Broadside Opinion

William Curtis, Opinion Editor

We’ve all seen them. Preaching the words of ignorance, intolerance and hatred, despite their own beliefs that they’re speaking the truth to every college in the nation.

Simply give a man a soapbox and he becomes that all-encompassing voice of reason, right? Wrong.

I’ve been at George Mason University now for roughly five years, and ever since my freshman year, I’ve witnessed these insane extremists preach that women only belong in the kitchen, that gays are going to be the destruction of the world, and that well, if you masturbate, God is going to kill more than just a kitten. But what gives these preachers of pestilence the authority to tell us what is right and wrong?

Did God really imbue these moronic mundane miscreants with the knowledge and necessity to go and sermonize to the masses of every college in the United States? For what purpose?

I mean, I can understand wanting to teach students the importance of the belief in God, and that some of the things we do are wrong. I get that. But I am a firm believer that telling someone that they are going to Hell just because they are Arabic or like to smoke marijuana is just plain stupid.

Everyone is raised differently, with different belief systems, different ideals and different goals. You cannot go around telling people that what they are doing is wrong.

They need to see it for themselves. And if they don’t, or rather won’t, then they’re just going to  get angry and try to fight the filth that is and has been spewed all over this campus by these people.

People often wonder why so many crowds of students gather around these messengers of hate, and the answer is clear people! Have you ever heard the expression, “the more you feed the fire . . .”?

The more hatred you spit out at these people, the more they are going to try and convert you from your evil ways, the more they will come to our campus because they see our corruption, and want to make us “better” for God.

But what’s really wrong with us? The answer to that, for most of us, is nothing.  When I lived in New York, it was a common occurrence to have someone trying to shove their knowledge down your throat; the only difference was that it is was a lot easier to ignore them and continue on your way—something I wish more students on this campus would do in the future when we are forced to listen to such gibberish.

As an open homosexual 15 years in the making, when I first heard one preacher say that I was going to Hell simply because of my sexuality, you really would have thought it wouldn’t have bothered me.

But it did, to the point that I grabbed him by the head and managed to get a good ol’ wet one on him . . . he wasn’t very pleased about that.

But really, I never would have thought I would have reacted that way. After all, being gay means you’re bound to find someone who is going to tell you that you are going to Hell sooner or later.

Since then, I realized that I gained nothing from my retaliation besides the overzealous happiness I got from my peers, despite how simplistic and non-violent my action was.

All of the actions we have taken as students here have been wrong; the better answer to this roach problem is to simply turn away and put your eyes and ears to something more beneficial and useful of your time . . . oh, I don’t know, like your school work. After all, it is the reason you come here, isn’t it?

I really wish people would just leave him be. Let him preach the words he knows, let him speak the words that have most likely driven someone to punch him in the face. Let us not allow this ignorance to penetrate our ears and hearts.

I know it will be hard and of course there will be those who will oppose him and bring about their own ideals and try to counter his.

Seriously though, I think you would most likely have better luck winning a battle with a 5-year-old over some candy.

So next time you see one of these fools standing in front of Robinson Hall or somewhere near the Johnson Center vicinity—just keep walking to the class that you would probably be missing if you stayed there and listened to them speak the words that are just going to make you more angry. Also, don’t hit him or any of them, it may just be exactly what he wants from you.