Fire and Brimstone and Not Getting Upset

[Warning for one slur, included as a quote.]

     Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen people standing out by the street with signs declaring in big letters that “Gays are going to hell!” and “God hates sin!” and other such exclamations. If you haven’t seen them in person, you’ve probably at least seen them on TV or on the internet. 

     Every week, there is a man at my school who stands on a box somewhere on campus, with his sign and his flyers, who yells about how God is a judge, and how we all sin, etc. I have fondly dubbed him “Mister Preacher Man”. The nice thing about Mister Preacher Man is that, as far as I know, he doesn’t call people out individually and tell them they’re going to hell. He invites people to stand on a box and have a discussion with him. Granted, it’s a discussion mostly consisting of yelling about how you’re going to hell, but at least he lets people talk. (Although he did call a friend of mine a “faggot”, so he loses some points there. Not cool, Mister Preacher Man. Not cool at all.)

     Sometimes, however, Mister Preacher Man brings his friends along. Mister Preacher Man’s friends are a tad more obnoxious than Mister Preacher Man. Mister Preacher Man’s friends bring lots of signs, and Bibles, and like to yell about people going to hell. I call them the Fire and Brimstone People, or the Hellfire Guys. They usually have a large crowd of people around them (99% of whom are probably there for the entertainment value.), and there’s the usual back and forth one expects from a crowd of college students and people yelling about damnation.

     The Hellfire Guys were outside by the union earlier this week, and I overheard some conversations and saw some Facebook posts indicating that some people were offended by what the Hellfire Guys had to say.

     This is completely understandable. The stuff they say is pretty offensive. They have a sign with a list of kinds of people who are going to hell. There’s the usual “homosexuals”, “abortionists” (Which, what is an “abortionist” anyway?), “liars”, etc. Then there are some gems like “Feminists”, and “lukewarm hypocrites”, and “immodest women”. (Those are my personal favorites.) So, yeah. Pretty offensive.

     The funny thing is, I don’t get offended. I was, of course, upset for my friend when Mister Preacher Man called her what he did, and of course I’m a little sad that they seem to have missed a big part of what I think Jesus taught. (Love, forgiveness, and the like.) I’m not offended, however, when they tell me I’m going to hell because I’m a feminist and feminists go to hell. I’m not offended when their list includes immodest women, but says nothing about immodest men. I’m not offended when they say anything.  I don’t get upset. I just laugh.

     One of the things I remind myself of when I walk past Mister Preacher Man, or the Fire and Brimstone People is that they truly thing they’re doing the right thing. They truly believe that they are helping people. It’s not coming from a place of hate. They truly believe that this is what they need to do to save people. Once I remember that it’s not malicious, it doesn’t bother me so much.

Sometimes I’m tempted to get a to-go box from the cafeteria and sit outside and just listen to them, because some of the stuff they say is so outrageous. It’s so far off from the message of love and forgiveness and acceptance that I grew up with that I stand there and think “where are y’all getting this stuff?”  Once you stop expecting anything different from them, they become quite entertaining.