(Photo courtesy of Benjamin Heffner) “Students gather outside the South Campus quad”
Makayala Mahoney
Connector Staff
On Thursday, October 30th, a UMass Lowell student threw a glass of milk at a religious demonstrator on south campus, resulting in his detainment by local law enforcement. The student was released on personal recognizance on Friday, October 31st, and is currently facing four criminal charges, including two counts of assault and battery on an officer (www.masscourts.org).
The religious demonstrator was part of a group which returns to campus for their yearly observance of Sin Awareness Day, wielding signs that read “evolution is a lie” and passing out evangelical cartoon tracts to students who passed. As the demonstration continued throughout the day, a large crowd of counter-protesters emerged, with a mix of students who engaged in debate, sang, or chanted satirical obscenities.
UMass Lowell student, Leo James, had been on south campus and observed the scene, “For the most part, the counter protesters were peaceful – besides for the milk incident, which I did witness – and sort of just verbally messing with the preachers.”
This organization of campus Christian preachers have made themselves known across the universities of New England. Naiela Suleiman, a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus at the University of Connecticut, wrote a story on the group in 2019. In the wake of their demonstrations on campus, she discovered the founder is retired veteran, Don Karns, whose ‘mission was to reconcile people to God’.
Apart from debating the validity of evolution and morality of abortion and homosexuality, the preachers also passed around cartoon tracts titled “who loves you?”. These tracts were made by Jack T. Chick (J.T.C. as the tract reads), a fundamentalist Christian and cartoonist. His website states, “Unsaved people simply won’t read tracts that are jam-packed with lots of tiny words. But the unsaved love Chick tracts and readily accept them” (chick.com).
The tract passed on Sin Awareness Day listed many sins on a page, including homosexuality, shacking, and hating parents.
Leo also added, “a lot of messages from the speakers were harmful and included anti-gay, trans, anti-evolution, and anti-abortion rhetoric.”
In fact, Jack T. Chick’s cartoon company, Chick Publications, has been deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, as well as described as “equal parts hate literature and fire-and-brimstone sermonizing” by Los Angeles Magazine.
While students across New England continue to express annoyance with these preachers and their presence on the yearly Sin Awareness Day, the University of Massachusetts Lowell holds that “Freedom of expression is vital to our shared goal of pursuing knowledge. Such freedom comes with a responsibility to welcome and promote this freedom for all, even in disagreement or opposition” as described in their policy on campus demonstrations.
The university’s policy on demonstrations also protects the rights of counter protestors but warns, “Faculty, staff, students, contractors, and visitors of the University Community who engage in disruptive conduct will be subject to appropriate administrative actions, which may include disciplinary action as well as civil and/or criminal penalties.”
University campuses are a common hotspot for preachers to spread their word and recruit members to their cause. Their words, however, can be extreme and create a culture of hate which in turn breeds more hate and even acts of violence.
