Ramblings of a Constipated Mind

Today, on my way to Calculus class, I noticed a couple of interesting people at the Brickyard waving signs. One of the signs read, "ALL THAT MATTERS IS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO HELL", and another said something to the effect of, "THESE ARE THE LAST DAYS, COME TO CHRIST."

I've heard of religious fanatics preaching their beliefs on campus before. One individual in particular has earned the nickname "Gary the Brickyard Preacher", and supposedly he'll show up every few weeks to yell at people about how we should purge homosexuals and how Democrats are Communists (which I guess means Republicans are Nazis), etc. However, today was my first time encountering such fanatics in person. It was not a pretty sight. Basically, people just stood around them with expressions on their face like: "What the $*@)!?"

I didn't talk to them personally, but I did hear from people who did. Supposedly, these people were going around saying that all university students are going to hell simply because they're going to college. I heard that one of them was the leader of a homeschooling organization, and that they basically felt people should "learn" directly from Christ rather than man.

Yeah, I can see the logic in that. Christ was definitely a genius when it came to economics/science/English/movies/etc.

I also heard that these people were saying that all churches are going to hell. Now, I'm all for the idea that going to church won't save you, and that church/religion can be destructive, but that's an extreme generalization I don't agree with. Going to church isn't evil in and of itself, and the church can be beneficial to spiritual growth.

I also heard some girls talking about how one of them tried to explain to them that such a philosophy isn't present in the Bible. They even used verses (John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that WHOEVER believes in Him -- in other words, college students and church-goers as well -- shall not perish but have eternal life.") to defend their opinion. The response of these religious fanatics was somewhere along the lines of, "You took those verses out of context. You're going to HELL!"

Okay, so let's get this straight. These are the people who are going to hell:

1) People who go to college are going to hell.
2) People who go to church are going to hell.
3) People who don't accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior are going to hell (see, this is the one thing I agree with.)
4) People who disagree with any of the above statements are going to hell.

In other words, the only people who will be saved are those who are homeschooled and manage to devote their life to Christ without being part of some sort of Christian fellowship, and think that that is indeed the only way to be saved.

Wow. Does God know this? If not, I think he'll be surprised when the Apocalypse arrives and heaven's a pretty empty place...