Almost two weeks ago, on January 15th, I arrived at the Visalia College of the Sequoias campus around 10 A.M., an hour before my classes began. With nothing else to do, I headed to where I saw a small crowd forming on one of the main walkways between buildings, just in front of the bookstore. The first thing that struck my attention was a seemingly middle-aged man holding a sign that read, “JESUS SAVES FROM HELL” written on it in bold text, surrounded by fire. On the opposite side posed the question, “ARE YOU ON THE LIST?” The list was a not comprehensive roster of traits that could supposedly condemn one to hell.
While some sympathized with the man on the basis of Christian doctrine, many students (religious or otherwise) found his sign to be offensive, and his preaching insensitive. I listened to him debate with some young women on campus about the sensitive nature of abortion and sexual assault, since they were both equal qualifiers for damnation according to his sign. He also preached that God and religion could redeem those who were homosexual and transgender. What baffled many were the topics of sexual deviance and pornography on a campus of teenagers and young adults. When spoken to by me or other students, it was impossible to get a word in edgewise. The man firmly believed to have justifications for everything from his holy scriptures.
When my classes ended three hours later, the man was still there. This time, there was an even larger crowd of students who came to debate and criticize him, although a minority of students argued on his side. One student who claimed to be a Christian youth pastor even stood to challenge him on the basis of hypocrisy; he argued that the gospel teaches compassion, and that he shouldn’t judge the people around him. He and a group of students, secular and religious, stood in a circle to pray for him.
What concerned me and others the most about the encounter with this man was the person behind him– there was a woman with a stern expression who looked about middle-age as well, diligently filming the reactions of the people on campus. She hardly said a word when interviewed, saying only that she was filming for the man. For what purpose, I was unable to discern. Regardless, many people said that their presence disturbed the usual atmosphere on campus. For many students, their privacy was invaded by the two unknown adults.
Campus security only stood by, and I can only assume that they were not legally allowed to or obligated to intervene. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, “Neither photography nor the recording of video, standing alone, can form the basis for a detention, arrest, or warrantless search.” Since the COS Visalia campus qualifies as a public space, it can be argued that campus security couldn’t have done anything about the two mysterious people filming. However, others believed that intervention should have happened as students started feeling uncomfortable and the two disturbed the usually peaceful campus.
