Laura Donovan's Blog

I’ve spent a lot of time blogging about Brother Jed Smock and his memorable, radical approach to campus preaching, but I never had a real conversation with him or his family until today.

Last Friday, Brother Jed announced to the University of Arizona that he has a Facebook account, and he encouraged everyone to add him to their friends list. After blogging about him a half dozen times, I thought I’d benefit from adding him as a friend on Facebook, and I ended up getting more from it than I expected. Brother Jed accepted my request and came across this blog, which he found entertaining, and he apologized for being short with me last month. His daughters sent me emails, and they invited me to chat with them on campus this afternoon.

Jed, Cindy, and their daughters, Martha and Priscilla arrived on the UA campus at 11:30 this morning. This is Brother Jed’s second week visiting the UA, and he leaves for Flagstaff on Wednesday morning. His daughters will fly back to Missouri, where they’re home schooled. Cindy and the girls don’t usually travel with their father, but they said they enjoy spending the extra time with him since he’s always away at college campuses.

“A lot of the things I say are tongue and cheek,” he began, and he seemed calmer when speaking in a regular voice as opposed to his booming shout, which draws the attention of students.

“When that young man kissed his hand and tried to touch me, I was feigning shock,” he said, noting that I picked up on his exaggerated horrors in my later blog entries.

“A lot of times, these students say things to shock me, but it’s never anything I haven’t heard thousands of times,” he said, laughing.

“To hold everyone’s attention, you have to put on a show,” he continued.

“But it works to our advantage,” added Cindy. “If we get ignored, it’s frustrating, but it’s usually due to bad weather.”

Brother Jed travels from campus to campus year-round. In the winter months, he visits Florida State University, Louisiana State University, University of Houston, University of Texas-Austin, Texam A&M, Arizona State, University of Arizona, UC-Davis, and several other western state colleges.

Jed Smock has been preaching for 35 years, and despite the physical and emotional drains of his job, he’s in good health. Every morning, he does 35 push-ups, 50 jumping jacks, and 15 sit-ups.

“I’d like to keep this job for another 30 years, or as long as I’m able.”

Jed’s ways seem to provoke an overriding negative reaction among students, but he feels his campus visits have been quite successful.

“We have changed people. I get a couple of emails a month about converted students. I’ve received so many emails that say something along the lines of, ‘you came to my campus in the 1980’s, and you made me so mad, I started reading the bible, and then I started going to church.’ We definitely see results.”

Perhaps Jed Smock’s biggest success story is his wife, Cindy, who he met in the late 1970’s when he preached at the University of Florida.

“Cindy made fun of me. I pointed her out in the audience and said, ‘repent your sins, wicked woman!’ Little did I know, that flattered her, and four years later, we were married.”

By the time Brother Jed came to Cindy’s college campus, he hadn’t kissed a girl in six years. Cindy saw this as a challenge, and she tried to get him to kiss her.

“You don’t go around kissing,” Jed told her, and dropped her off at her dorm immediately.

Thirty or so years later, they have five daughters, the oldest is 24 and the youngest 14. Evangeline is the oldest, and she serves as a chaplain’s assistant.

“With my old fashioned thinking, I wasn’t excited about her joining the military, but she wanted to serve and wouldn’t do it without my blessing, and my youngest daughter, Priscilla told me to give my consent, so I did.”

As Cindy Smock started to read bible passages to the crowd, Martha and Priscilla Smock asked me to come sit by them. The three of us sat on their unfolded blanket, trying not to let the unusually fierce wind dictate the Brother Jed experience.

In Friday’s blog, I wondered about the Jed girls’ social lives, and they’re definitely not lacking in friends or social activity. Both 17-year-old Martha and 14-year-old Priscilla are home schooled, but they get together with a group of other home schooled students a few times a month, and they participate in a myriad of social activities.

“We organize a monopoly tournament, go skating, shopping, and have a prom, which we call an elegant evening because we dance like the women in Pride and Prejudice,” Priscilla said.

Though the girls aren’t allowed to date until they graduate high school, they get their fix for hanging out with boys.

“I have more guy friends than girl friends,” Martha shared. “When I was little, I wanted to be a boy. I climbed trees, and I’d always want to be the dad when my sisters and I played House.”

“I’m the youngest, but Martha was the oddball who got teased,” Priscilla said, giggling.

