Politics and Pucks

Is escaping hell easier than escaping LA or New York?

Today on campus, we had a proselytizing experience that was very odd. This ministry, whose title: "If Anyone Thirsty?" showed up on Purdue's campus to preach the word of their savior. They handed out literature that made me raise an eyebrow. They want you to leave your church, and school in order to self-educate yourself about Jesus. They merely want you to "stop and think" about what you believe in. That's not too unfounded, because that's what the Society of Non-theists does. However, their signs indicate a clear message. Here's some samples from the literature they handed out:

"The world sizzles with images, songs and movies that depict mans as a creature who is to be fulfilled by a dreamy-kind of 'love' waiting in another soul 'out there'. However the 75% divorce rate, the vexing powers of lust and a world strewn with shattered hearts expose the brutal clash between fantasy and reality."

I get it, there's too much sex in American culture. This criticism in this literature is kind of misleading, because that statistic is inflated. Of course, no citation was given of where this number came from.

"Satan has a job to do...and you are it! The tremendous emphasis put on education these days is demonic. Satan knows his time is running out. Resounding throughout the halls of Aristotle are the voices of demons imposing their curriculum from hell. They insist 'Memorize and regurgitate. Better this world. Self-esteem. Defy God! Exalt Babylon!"

So obviously everyone getting an education is an atheist. While I take that as a complement, it's not true. You might not agree with academia all the time, but still it's an important institution. It's like calling Obama a socialist, and making Democrats into straw-men.

To summarize the rest of the literature, you need to take the Glenn Beck approach and learn about Jesus through self-education. While they don't like American churches, they're suggesting you drop out of school to find yourself. Ok, so this is insane, rhey were yelling at students to repent and be saved. At the same time, they didn't have a permit to demonstrate. So we contacted who we needed to, but they did not leave right away. They claimed that because they had their First Amendment rights, they had every right to demonstrate there. Even if Purdue is a public school, you still need to get permission to demonstrate because it's the school's policy. Every university is like this, and I'm completely okay with that, because it filters out this kind of crazy.

The point to be made here is, the first Amendment does not apply here, because you broke university policy. Also, you're attacking the wrong audience with a really silly message that won't resonate with anyone on the campus. Even the religious people at Purdue wouldn't likely get behind the "drop out of college" mantra. So, if anyone from another atheist group on other campuses are reading this, check with them and see if they have permission to be there. Since they're self-educated, they might not understand the concepts of private vs. public rights.