Post by Josh Parsley on Mar 9, 2007 11:55:59 GMT -5
Open-air teaches tolerance, sort of
Adrian Martinez
Posted: 3/9/07
March 2, Open Air Outreach ministry visited our campus. A week later, many people on campus are still talking about it. While I certainly don't agree with the ministry's messages to our student body, I have to admit they did do one good thing: They taught our campus a lesson about what it really means to be socially, culturally and religiously tolerant.
Not that I find the ministry's evangelists to be any of those things. But, the discussions held on campus about whether or not Open Air Outreach should be allowed to do what it has done definitely has shown how some people on campus are tolerant of other people's views - and how many are not.
But before I get into that, I think it's important to discuss the history of open-air preaching. Open-air preaching basically means preaching in a public place - a place where anyone can walk by and hear a preacher's message.
This could mean in a public park - and certainly on a public university's campus. It is traditionally the most widely used form of preaching.
Many of us associate open-air preaching with evangelists on street corners of big cities, passing out pamphlets and willing to talk to anyone who will listen and many who won't.
For some of you, this might equate to nothing more than a mild nuisance, something to ignore until you are out of earshot. Others find these preachers insulting or invasive, feeling they are accusing us of violating a religion when they don't even know us.
But long before pamphlets and modern, big-city intersections, people were using this type of preaching to spread what are now the major religions of the world.
The biblical Jesus was an open-air preacher as well. He traveled through many places, sharing a message he called the word of God. Some liked what he had to say, and many didn't. Still, history was changed because of his words and the intolerance of those around him.
But today, it seems many students have forgotten what tolerance really means. Usually when we discuss this topic, we're talking about racism or sexism in the terms that have been the biggest issue for the United States. We talk about slavery, civil rights and equality between men and women in all aspects of society. We don't usually talk about tolerating those we think might spreading hate.
Members of the Open Air Outreach ministry said a lot of things many of us would consider to be hateful or intolerant. They talked about homosexuality in ways that could be considered offensive to anyone, not just homosexuals.
They talked about other religions in insulting and disrespectful ways. They talked about the people on this campus and degraded us, attempting to pull students into arguments just to make some sort of point at the students' expense.
But, to want to ban the Open Air Outreach ministry from returning to campus would be a display of our own intolerance. The ministry's members are expressing their opinion, even if it's an opinion you don't like or want to hear.
If you want the freedom to express your opinion, they must have that freedom as well. If they preach intolerance and hatred and you don't like it, it would show only hypocrisy to be hateful and intolerant in return.
I know some people on campus believe this issue goes beyond just freedom of speech; that it's a matter of the ministry violating Texas Tech policies and verbally harming students with its message.
Some Tech officials have said if they were informed of some of the things the ministry was saying, they would have been able to remove the ministry from campus. But, the fact no student did inform the officials tells me no student was harmed in a way that would merit such an action.
Besides, with all the power the First Amendment and its many interpretations entail, with all the intolerance showcased in the free-speech zone March 2, there is one thing the ministry was never able to do: force us to listen. While they have the power to preach, we have the power to ignore, and that is a form tolerance too.
So, the next time the Open Air Outreach ministry decides to grace our campus with its presence, you have options. Listen if you wish. Ignore if you must. But should you retaliate with intolerant actions? Never.
Adrian Martinez
Posted: 3/9/07
March 2, Open Air Outreach ministry visited our campus. A week later, many people on campus are still talking about it. While I certainly don't agree with the ministry's messages to our student body, I have to admit they did do one good thing: They taught our campus a lesson about what it really means to be socially, culturally and religiously tolerant.
Not that I find the ministry's evangelists to be any of those things. But, the discussions held on campus about whether or not Open Air Outreach should be allowed to do what it has done definitely has shown how some people on campus are tolerant of other people's views - and how many are not.
But before I get into that, I think it's important to discuss the history of open-air preaching. Open-air preaching basically means preaching in a public place - a place where anyone can walk by and hear a preacher's message.
This could mean in a public park - and certainly on a public university's campus. It is traditionally the most widely used form of preaching.
Many of us associate open-air preaching with evangelists on street corners of big cities, passing out pamphlets and willing to talk to anyone who will listen and many who won't.
For some of you, this might equate to nothing more than a mild nuisance, something to ignore until you are out of earshot. Others find these preachers insulting or invasive, feeling they are accusing us of violating a religion when they don't even know us.
But long before pamphlets and modern, big-city intersections, people were using this type of preaching to spread what are now the major religions of the world.
The biblical Jesus was an open-air preacher as well. He traveled through many places, sharing a message he called the word of God. Some liked what he had to say, and many didn't. Still, history was changed because of his words and the intolerance of those around him.
But today, it seems many students have forgotten what tolerance really means. Usually when we discuss this topic, we're talking about racism or sexism in the terms that have been the biggest issue for the United States. We talk about slavery, civil rights and equality between men and women in all aspects of society. We don't usually talk about tolerating those we think might spreading hate.
Members of the Open Air Outreach ministry said a lot of things many of us would consider to be hateful or intolerant. They talked about homosexuality in ways that could be considered offensive to anyone, not just homosexuals.
They talked about other religions in insulting and disrespectful ways. They talked about the people on this campus and degraded us, attempting to pull students into arguments just to make some sort of point at the students' expense.
But, to want to ban the Open Air Outreach ministry from returning to campus would be a display of our own intolerance. The ministry's members are expressing their opinion, even if it's an opinion you don't like or want to hear.
If you want the freedom to express your opinion, they must have that freedom as well. If they preach intolerance and hatred and you don't like it, it would show only hypocrisy to be hateful and intolerant in return.
I know some people on campus believe this issue goes beyond just freedom of speech; that it's a matter of the ministry violating Texas Tech policies and verbally harming students with its message.
Some Tech officials have said if they were informed of some of the things the ministry was saying, they would have been able to remove the ministry from campus. But, the fact no student did inform the officials tells me no student was harmed in a way that would merit such an action.
Besides, with all the power the First Amendment and its many interpretations entail, with all the intolerance showcased in the free-speech zone March 2, there is one thing the ministry was never able to do: force us to listen. While they have the power to preach, we have the power to ignore, and that is a form tolerance too.
So, the next time the Open Air Outreach ministry decides to grace our campus with its presence, you have options. Listen if you wish. Ignore if you must. But should you retaliate with intolerant actions? Never.