Saint Ross the Satirical Street Preacher
In 1729, Jonathan Swift published his famous essay, "A Modest Proposal." This was in the midst of the Irish potato famine and the country was literally starving. An Englishmen himself, Swift's advice to the Irish was to eat their own children. He was even so kind to give them some baby grilling recipes, you know, to give it some flavor.
Obviously, Swift wasn't serious. He used his outlandish advice to ridicule and make fun of the English attitude toward the plight of the Irish, which was basically to sit back and let the Irish whither away until they resorted to cannibalism.
He used over-the-top, insane antics to reveal the insanity of the English position. It was satire at its finest.
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On Wednesday morning, I received a flood of Snapchat videos of a large, rowdy crowd gathered in a circle outside the student center at Murray State. I couldn't tell what they were gathered around, although I hoped it was President Davies doing parkour or something. I ran over to see what was going on.
As it turns out, it was something even more entertaining. The students were gathered around a traveling street preacher self-dubbed as "Saint Ross." He was an instant hit as evidenced by the shouting and cheering.
But when this Saint Ross character unpacked his bags and graced our campus with his presence, he seemingly left the grace at home. He was a hellfire and brimstone kind of guy if I've ever seen one. And if you've read my blog before, you know I have a peculiar relationship with these kinds of people.
Saint Ross had a variety of points to emphasize, including the domestication of women and a somewhat understandable beef with country music, but his main act was a dazzling exposition on the various "sins" that would condemn me and my classmates to eternal torment. Among the truly eclectic list of damnable qualities was premarital sex, homosexuality, Greek involvement and athletic shorts. It was all very Opra-like. "And YOU get to go to hell, and YOU get to go to hell, and ALL OF YOU get to go to hell!"
The reaction from the crowd was expectedly defensive. Some people protested, other people argued with him. One girl stripped down to her underwear and another guy with a guitar took advantage of the crowd to advertise his new album. I sat down with my lunch and enjoyed free food and a show.
It was interesting, though, to see people oppose him. In fact, Saint Ross was at James Madison University in Virginia last month and the students there sang worship songs around him. Its actually a pretty cool thing to witness, as seen in this video.
But even among the students who opposed him, the resounding consensus was that no one really took him seriously.
There have been some street preachers on campus before who have severely pissed people off, including me. But this was different.
People were laughing and cheering and having a great time. It was almost like the student government brought him in to perform on the street and relieve us from some mid-semester stress. They bring puppies in from the animal shelter to do the same thing. It was nothing but a show.
Because he was SO offensive that no one was offended. He was SO over the top that no one took him seriously.
Andy Samberg could not have played a better self-righteous, attention-seeking street preacher than Saint Ross. It was simply satire.
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There are so many misconceptions about Jesus on a college campus. I overhear conversations all the time about the rigidity and stuffiness of religion. The students around me don't realize to what measures He has gone to love them. They don't know the death He died to make their sin and ugliness irrelevant. They don't know that He is absolutely crazy about them.
And so they imagine a Jesus who stands outside the student center everyday, shouting and throwing an invisible temper tantrum. They imagine a Jesus who takes joy in condemning people. They imagine a Jesus who is offended by their supposed immodesty, as if He didn't knit their naked body together in the womb. They imagine a Jesus who doesn't exist.
And I hate that so much. Sometimes I want to whip out a megaphone and confront people with their erroneous, probably subconscious view of Jesus. And that's exactly what Saint Ross did.
Just like Swift when he suggested literal baby food to the Irish, Saint Ross revealed just how ludicrous guilt and condemnation really is. He hyperbolized fundamentalist Christianity, turning it into the butt of a joke rather than something to be seriously considered. And in doing so, he slowly bent his audience's mind in the opposite direction, toward the grace and forgiveness of a true, loving God. I think those students walked away with a better understanding of Jesus, not a more perverse one.
So I wonder if this Saint Ross guy is secretly brilliant and self-aware. I wonder if he really does know how crazy his character is and is using the power of satire to shed light on a disturbing trend within Christianity.
Probably not, but it doesn't really matter. He is spreading the Good News whether he knows it or not.
