The public square. A place on a university campus where people are encouraged to gather, debate, argue, and exchange ideas; even ideas that most find repulsive.
Such was the case last week at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida.
A street preacher wearing a “Jesus saves from hell” t-shirt and a pair of hideous cargo shorts was, according to accounts in the Daily Mail, preaching homophobic bullsh*t, when one gay student had enough.
The report says that senior Brice Ehmig decided to serenade the hate-filled buffoon with one of the loudest handheld instruments ever invented: bagpipes!
According to Brice, the “preacher” had been spewing typical anti-LGBT nonsense such as comparing homosexuality to bestiality. Fed up with his verbal diarrhea, she decided to start her own public display; albeit right next to the homophobe.
In a hilarious video presumably recorded by Brice’s girlfriend, we see the street preacher losing his train of thought (I’m sure it’s a very short train) while pacing back and forth as Brice follows him, belting out classic Scottish tunes as well as the old time gospel hymnal, Amazing Grace.
According to the Daily Mail, Brice said:
“I began to play him a classic tune of spiritual rejuvenation and wholesome melancholy in Amazing Grace. I could see in his eyes and the tense veins in his face and neck that he was enraged by my presence. So after four minutes I did give him some space for a little bit. Then he started going on more about homosexuality, and earned my relentless playing even more so.”
She continued:
“He was targeting me in particular due to our prior interactions in which he would yell at me as I held hands with my girlfriend. Very few subjects are safe from his preaching.”
Brice went on to explain that homosexual students aren’t the only target for these nut-jobs:
“In the past I have heard him say ‘if you wear shorts like that you are asking to be raped,’ ‘porn leads to hell,’ and ‘If you study the sciences you are going against God.’ These preachers have been on campus every year that I have been here at the University and they have all been part of the same group. They post videos on YouTube, which primarily record hostile situations, law enforcement interactions and close calls with angered citizens.”
Apparently the aim of these public proselytizers is to create and then film altercations as a means to then play the persecution complex card. Brice went on to explain that:
“If their intent was to educate the public with the peace and love of real religion, they would not need to record and post mostly the bad interactions they had. Their intent is clearly to catch people losing control as they target them, and they want everyone to believe that they are the victims.”
Which is a good reminder for all of us when faced with idiots exercising their first amendment rights to be idiots.
While we don’t all have our bagpipes on hand to drown out hate speech, we do have our own voices. There is no harm in staying on the high road. We, the rational among us, can and should calmly challenge such speakers in the public square at every opportunity. After all, we have compassion and reason on our side.
Love conquers hate.
