Ahh, the many sounds of spring: birds chirping, icicles dripping and the first cries of damnation ... and the possible apocalypse. Oh yes ... spring may still be a week away, but the zealots are already coming.
Now, freedom of speech has got to be one of the best inventions of all time (with the possible exception of string cheese). America is an amazing place, if nothing else because of that very freedom.
Across the democratic European Union, countries are considering putting laws on the books to imprison people who deny or ""trivialize"" genocide or war crimes, while right here in Madison we let people shriek that gay people are of the devil and that ""angry women"" will burn in hell. Perhaps our nation is a beautiful and unique snowflake after all.
Then again, maybe not. After all, we're the country that recently convicted attorney Lynne Stewart for the crime of ""aiding and abetting terrorism"" for providing legal counsel to and holding a press conference for a client convicted of terrorism.
Still, on the global scale, the United States' threshold for free speech is remarkable. Not only is controversial speech tolerated, it tends to attract a crowd. Hellfire? Satan? Who doesn't want to hear some of that?
Students take time out of their busy schedules each spring to stand around watching the spectacle that is the religious zealots on Library Mall (and their detractors).
Sometimes the discourse between the people proselytizing and the students who take offense is somewhat rational, and other times there are so many people shouting so many different things that no one can really hear what's being said, so everyone yells all the louder.
My personal favorite was the time when three men were waving signs and shouting something to the effect of, ""You college kids with your ‘American Idol' and your beer are all going to the fires of hell,"" while off to the side a young man quietly held a hand-lettered sign saying, ""Please don't feed the bigots.""
I am Jack's delighted valuation.
Freedom of speech is a concept that tends to get fuzzy when the speech in question crosses over into hate speech. People can bellow all they want about plans for the ""Kirk and Spock: the Academy Days"" Star Trek movie, but a guy who stands there and yells that ""homos"" deserve to have the flesh melted from their bones has definitely crossed that line.
Sure, the ""angry women"" thing was hilariousA-—especially when the next angry preacher was female—but that does not mean everything these people say is made harmless through inherent ridiculousness.
So why not lead the charge to have them kicked off of campus? Their rhetoric is repellent and they're almost impossible to avoid when crossing Library Mall in warm weather. It seems like reason enough, but it isn't.
Even hate speech has its place in a democracy. What better way to jog the contented masses out of their apathetic existence than to piss them off, in this case by telling them they're going to hell in a handbag (preferably Gucci)?
Students get more involved with the Library Mall zealots every day in spring than they seem to do for the whole rest of the year, even if it's just by shaking their heads or laughing at some of the diatribes.
As the weather warms and the evangelist experience nears, I recommend a healthy dose of observation and argumentation to heat the blood and lighten the spirit.
Whatever happens, it will certainly be entertaining.
