the fat tuesday is upon us!!
my parents went on a freaking cruise!!
So i tutor Math at LSU. That job dosen’t pay too well, but oftentimes i get referrals for outside tutoring. Which is nice. At the beginning of last semester, i landed a math tutoring job with this family. I tutor their 3 boys, middle and high school math. This is definitely the best job i’ve ever had. The mother feeds me dinner whenever i come, i am treated with more respect than i deserve, and the boys are eager to learn, and really can succeed. Very fulfilling. The benefits weigh in even bigger than the paycheck, and that’s impressive.
Today in front of the student Union, good ol’ LSU was trying to put on a sweet Mardi-Gras scene. They had a fun (and talented) carnival band playing, handing out beads, and serving some good gumbo (the gumbo i only heard about, they ran out before i got there). This was fantastic.
However, the Pentecostal Evangelists were there today (the group of bible-thumping, yelling, sinner- and whore-shouting, hellfire-and-brimstone people who come sometimes to our school to spread the Gospel truth [but for some reason the Gospel truth can only be spread when the weather is nice and people are outside (although if it was me, that is to say, if i was a Pentecostal Evangelist, i would also be spreading the Gospel truth when the weather is nice enough to be outside [And plus, nice weather would be ideal since they all bring their whole families (full-length dress-donning wives passing out pamphlets, toddlers left stumbling through the crowds of quickly-moving college students, 5th grade children with combed hair and shirts tucked in, politely asking me to "come to jesus, sir" while their southern-accent fathers are red in the face and foaming at the beard with accusations at the crowds, cousins and other suckers just standing around underneath ginormous signs that say, "GOD HATES YOU, SINNER," or wait maybe that sign actually read, "I HATE YOU, SINNER, but God is supposed to love you anyway." [who knows, those signs with those passively violent messages])])]). Usually the evangelists come on tuesdays and thursdays, i believe. They made a special trip today. They stood in front of the band, and as soon as a song ended, or there was a quiet moment, they shouted “MARDI GRAS IS A SIN, GOD HATES MARDI GRAS, GLUTTONS, FOOLS…” on and on.
Just to clarify, this particular area of campus is known as “Free Speech Alley” and it’s pretty much the only place i know of, anywhere, where people don’t get asked to leave for being ridiculous and attracting crowds. Today, this was a darn shame. I really wished these guys would just lay off until after the band was finished. I really, really think there should be some kind of rule, “please be polite to LSU-sponsored functions.”
Here is the Pentecostal Evangelist’s reasoning: I am doing something i believe in. I am here and i am watching all these men and women burning alive. I am trying to save them. I am helping everyone.
I cannot argue with the reasoning. However, there is more going on than that: there is really something wrong with the way these people are “helping,” i think it should be considered wrong even in their own religion. They are being the Pharisees, drawing so much attention to themselves, shouting and praying in the streets, proclaiming their own righteousness above all others, judging everyone that crosses their path.
Anyways, i usually don’t care one way or the other about those folks. But today i was really wracking my brain for something to say that would possibly break their closed-minded logic and allow the college students to live in peace and happiness while the Mardi Gras band was playing. What do you say? What would you say?
(more…)
