All hell on Front Campus

You’re going to hell.  No, really. If  you’ve ever masturbated, smoked anything, gotten piercings, listened to techno, rock or rap, kissed a guy, kissed a girl, consumed alcohol, had “unholy” sex or dressed provocatively, you’ll join the ranks of Mother Teresa, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the lake of fire.  At least that’s the opinion of Micah Armstrong, a traveling evangelist who preached his fire and brimstone message of repentance on campus last week.
Armstrong drew hundreds to Front Campus as he used the Free Speech Zone to inform nearly everyone that they are, in fact, going to hell. Not based on any spiritual discourse between he and the passersby, but based on his own assumptions about their lifestyles.
Senior sociology major Stephen Gil and his friends attended the sermon after hearing about Armstrong’s tactics around campus. 
“It is so much fun to see this fight between wills, and then to see the people who really understand that he’s here just to not listen, which is, I think, the exact opposite of the college’s mission,” Gil said. “You’re here to learn, so it kind of an awkward thing to have him here when he is the exact opposite of what higher education is all about.”
Despite his reservations about Armstrong’s methods, Gil understands the evangelist’s right to say whatever he’d like to.
“Of course he should be allowed on campus,” Gil said. “That is the whole point of free speech. But trying to incite people isn’t what free speech is all about.”    
Amy Turns, a junior chemistry major, had a completely different view on Armstrong. 
“I want to cry for him,” Turns said. “If you read the Bible and you seriously interpret it that way, I feel bad for you.”
After Turns recited Roman’s 3:26, Armstrong called her a sinner and a masturbator. Turns denied the unsubstantiated claim, to which Armstrong responded he could tell because all masturbators look alike. 
“He wouldn’t shake my hand because he won’t shake the hands of masturbators,” Turns said. “Even though I don’t do it. According to him and his mind, he thinks that because he has been at my house and he’s seen it. He’s my best friend and he knows everything about me. What cracks me up is that his excuse for everything is ‘I repented and therefore I am without sin,’ yet he is a human, and in the Bible it says unless you are the Son of God, Jesus, then you have sin in your life.” 

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Following the confrontation, Turns helped form a “Jesus Loves You Circle” for students who were traumatized by Armstrong’s words.
As much as Armstrong seemed to enjoy pushing students’ buttons, many of the students enjoyed pushing right back.
Student: “Why does heaven have pearly gates?”
Armstrong: “To keep the sinners out, to keep the masturbators out, to keep the homosexuals out, to keep the fornicators out, to keep the gangster rappers out, to keep the rock and rollers out, and the pot smokers out…”
Student: “What about techno music?”
Armstrong: “Techno music is evil and wicked.”
Student: “Techno music isn’t bad…”
Armstrong: “But when people listen to techno music they take drugs , when people listen to techno music they have premarital sex….”
Student: “Can I just tell you that I listen to gospel (music) when I do drugs and masturbate?”
Many students seemed determined to beat Armstrong at his own accusatory game.
Student: “Oh come on, you masturbate. Why are you trying to deny that you masturbate?
One student even used his laptop to “cause Armstrong to sin,” pushing a screen full of pornography- one of Armstrong’s favorite topics- into the preacher’s face.
“My friend had his computer and I was like, ‘we should get him to look at it,’ so now he’s going to hell,”junior English major Bailey Warr said.
As Armstrong’s opposition mounted, an interesting dynamic occurred on Front Campus:  Those who claimed to care nothing about religion, God or Christianity found themselves allied with Christians who refuted Armstrong’s assertions as un-Biblical. The very same students who had been shouting profanity at Armstrong joined a circle of students to pray for Armstrong. As the circle grew, Armstrong found that fewer and fewer people were listening to him.
For a brief moment, the evangelist was silent.
Bill Baker, director of the Wesley Foundation, was part of  the circle who drew almost everyone away from Armstong.
“The main problem that I have is him coming out and calling people names, being really vulgar and just nasty, and condemning, condemning, condemning people, and that’s not the gospel. What he does is he mixes a lot of truth with a lot of error,” Baker said.
Many students, like freshman outdoor education major Bryan Colcord, felt that Armstrong was misinterpreting the Bible in order to provoke a response from the crowd.
“I think he’s twisting the words of the Bible,” Colcord said. “I think he’s just trying to get a rise out of people.”
Colcord may not have been far off with his assertions. In an interview with Colonnade Reporters, Armstrong discussed tactics and his recent effort at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah.
“A lot of students were angry, offended and upset. We feel like that’s positive. You know, we want to provoke people, we want to get people alarmed, we want to get people to think, to go study the Bible and see if what we’re saying is true,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong went on to admit that the tension between him and the crowd is often intentional.
“… You expect (the reaction from the crowd); I mean, it goes along with it and actually it helps you out because it makes it more interesting, and so people that would not normally be interested in somebody there preaching the Bible, you know, they will stop and watch somebody cuss you out. And, you know, one of the ways that we keep people here for hours and hours is to interact with them. I mean, that’s the whole key,” Armstrong said. “You want to come out and talk about the stuff they’re into. You know, talk about their fraternities and talk about the music they listen to and talk about people out here premarital kissing. It’s good to sound a little bit out of touch, it makes it a little more entertaining for them. It makes you more of a target you know, so you want to come off looking a little bit naïve and vulnerable…”
Armstrong is not the first traveling preacher to visit GCSU. Dr. Bruce Harshbarger, vice president for student affairs, said that five or six years ago, open air preachers began using the clock tower outside of Maxwell Student Union (MSU). This space was impractical because the gathered crowds would block access from Chick-Fil-A and MSU. It was then decided that in order to prevent this problem, GCSU would declare a Freedom of Speech Zone. The Bobcat head on Front Campus was chosen as the most logical spot, Harshbarger said.
Despite its origins, the Freedom of Speech Zone is not just for preachers. Instead, any and all students and faculty can use the spot to make their voices heard. Unfortunately, students fail to utilize their power.   
“We don’t have an awful lot of people who simply want to go out there and talk to the campus, and that is unfortunate,” Harsh-barger said.
A reading of the names of the victims of September 1
1 was the only instance of student use that Harshbarger could remember during the past few years.
Speakers wanting to use the Freedom of Speech Zone are encouraged to contact the Department of Student Affairs beforehand for guidelines on proper procedure.    

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 3 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry