Building barriers: Caustic speech inflames non-believers

TONY ROGERS/THE ARBITER Preacher Shawn Holes walks around the quad on Nov. 9

Are you a good person? If you have any doubts, there is one man who may be able to answer your question.

Standing on a little stool in the quad on Nov. 9, Preacher Shawn Holes gave impassioned speeches about the importance of the Bible and the destiny of those who do not take God’s word seriously. Holes’ message, in his own words, is to illustrate that we will someday die and be judged by God’s righteous standard. Punishment for our sins or crimes is eternal hell, but God has made a way for us to escape punishment and wrath. Jesus Christ died so we could be forgiven and our response must to be to turn away from sins because Jesus was so kind to save us.

Holes and his family travel in an RV around the country to preach the word of God, as they have interpreted it, primarily at college campuses. It seems that their interpretation boils down to this: if you don’t obey God, you will burn in the fiery inferno of hell for all eternity.

The way that Holes conveys his ideas is very caustic and is not going to convince non-believers to convert or even listen, but instead solidify their aversion to the religion as a whole. His way of preaching makes more people feel resistant than welcome to these ideas.

Holes works hard to address non-believers and help them understand that we are all lawbreakers in God’s eyes. It is, according to his philosophy, our job to turn away from sin and trust in the one and only God of the Universe, the God of the Bible, Jesus Christ.

Shawn and his family also have a Web site, salvationjunction.com, to help people discover more about themselves. One such feature is a link to a quiz which will tell people if they are a good person or not. Based on the answers to eight questions, those who take the quiz will be provided a printable version of the results detailing why they are sinners according to the bible. From there they can see if they are going to heaven or hell and why this should concern them. According to the quiz, if you have ever told a lie, stolen anything, taken the Lord’s name in vain or looked at someone with lustful thoughts, you are guilty and will be going to hell.

For most people, threats of eternal damnation and shouting about going to hell are definitely attention getters. However, describing the fate of those who don’t believe in God by attempting to force-feed passersby of their own beliefs instead of logically dialoguing about the different ways of thinking is not accomplishing anything. Instead it feeds the controversy by presenting ideas in an aggressive and uncomfortable manner. Such extreme tactics are often offensive, even to other Christians.

Kristine Stompro, Boise State sophomore, is such a person of Christian faith who found Holes’ actions unnecessary and insulting.

“I believe in Christianity, but people like him give other Christians a bad name,” Stompro said. “He is too extreme and his preaching on a soapbox gives people the wrong idea about the values that Christians should admire.”

It is people who preach like Holes that make non-Christians more skeptical about the religion and less likely to listen even in other settings. This type of abrasive and insulting speech only contributes to the barrier that makes fluid communication between these two ideals difficult.

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