Beets Dropped by Campus
Today was the first day that Luke Beets was on campus this week for his free speech activity talking about the Bible and Christianity.
Luke Beets, like the 68-70% of people from the south, was raised in a Christian household. His father was a deacon of their church where Beets then became a Christian at 7 years old. During his teen years he pulled away and turned his back on the Lord. “On the sign I hold, I'm guilty of about 80% of it.” At 18 he turned back to the Christian ways. Beets was a mailman and youth pastor for 13 years, but 6 years ago he says God told him to quit his job and start traveling to preach on college campuses along with going to churches as a guest speaker.
When you first see Beets on campus you notice right away his GoPro strapped to his chest. Where most students may see that and worry about being on camera, Beets assures that what is recorded is never posted. It is to protect him “I get accused of all sorts of stuff, grabbing people, throwing things. Wearing the GoPro is a good way, if accused, to prove that I didn’t.” He does plan to possibly start to rip the audio from the GoPro footage.
Every year Beets comes to campus and an email is sent to all students letting them know when and where he will be on campus. Along with the informative email there have been returning students who warn newer students of Beets saying not to talk to him or tell their personal stories of when they have interacted with him basically as a warning sign. When asked what he thought of this interaction between students Beets had this to say. “I think it's demeaning to the other students, it's almost like they're saying you're not able to handle someone else's opinion.” He believes that we shouldn't be afraid of anyone else's view points, he encourages students to come up to him and ask questions and have a conversation, he will quit preaching to hear them out and answer their question.
A verse that Beets feels represents what he does when he comes to speak at campuses is Isaiah 58:1 (KJV) “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”
Many students were around to hear Beets speak and answer students' questions.
Damion Mackin, a junior studying Business Administration about 35 min into Beets speaking on campus Mackin yelled out “What if I think dudes are cute?” Beets went on to compare homosexuality to pedophilia. After their discussion Mackin had this to say “I’m not gay or bi, and there's nothing wrong with being gay or bi as he’s claiming, I just think what he's saying is very goofy but he has the right to say it as much as I have the right to say its funny.”
Janessa Ramirez, a sophomore studying elementary education said this was her first time seeing Beets on campus. “He’s talking about the word of God and not pushing it on anyone he’s just speaking his mind. I love his energy.” One thing she noticed is that he was answering everyone's question and was willing to have a discussion with them.
Two roommates Mya Hatfield studying English and Alyssia Nuzzi studying History. Both freshmen hearing about Luke Beets for the first time. Hatfield went on to say “I'm here listening on my own accord, he's not out in the middle of campus yelling at people and I really respect that.” Nuzzi came out of her lab to hear Beets talking on campus and noticed what he was holding. “We started walking over because we saw the flag thinking it was going to be a pride thing, then I saw the writing on it and thought oh no this is going to be something homophobic.” Both Hatfield and Nuzzi agreed that they wished that along with Beets, that other people came to campus and spoke, noting “We do have a lot of campus ministries and student-led organizations that follow Christian beliefs and I wish there were more that weren't specifically affiliated in the same proportion.”
Lauren Freeman, a member of Kai Alpha, one of the campus ministries, mentioned the ups and downs of Beets being on campus. “He just shows up and leaves. He's not here for the after effects and the questions he leaves with students.” Freeman went on to say it's like picking up all the pieces and trying to show them that not all Christians are like Beets yelling on campus at people. The up side is that it has brought people with questions to the campus ministries like Kai Alpha, questions that they are more than happy to answer and help students get a better understanding of the Bible and Christianity.
Some additional notable moments was a student riding a bicycle with the nonbinary pride flag tied around their neck like a cape, rode past Beets twice while flipping him off while another student walked by and spit at the sidewalk in front of Beets. He gave no reaction to either moment and just continued his conversation with the student in front of him.
Luke Beets will be on campus for the remainder of this week, on the campus green.
Wednesday November 11th 12:30-5:30pm
Thursday November 12th 1:00-5:30pm
Friday November 13th 12:30-5:30pm
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