Better than Television

The best show in town returned to UNK's campus Monday and Tuesday of this week. By all accounts Monday's show was nothing uncommon from the previous semesters I've been at UNK. Here is how the show goes: some preacher shows up and starts reading passages from the Old Testament - as a group of students gather he twists the text around and starts making inflammatory statements. This provokes some students in to arguing with him; the spectacle grows from there.

In contrast to Monday's show, Tuesday's show was different. It started off like the day before with the preacher down by the Nebraskan Student Union. I passed a growing group of students on my way to class at 10 am. By the time I got out of class at 11 am the show had moved up to the fountain, with an even larger group of student. At some point in time Public Safety determined the preacher was causing too many problems and moved him out of the central area of the campus. Leaving campus briefly, the preacher went for reinforcements and banners. Returning to UNK the two started spewing twice the intolerance of before.

Normally, I just pass by these gatherings, but on Tuesday the professor let us out of class early so I walked over with a few friends to listen in. Some of the more interesting things heard:

• Women belong in the kitchen - The ladies standing around were told to leave UNK and return to the kitchen.
• If you go to the weight room you are going to hell - One of my friends was told he was going to hell because he works out. According to the preacher he only goes to the weight room so he can fornicate more.
• Wearing jewelry makes you a heathen.
• Frat boys are the corrupting force of the devil.
  

We were also treated to a demonstration on the ways to women should sit and how guys should not walk. Homosexuality, alcohol, and promiscuity were also covered in great detail.

What I found most interesting about this whole thing was apparently God doesn't do forgiveness - he only hands out one way tickets to hell. That's not what I learned at my church.