As the song goes, guess who’s back, back again? The preachers with hateful signs and megaphones are back at Florida Gulf Coast University.
The preachers on the library lawn call themselves “Adam and Kevin.” They would not give their last names or the church they are associated with.
“I’m just a born-again Christian,” Adam said.
It is not uncommon for people to cause an uproar when they feel as though morals and beliefs are being force-fed to them, but FGCU students believe these preachers are up to something else.
For instance, rumor has it that one is a lawyer who provokes students to get physical so he can sue for assault and/or battery. Students say that he is copying Brother Micah Armstrong, who is also a campus sidewalk preacher who speaks out against masturbation, pornography, drugs, smoking and the inequality of women, other races and homosexuals.
So why are people such as Armstrong, Adam and Kevin allowed on campus? Until a fight breaks out, the preachers are allowed to express their thoughts of college girls being “whores” and gays being “sinners” because it is their First Amendment right to freedom of speech on a public campus.
Jonathan Pauyo, junior and psychology major, says that Adam travels to different colleges across the state trying to get a reaction out of students.
“I don’t like the messages of hate,” Pauyo said. “If God is the all-loving God, then Adam wouldn’t be preaching hate and fear.”
On Oct. 23, Pauyo shouted the lyrics to the Beatles song “All You Need is Love” to protest the preachers.
“Maybe people have a problem with the Bible,” Adam said. “I understand that. We live in a generation that doesn’t honor the word of God. But He’s still patient, and that’s why I’m here.”
But in a world that is vastly different from when the Bible was written, how many Christians would agree with Preacher Kevin when he says, “If your hand causes you to masturbate, cut it off?”
Lucas Stancil, junior and music performance major, visited the library lawn last Thursday because he wanted to witness what everyone has been talking about for a while now.
“Today, I tried to let people know the truth, or at least my truth about the universe, which is positive vibrations,” Stancil said. “All you need is your own positive intuition about how your life should exist.”
Though Adam and Kevin are not preachers by profession, they said they will continue coming back to campus to spread God’s message.