“The wicked flee when no man pursueth”
BY: JACK JURSNICH
Opinions Editor
Thursday, October 10, the street preacher known as Kingdom Reconcilers on YouTube made another appearance at the Meramec campus. He spoke of how those who sin will go to Hell, calling out specific people like Hindus, Muslims, and pot smokers, and he even had discussions with several of the students who decided to stick around. A band of students started playing music about an hour into the man’s sermon at the courtyard, when 30 minutes later he decided to leave because he couldn’t “outspeak these people.”
I didn’t bother to watch the full livestream because I think I got the gist of what this man had to say with his first appearance in April of this year, but I would like to comment on how I think people should be reacting. Last time, there were people complaining about what the man was saying, proposing things like a limitation to free speech policies because they deemed it as ‘hate speech.’
As much as what was said could be hurtful to those not wanting to hear it, hate speech is and SHOULD be protected. Hate speech is a relative term for speech that someone doesn’t like, and I think limiting speech that someone doesn’t like to the extent some people have proposed is detrimental to democracy.
I don’t know how hard I have to hit the keys on my keyboard for people to understand that if you don’t like what someone is saying, the best thing to do would be to plug your ears and walk away. If the Meramec preacher said that Hindus, Muslims, and pot smokers are sinners, does that mean they really are? If not, then why let the beliefs of one man judge others as if he’s God himself? Why give his opinions any power over your own? If you agree with him, fine, but if you don’t, why try to convince him otherwise just as he is trying to do to you? Why listen? What more do I have to say to get people to just ignore the guy rather than try to shut him up?
I’ll tie this back to the quote I have in the subtitle: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth.” This is the simple point I am trying to make. If this man is as wicked as people believe he is, then the best way to keep his wickedness going would be to engage with him. Try to tell him to shut up, he’ll just keep talking in tongues. Try to kick him off campus, he’ll just make a scene. If all he’s doing is shouting, calling people sinners, not following or hurting anybody, then let him shout until he’s out of breath. If what this man is saying is hurting anybody’s feelings, just remember that you can walk away, go to class, come home, and go to bed like nothing happened. To those who want to argue and dedicate themselves to making a big stink out of people like this, good luck, because you’ll keep yourself up at night arguing with brick walls.
