What To Do about Hate Groups on Campus?

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TheDumbFox

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Hello!

An outside “Christian” group, comes to my college campus twice a semester to harass us students. They proudly preach that God hates Gays, Catholics, Veterans, and literally everybody else. They remind me much of the Westboro type Baptist. They cause quite a stir among campus, and usually attract quite a crowd as well. They give students a reason to hate religion, and our Lord. As a practicing Catholic, What am I to do? I usually just walk by the whole fiasco going on, but I feel called to do something. To stand up for the truth of our Catholic faith somehow. What would an appropriate response be? Should I pray publicly? Say something to the crowd? Get in an argument with some of the ‘preachers?’ Raise my crucifix proudly? Do nothing? Thanks for the help!
 
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Could you please edit your post to remove the ``` surrounding the text? It is making it very hard to read. (Note: That symbol indicates code, which doesn’t wrap.)

Anyways, just ignore them. These groups aren’t interested in discussion. They just want to yell at people and may be hoping to catch some attempted violence on video. Don’t get sucked in, and if a student asks, just say most Christians aren’t like that.
 
Sorry. I edited it. I couldnt fgure out how to fix that for the longest time.

Yes, but I still want to do something…I feel bad doing nothing at all. I keep asking myself what the saints would do but I honestly have no idea…
 
You and your friends could quietly scatter into the crowd of curiosity seekers. Go in twos, as Jesus’ disciples did. Find people of good will, and speak with them personally, one-to-one (or to two or three). One of you talks while the other keeps an eye out for trouble.

Tell them that God loves all people and wants us to love one another and hate no one. Keep the message short, don’t engage in argument, and keep moving from one person or small group to another.

Try not to get attention. If you seem to be generating or attracting trouble, cease and desist. Your safety and dignity are more important than winning the argument.
 
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You love them.

You offer them a cold bottle of water on a hot day, a hot thermos of coffee on a cold day. Jesus was radical love. Love your enemies, do good to those who despise you.

Love them.
 
I would say engage with them, ask them why they believe as they do, and offer-counterpoints. It’s not so much for their sake, but for the onlookers, because doing nothing might lead some people to believe that this fringe group is what Christianity is.

Unless they are doing something illegal, do not report them to the your college. For one, being censored might give them a persecution complex and further their belief that they are right. Secondly, they have the right to freedom of speech even though the content of their speech is vile. Overall, bad ideas flourish in the dark and are eradicated in the disinfectant that is sunlight.
 
Don’t confront. Form your own group and come up with a plan to influence your fellow students when these clowns are NOT on campus. Think of it as vaccinating them against this disease.
 
What religion are they? You cannot counter-argument what they say unless you figure out where they are coming from.
Another thing: did they literally say God hates this and that or did they say God is angry at this and that?
One thing you can do is to ask them for Scriptural texts on which they base their vision upon. And also discuss how to counter-argument them with a priest based on the quotes they give (should they be a Christian denomination).
Third - do not panic. And be lucid. Don’t accuse them of what they DIDN’T say and never make a public correction of what they say seem as if you are accusing them of anything. Just that is not accurate.
But first you need to know where they are coming from.
 
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Lou2U said:
Report them to your college. I’m surprised they’re allowed to come and preach as they do.
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Unless I’m mistaken, as long as they stick to a “free speech zone”, they’re allowed to yell this kind of stuff out.
 
Lou2U said:
Report them to your college. I’m surprised they’re allowed to come and preach as they do.
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^^This. Unless you attend some extreme religious college where most of the people on campus follow the teachings of this group, then if they are really preaching hate for this and that group, no sane college is going to want them on campus. And generally college administrators do exercise some control over who gets to speak and appear on campus. I’m presuming you’re not exaggerating what the group actually says.

You might try tape recording or video recording the presentation, if that’s allowed and won’t put you at risk, and then taking it to the administration.
 
ZMystiCat said:
Unless I’m mistaken, as long as they stick to a “free speech zone”, they’re allowed to yell this kind of stuff out.
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Depends on the state, the college, whether it’s public or private, etc. If they are truly permitted to be there, I would suggest a loving and silent protest where you just sit with “No Hate” type signs and each person prays or meditates silently in his own tradition for those doing the hating.
 
TheDumbFox said:
What would an appropriate response be? Should I pray publicly? Say something to the crowd? Get in an argument with some of the ‘preachers?’ Raise my crucifix proudly? Do nothing?
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No, no, no, no and no. The appropriate response is to live your everyday life in full accordance with the two Great Commandments so that other people see what a true Christian is, and they want to be like you.
 
ZMystiCat said:
Unless I’m mistaken, as long as they stick to a “free speech zone”, they’re allowed to yell this kind of stuff out.
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Honestly, I think that a college that can’t handle the rantings of a crackpot or two ought to fold up the tent. If the speech isn’t illegal or trying to provoke a riot or the like, consider having to cope with it to be a learning experience.
 
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There is an old rule (and I don’t know who the wag was who first said it): “Never argue with a fool. a bystander may not be able to tell which is the fool.”

It is nice that you want to do something (and I am not saying that as a snide comment); however, we all need two things: wisdom and common sense. And it takes time to muster much of either of those.

The folks who come on campus and harass do not wish to dialogue. Period. They “know” what is right, and they are going to try to ram it down your throat.

Common sense says that if they are not interested in a reasonable dialogue, one is wasting one’s time.

Wisdom says that one should look for people who have an interest in at least hearing what you have to say - about anything.

Both common sense and wisdom indicate that attempting a dialogue with these folks is a pointless exercise. You certainly are welcome to engage in pointless exercises, but I suspect your time - and what you wish to share - could be done elsewhere with less confrontation, less vituperation, and even possibly with some success.

And as Voltaire said, the problem with common sense is that it is not all that common.
 
Thanks everybody for the responses. I really appreciate it. I think I’m a little more clear now 🙂
 
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