Bible Belt Colleges

My colleagues in other parts of the country are often amazed when I tell them how much my students love to talk about religion. They love to talk about God and how much they love God and how important God and Jesus are to them. They love to witness, though not to convert. They do not like to debate, in particular, but telling them that God hates them because they sin is the one thing that will get them fired up. That's what I have discovered this month on my campus, as the warm weather has brought students and fundamental missionaries together in the outdoor amphitheatre. Right now there's a man outside holding a sign that says "God hates fornicators adulterers idolaters" and so on, and another man with him preaching to the crowd. Many of the students have printed out signs that say LOVE and are holding them silently in protest. I saw another sign, very professionally made, that had a picture of a pot leaf where a heart should be in "I <heart> God." They're having fun but also it's very important to them that God loves them regardless of what they do.

They will not protest war or torture or higher tuition, but they will protest when their vision of God is at stake.