure told me my feelings toward him were something along the lines of rage.
It would be fine if he was in the brickyard spreading love and peace, but he is trying to instill the exact opposite. He calls people names and makes ridiculous assertions that he just cannot back up with valid information from the world or from the book he clutches so tightly. Within minutes of hearing his vile vitriol, I found myself in an argument with him, and I’d been called a “wicked, wicked woman” and told that I “praise Satan.” I had even left my “I heart Satan” pin in my dorm room, so he had valid grounds to make that assumption.
Along with calling innocent students horrible names, he spews statements that are completely illogical and extremely uncanny. When I was watching the madness unfold he said things such as, “women belong in the kitchen,” “all brown people are Muslim,” and not to mention “marijuana makes you gay” and “blacks are the reason for crime.”
Those are direct quotes. Direct. He said those things — out loud.
This duel is not one between theists and atheists, because frankly, even Christians are frustrated with this preacher. The things that he says are downright outrageous.
Nobody wants to be told what to believe and if he really wanted people to hear his word, he would draw people in with quiet, genuine words. So essentially he would exercise the polar opposite of his current approach. True Christians are the ones who read the Bible quietly at night, not the ones who perform a show every time they preach.
When I was listening to him, I was waiting for some dancers to come out to help along his “show” or maybe for him to even whip out a red boa for extra pizazz.
I commend those brave souls who try to argue against him, but let’s get real, he lives for the arguments. I am even guilty of giving him the satisfaction of argument, but it is so hard not to. People who put themselves out there in the way he does are just waiting for a fight, and if we want him to leave our campus, we shouldn’t give him what he wants. It seems as though all he wants is to get a rise out of students. No, not as in catching-the-Holy-Spirit kind of “rise,” but a “rise” as in evoking anger. I can just see the sparkle in his eye when a confident candidate argues with him or the cynical smirk he gives to the passersby who dramatically roll their eyes.
Does he belong in a mental institution? Probably not. But all I know is he does not belong on our campus. A college campus is supposed to be a place where students are exposed to different beliefs and cultures, not force-fed them.
