Earlier this semester, I was walking through the HUB and somebody handed me a fortune cookie. Being a college student, and generally liking free food, I smiled, thanked the person and ate it. Much to my dismay, the fortune said, "The Lord is your Savior."
Is this the new trend in evangelism? Hiding it in confection to make it more appealing? And yet, I'm not surprised. It seems to be getting entirely too ordinary -- just another example of the epidemic of evangelism that has a tendency to take over the sidewalks and disrupt our lives.
You've all experienced it: The anti-DaVinci Code guys in robes, the grisly fetus abortion picture people, the cross-toting cult, the Bible hander-outers and the street corner singers of the gospel. You're walking along peacefully, and then all of a sudden -- sensory overload. Either you're being handed a piece of literature, there's a shocking image in front of you, or you're hearing the voice of God Himself.
And how could I forget our own permanent evangelist extraordinaire? Yes -- my personal favorite -- the Willard "You're all going straight to hell" Preacher.
Besides being really irritating, this kind of religious lecturing is an insulting waste of time, both of theirs and ours.
Evangelism, in its attempt to spread religion, ends up completely disregarding faith. Any kind of spirituality -- even the choice not to believe -- is deep and individual. It's a decision made by you, for you.
No matter how many times you were toted to Sunday school as a kid, if you don't make the choice to believe in God, you don't. Spirituality is just not at a level that could ever be reached by a stranger on a street corner.
Evangelism is also insulting. Do evangelists think college students are such under-developed spiritual creatures that handing out Bibles will produce sudden enlightenment? I would imagine most people in their late teens and early 20s have solidified their faith, whether it be in something or nothing.
The act of trying to convert others is just one way of saying whatever you believe is better than whatever they believe.
An evangelist is an ideologue who's extremely focused on a single faith and cannot see that other people approach their religions, or lack thereof, in the same manner.
Even if a particular religion's doctrine requires evangelism for higher placement in heaven ... isn't there a willing audience out there somewhere? Whether you're religious or not, aren't you just trying to walk to class?
No matter how fully I believe in the right to free speech and the right to evangelize as much as you'd like, evangelists at Penn State are wasting their time and even denigrating their doctrine by spewing it at spiritually-formed, intelligent college students.
Normally, I disregard faith-based propaganda as merely that. I'm not rude; I just don't take a pamphlet. The last thing I want to do is delude any pamphlet-givers into thinking they are actually making a difference.
That is exactly why I do not, and will never, take the time to argue with Gary Cattell, otherwise known as the Willard Preacher.
A productive debate cannot be had when the subject is something about which nobody really knows the truth.
Debating with Cattell right there on the steps of the Willard building would justify his "purpose," of standing out there day in, day out and crudely hurling his version of the gospel at passersby.
And yet, those who hand out pamphlets believe they are doing it out of love, for our own sake, so we can be "saved."
But their kindness is misguided and their energy could be better spent productively. I think I'd be more persuaded if I witnessed the selfless charity of believers than if I came face-to-face with the most articulate, most convincing zealot.
So evangelists of Penn State, hear my cry -- feed the hungry, clothe the naked and shelter the homeless.
Live your lives as exemplars of your faith and most importantly, trust us to do the same.
