2008 Woodie Awards
Don't allow religion to define personality
Alex Voigt
Issue date: 9/24/07 Section: Opinions
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For this editorial, I thought it would be fitting to bring up a regular visitor to the SCSU campus who rubs people the wrong way.
No, it's not about the St. Cloud Superman. The man is creepy enough without being written about.
The person I'm talking about is the outspoken, bible-toting individual who invades our campus every year to tell us we're all terrible sinners who are going to hell.
I know the majority of students think they know why this man does what he does; he is hoping to offend people to the point where he gets attacked, thus having grounds to sue for damages.
However, let's assume for a second there is a higher purpose to why this man does what he does. Let's assume he actually believes all those verbal barbs he's throwing our way.
If that were the case, then that man would represent all that is wrong with the institution of organized religion; a glaring example of how one's beliefs can be taken too far.
Let me be very clear in saying I am not an atheist or an advocate against religion by any means.
I think faith in a higher power is an important thing to have in one's life, because it teaches a person to live a life of humility and have respect for others.
However, not everyone utilizes their faith in this way. They instead use it as an excuse to justify actions that would otherwise not be justifiable.
Think of all the hate crimes you hear about in the news. The actions taken by those people are often provoked on the topic of religion.
Though I have never met a hate monger, many of the people I've encountered in my life have more subtle ways of using their religion against others.
They are the people who assume going to church makes them that much better than everybody else. They also assume their religion to be the end all, be all of human existence, denouncing other religions as being inferior to theirs.
These are the type of people who rushed to shun all Muslims in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks; the type who have been starting all the unnecessary wars over religion since the beginning of time.
No, it's not about the St. Cloud Superman. The man is creepy enough without being written about.
The person I'm talking about is the outspoken, bible-toting individual who invades our campus every year to tell us we're all terrible sinners who are going to hell.
I know the majority of students think they know why this man does what he does; he is hoping to offend people to the point where he gets attacked, thus having grounds to sue for damages.
However, let's assume for a second there is a higher purpose to why this man does what he does. Let's assume he actually believes all those verbal barbs he's throwing our way.
If that were the case, then that man would represent all that is wrong with the institution of organized religion; a glaring example of how one's beliefs can be taken too far.
Let me be very clear in saying I am not an atheist or an advocate against religion by any means.
I think faith in a higher power is an important thing to have in one's life, because it teaches a person to live a life of humility and have respect for others.
However, not everyone utilizes their faith in this way. They instead use it as an excuse to justify actions that would otherwise not be justifiable.
Think of all the hate crimes you hear about in the news. The actions taken by those people are often provoked on the topic of religion.
Though I have never met a hate monger, many of the people I've encountered in my life have more subtle ways of using their religion against others.
They are the people who assume going to church makes them that much better than everybody else. They also assume their religion to be the end all, be all of human existence, denouncing other religions as being inferior to theirs.
These are the type of people who rushed to shun all Muslims in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks; the type who have been starting all the unnecessary wars over religion since the beginning of time.