Congratulations, Mr. Bowman
Traveler Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/25/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 2 next >
The "pornographic'" Traveler would like to congratulate preacher Gary Bowman for his First Amendment victory in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The courts said the UA acted illegally in restricting Bowman's visits to campus to five per semester.
Yes, Bowman points to individuals and calls out their "sinful" lifestyles. Yes, Bowman says virtually everything is a sin. And, yes, Bowman tells just about all humans they are going to Hell. This could most definitely qualify as hateful speech. But believe it or not, hate speech is protected by the First Amendment in this country. Bowman has every legal right to rip on everyone from lipstick-wearing women, to gays, to churches that do not believe what he believes.
On Bowman's sixth visit to campus this semester, he was proclaiming it was a miracle from God that he was able to do so.
Right after Bowman proclaimed his miracle, a member of the Traveler editorial board asked him whether the recent ruling from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals had anything to do with this divine intervention.
Bowman refused to comment.
So this student journalist continued to ask, and ask - and ask about 10 more times.
Bowman still refused to comment, opting instead to preach about the "four levels of queerdom."
On that sunny Thursday, Bowman had a motley audience that included Baptists, Catholics, gays and women - most of whom had something to argue with Bowman about, but just sat back and were entertained by his comments or walked away from his holy hate.
With Bowman, a pattern seems to occur each semester. He gains a fan base consisting mainly of freshmen, who get angry at his statements, while the upperclassmen know better than to even listen to him. By semester's end, the freshmen realize it's better to avoid even listening to Bowman's condemnations and Bowman's fan base dies off - until the following semester starts and a new batch of freshmen are shaken by his comments once again.
The courts said the UA acted illegally in restricting Bowman's visits to campus to five per semester.
Yes, Bowman points to individuals and calls out their "sinful" lifestyles. Yes, Bowman says virtually everything is a sin. And, yes, Bowman tells just about all humans they are going to Hell. This could most definitely qualify as hateful speech. But believe it or not, hate speech is protected by the First Amendment in this country. Bowman has every legal right to rip on everyone from lipstick-wearing women, to gays, to churches that do not believe what he believes.
On Bowman's sixth visit to campus this semester, he was proclaiming it was a miracle from God that he was able to do so.
Right after Bowman proclaimed his miracle, a member of the Traveler editorial board asked him whether the recent ruling from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals had anything to do with this divine intervention.
Bowman refused to comment.
So this student journalist continued to ask, and ask - and ask about 10 more times.
Bowman still refused to comment, opting instead to preach about the "four levels of queerdom."
On that sunny Thursday, Bowman had a motley audience that included Baptists, Catholics, gays and women - most of whom had something to argue with Bowman about, but just sat back and were entertained by his comments or walked away from his holy hate.
With Bowman, a pattern seems to occur each semester. He gains a fan base consisting mainly of freshmen, who get angry at his statements, while the upperclassmen know better than to even listen to him. By semester's end, the freshmen realize it's better to avoid even listening to Bowman's condemnations and Bowman's fan base dies off - until the following semester starts and a new batch of freshmen are shaken by his comments once again.