Last week, I was extremely curious as to how the Smock girls handle all the family ridicule and abuse among college students. After today, I can see that they’re completely desensitized to the negativity.

“We’re used to it, but when I was 4 years old, some guy wouldn’t stop yelling at my dad, so I kicked him. I was just a little kid, so it’s not like I was hurting him, though,” Martha said.

“Most people are nice to us. They were mean at Arizona State, but some guy spit on me here at UofA, and then ran away,” Priscilla said.

The girls get a feel for every campus they go to. When they were younger, Priscilla and Martha brought their doll houses to each school and ran around the campus. At Indiana, the girls would bring their swimsuits and jump into the water fountain. Here at UA, they walk through the campus, which Priscilla remarked as “beautiful,” dine at Panda Express, re-fill their sodas at Chick-Fil-A, and sometimes roam the UA Bookstore. Last week, Priscilla donned her new gray Arizona sweater. She tries to buy a hoodie at every college campus.

All five Smock daughters stay pretty busy. Charlotte studied Nursing at Pensacola Christian College in Florida, but hated the “strict Christian rules” about clothing among other things, so she left. Justina is married with a baby girl, and Evangeline is married as well. The remaining high school girls have ideas about what they’d like to do once they graduate.

“I want to do something with fashion,” Priscilla said.

Martha wasn’t sure what kind of career appealed to her, but Priscilla later mentioned that Martha would like to help her dad with campus preaching after high school graduation.

“Have you ever thought about applying to college?” I asked.

“I’ll go if I want to.”

When asked about Evolution, Priscilla said, “I don’t worry about it. I have faith that God created the universe.”

That’s when I brought up my own views. I believe in Evolution, but I also believe in God, and I asked Priscilla if she thought it was wrong for someone to pick and choose what to believe in the bible.

“As long as you have religion, it doesn’t really matter.”

Jed and Cindy waited until their wedding day to have their first kiss as a couple, and their daughters expressed a desire to follow this route.

“My dad wouldn’t mind if I kissed before marriage, but it’s my choice not to do it,” said Martha.

“If I got married, but had done stuff with other guys before, I wouldn’t be giving my whole heart to my husband,” said Priscilla.

“Have you ever thought it would be hard to meet a guy who is willing to wait until marriage to kiss you?” I asked.

After a pause, Priscilla answered, “If he really loved me, he wouldn’t mind.”

But holding hands and hugging is permitted. The girls like to dance, and they see no problem with
that, and they thought it was strange that some of their friends aren’t even allowed to hug boys or be friends with them on Facebook.com.

Brother Jed began speaking out against masturbation, and a young male student questioned why Jed doesn’t do it.

“I don’t need to, I get the real thing! Cindy is all over me!”

“Is it humiliating to hear about your parents’ sex lives?” I asked the girls.

“Yes!” they answered in unison.

“It’s weird when he talks about his fraternity days and bad past,” Martha said.

“I only get really embarrassed when he brings out the electrical cords for his homosexuality demonstration,” Priscilla said. “I hate when my friends find it online.”

With many exceptions, the girls remind me of myself in high school. They watch American Idol as I did, and they’re up to date on the lives of Ashley Tisdale, Hilary Duff, Katy Perry, and the Jonas Brothers. They grew up watching The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, and other musicals. Like every teenage girl, Martha is excited to get her license, and she credits Brother Jed as her preferred parental driving instructor.

The girls play instruments, and they said they’d be friends with sinners so long as the sinners don’t put any pressure on them.

“Our best friend, Nikki isn’t Christian,” Martha added.

I decided to ask more religious questions, and I wanted to know more about her family’s take on homosexuality. It’s one thing to see Brother Jed scold gays in front of a crowd, but a different experience to hear the family seriously discuss the reality of the situation.

The five daughters are heterosexual, but life wouldn’t be good for them if they weren’t.

“If one of us were a lesbian, we’d probably get kicked out of the house,” Martha said.

I furthered on the gay lifestyle, which the girls think is a choice.

“Why would Jesus plan for someone to be gay and basically condemn him to Hell from birth? He’s a loving God, he won’t lead us into sin.”

Believe it or not, though, the girls feel they have a “happy medium” between party girls and Amish girls.

“We’re stereotyped as being one or the other, but we’re in the middle.”

