Albert Einstein defines insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That’s exactly how I would describe the religious activists frequenting the Kent State campus.

Time and time again these people come to a blatantly liberal college to protest things like homosexuality and female empowerment.

Do they really expect students to wake up one day with a changed mindset because of their redundant preaching?

I think they do, which is insane because millennials clearly aren’t going to flashback to the aged mindset these activists try to pound into our brains.

Still, they give the same sermons every time and this has done nothing in regards to gathering support.

Their radical methods don’t gain them followers. Rather, they send students running from their cause. That’s because you can’t force-feed kids anymore when they reach certain age. 

These activists don’t understand this, so they stand in front of the M.A.C. Center waving giant signs and handing out Bibles. Every time they do this students flip them off and mock their cause.

When I walk past their protests, there’s always a group of students huddled around them. Each side is yelling so loud all I’m able to hear is the buzz of conflicting opinions.  

These confrontations continually end the same. Students disagree with what these activists preach and the activists respond with Bible verses. However, reading Bible passages to back up your claims doesn’t mean much when you’re talking to a group who doesn’t follow the Bible.

I don’t know why this consistent negative reaction fuels the activists’ fire and keeps them coming back for more. They choose to waste their time calling large groups of people sinners and hating on everything that defies the deteriorating traditions established thousands of years ago.   

It’s ironic because in trying to make the world a better place by their standards, these activists are causing discomfort by the standards of everyone else.

They stand on their self-made podiums looking down on anyone considered bad by their strict morals. They try to make people feel humiliated for not doing right by the Lord. That’s just mean.  

Everyone has the right to believe or not believe in whatever higher power he or she wants, but the moment someone uses his or her religion to demean another person it becomes an issue with me.

These activists do nothing to expand their perspectives. That’s why their attempts at “reform” will remain failures. If they really wanted to educate, or whatever it is they’re struggling to do, they need to first try and understand the audience they’re attempting to reach.

But that would require stepping out of their comfort zone and, after all, these religious protesters are like attention-deprived children. And they seem to think that negative attention is better than nothing at all.

Nothing ever results from the face-offs between activists and students, because neither side tries to sit down and have an honest conversation about why they feel a certain way.

Until that honest conversation comes, students shouldn’t waste their time feeding the activists’ need for attention. They should just muster all the strength they have and simply walk past them.

When the activists no longer have someone to preach to, they’ll burrow back into their chapels and we can all carry on with our lives. 

Samantha Karam is an opinion writer for The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].