Written by A. S. Gordon.
On Wednesday the 5th of November, I once again found myself beholding the spectacle of the so-called evangelist Matt Bourgault: an older man, clean-shaven, clad in work pants and a sweat-stained shirt the color of jealousy. As usual, he had with him his trademark sign, bearing in garish block letters a laundry list of those supposedly damned to hell. This marked my fourth time seeing this man, an occurrence I’ve come to understand differently each time it has passed: being initially amused by the inane ramblings of our frequent campus visitor, I found myself pinching the bridge of my nose with a sigh by his second visit. Come Wednesday, I did little save pass him, by now thoroughly uninterested. I have, however, noticed one constant among Mr. Bourgault’s visits: he never fails to elicit a crowd.
This leads me to my central question: why not just ignore him?
With this proposition, I urge readers not to misunderstand my call as one for inaction. Inaction in the face of bigotry is, in my opinion, slothful, complicit, and vile—adjectives which could not more poorly describe our enthusiastic, compassionate, and tight-knit campus community. What I call for is a measured and organized response. To argue with Mr. Bourgault is to assume the presence of an iota of rationality within his rhetoric. Memories of discourses I have watched him partake in often remind me of the biblical proverb: “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.”
Silence, however, is a powerful tool within civil matters, having been utilized to significant effect throughout modern American history by groups like the NAACP and the Silent Sentinels of the National Woman’s Party. Although our friend is guaranteed a civil liberty to voice his opinions by the Bill of Rights, SCOTUS decisions like Snyder v. Phelps, and the half-dozen or so MSU officers often encircling him, we too may make our voices (or lack thereof) heard. It is by this logic that I propose we allow droning silence and non-interest to ring loud in Mr. Bourgault’s ears the next time he visits.
To those who find their creeds, beliefs, or religions besmirched by Mr. Bourgault’s words, I implore you to consider the holy text he manipulates when deciding whether you yourself should feel a duty to respond. Speaking in Matthew 7:16, Christ notes, “By their fruit you will recognize [false prophets]. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” I fear that indulging Mr. Bourgault’s demonstrations with hasty or fiery confrontation constitutes such an attempt to pick fruit among spines. In allowing such nonsensicality as his no quarter among the minds and emotions of our student body, we unifiedly demonstrate a disinterest in his intolerance, leaving him only his own ears to suffer what Jeremiah 14:14 might label the “idolatries and the delusions” of a false prophet.
And to those who take personal offense to the frank and unmasked bigotry Mr. Bourgault often indulges in, I want you to know that I share in your ire, myself belonging to certain groups and lifestyles often decried as irredeemably sinful by Mr. Bourgault and his signage. We must remember that Mr. Bourgault is but one among a depressingly large population of human beings in our country who seek only to promote sectarianism and outrage, be it for personal, political, or monetary gain. Do not, even for a moment, give an ounce of thought to the infantile insults and patently false claims he is quick to spew. In securing respect for ourselves and the communities with which we identify, we must rise above, suffocating his prejudice with disregard and abandoning the socially-antiquated by simply walking away.
Murray State University is better than indulging Mr. Bourgault. I have seen it with my own eyes: members of our campus community gathering elsewhere to practice and clarify their understandings of faith, to spread counteractive messages of compassion and acceptance to those demeaned by his outbursts. I ask that you hold yourself confidently when you next encounter Mr. Bourgault. Maybe stop to appreciate autumn’s bounty of gold and ruby leaves. Perhaps play music loudly in your headphones as you pass him by. Just, whatever you do, don’t waste your breath.
Quotations of the Christian Bible are taken from the New International Version (NIV) translation.
A. S. Gordon is a Senior and HR management major at Murray State University.
