This is the time of year when the students come back to campus. By Wednesday, when classes start, there will be an additional 45,000 people on this campus (down from the 50,000 that we had a few years ago).
In tandem with the arrival of the students is the arrival of various groups attempting to get the new students to join in, and chief among them are the Christians. Some of them are rather progressive, and some of them are literally Bible-thumpers. There is a group who stands out there at the corners of campus for the duration of the first week of classes, distributing a little green New Testament to everyone who walks by (bonus points if they’re wearing a turban, headscarf, or kippe!)
It’s not that I disagree with their message, it’s that I disagree with their method. I think it’s really freaking arrogant to expect someone to change their spiritual beliefs based on a random conversation they didn’t plan to have on their way somewhere, and I don’t mind saying so. Religion is a personal matter, and I find uninvited attempts at proslytization insulting.
Were I a slightly braver person (also, if I didn’t expect to potentially get the shit beat out of me), I would respond to the question, “Excuse me, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal saviour?” with “No, but let me ask you this: Have you considered the advantages of accepting Satan as your Dark Lord?”
And every time I think of doing so, I think of the following clip from Mr. Show with Bob and David. Enjoy!
Be careful! Despite the incensed response you’d get from the funny mentalists, I suspect some of them really serve the Dark Lord instead of the Christ they profess. Dana Carvey’s Church Lady skit hits on it in a very funny way.
When I was in college, there was preacher who’d come to campus and smuttily preach about the evils of fornication. The pervert really got a kick out of it. His wife, on the other hand, was angry, dried up, and shrill when it came to preaching on the same subject. God knows how many hours of entertainment they provided our university community.