You may have noticed, or heard, the two men on campus preaching “the word.” One of the men brought with him his two children. These men were on campus for two days, and have a travel schedule for places they preach.While at Tech they yelled at us that we needed to repent, and even pointed to me, looked me straight in the eyes, and asked if I had repented for my sins.
John Mayer said it best in his song Belief, “Is there anyone who ever remembers changing their mind from paint on a sign?”
Maybe it’s that they need to know that they tried, or that they feel that this is the way to spread the “word,” most constructively, but after much consideration and thought I beg to differ.
I don’t mind these men holding signs and screaming at me that I’m probably going to hell, I really don’t mind it at all. I hope that what ever God they are yelling about appreciates their endeavor and effort.
But then they rope their kids into it, and then I thought about it, why aren’t their kids in school? There are certain lessons you can only learn from peers, or life experience, that they are not getting.
Why aren’t these hellfire and damnation dudes at work? Are my hard-earned tax paying dollars really paying for them to yell at me?
My father, a devout Catholic, raised me with the belief that God puts us on this beautiful earth to do his work. Our vocation is our religion. He has worked with special needs children for over 20 years. He prays for the needy, and gives when he is able. We spread his “word,” with kindness, love, and forgiveness. We don’t yell and discriminate.
My mother, a Jewish woman, raised me with a more open-minded belief system. We forgive. And whoever it is that people want to pray to, they can pray to, because we fought hard to have the right to worship, and our God doesn’t believe in that torture.
Basically, our actions are much greater than our words. And respectfully in my opinion, it is not about religion that creates Godly men, it is how we live, and not just what we speak.
I just wish that instead of spending this gorgeous day yelling, discriminating, and preaching, that these probably kind hearted, and probably good intentioned men would go do something worth while. There are so many more constructive things that they could be doing with their time. Go volunteer somewhere! Go feed the hungry! Go help the homeless!!! More importantly, go get a job! Stimulate our economy! Have a great day, and STOP YELLING AT ME!