Priscilla also said it frustrates her that Christian girls get penalized for misbehaving when other girls do the same things and get away with it.

“If I wore a shirt that revealed my boobs, I’d be called out for being Christian and doing it even though tons of other girls do the same thing on a daily basis.”

“So yeah, we do have social lives,” Martha said, grinning as she alluded to my blog entry in question of that.

The girls delved into some of the more serious violent acts against their parents on campus visits. Brother Jed broke his leg and arm, and he has been pushed off walls. Cindy was also pushed into a fountain. When a crowd went wild, Brother Jed was arrested for his own safety. On a less destructive level, a UA student threw ice cream at Jed, and another student stuck a piece of gum on Jed’s chair. The girls used ice to remove the gum. Today alone, someone threw a water balloon at Jed, Cindy, and Priscilla, but it missed and hit an on-looker.

Even though the Smock daughters live what most would consider a restricted life, they’re level-headed and genuinely happy, and from my observations, they are much better behaved and stable than most girls their age. It was refreshing to talk to teenage girls about something besides drinking and parties as the main conversational focuses, and they seem to have a lot of self-respect and pride in what they do. Martha isn’t crying over boys as I was at 17, and Priscilla isn’t concerned with rushing into adolescent mischief as most high school freshman girls are. I can see they’re truly happy with their decisions, even if the choices don’t always make sense to me or anyone else. Though I’m considerably more sinful than the Smock girls, I appreciated talking to them because they have a more meaningful thought process than a lot of college students I encounter, who seek shallow friendships and drink to fill voids that the Smock daughters don’t have.

My good friend, Rob sat next to me and the Smock girls around 2:15, when Jed began his lecture on pre-marital kissing.

“I waited four years of dating to kiss my wife!”

“Wow, I thought two months was bad,” Rob noted.

“Tell me about it, it’s been since July for me,” I said. “I’m picky.”

That was when the girls stood up from the blanket, setting a chair down on it so it wouldn’t blow away.

“We’re going to go study at the library now,” they said, and then they walked off. I hoped I hadn’t made them uncomfortable. After all, they did say that they have several friends who chose to abstain from kissing until marriage.

“They seem really cool,” Rob said, watching the girls descend the grassy hill.

You can say all you want about the Smock family’s evangelism, but the girls were raised well. Any student with an opinion on Brother Jed should approach him individually. It’ll be different than watching him from the top of Heritage Hill. The family views remain the same, but they do not live as radical a lifestyle as you’d expect. The girls love their lives, and Cindy greatly misses Jed while he’s away. She wants to travel full-time with him when Priscilla graduates high school. Whether or not you agree with their beliefs, they’re happier than the average American family.

I just came across a Facebook group titled Birth Control Should be FREE, and even as a female who pays for the service for health purposes, I completely disagree.

The group creator wrote this misguided description:

How can this country be so against abortion when they don’t provide it’s people with free or at least AFFORDABLE birth control? It’s been proven, humans won’t and don’t want to stay abstinent. If the government is going to whine about women aborting unwanted pregnancies, they should help them prevent them.

Last I checked, birth control is affordable. The birth control pill costs anywhere from $15-$50 a month, according to Planned Parenthood, and with insurance, the pill is closer to $15. The author fails to note condoms as effective birth control. The biggest difference is that the pill has a 0.3% perfect-use failure rate while the male condom has a 2% perfect use failure rate, according to the credible Wikipedia. Condoms are significantly cheaper than the birth control pill, and they prevent STD’s while the pill only prevents unplanned pregnancies.

The author never embraces condoms, even though it’s a considerably less expensive and nearly equally effective contraceptive. Bottom Line: Birth control is affordable, but not the kind of birth control that she seems to want. Does this have anything to do with the fact that condoms slightly alter sexual experiences? I hate to say it, but you get what you pay for. If you don’t have the extra money for the pill, it’s not the government’s job to give you free medication. Pick up a 99 cent condom at any 7/11. If you don’t have the money to do that, ask your partner to chip in, or just don’t have sex.

The author could just take advantage of Planned Parenthood, which provides free services and accepts donations. Here’s what she said about that:

NEWS FLASH! Planned Parenthood now charges $55 dollars for the plan b pill, unless you have special insurance.

So, not only do you have to wait for ages to be seen by an underpaid (or volunteer, bless them!) you have to pay MORE than you would pay at longs or Wallgreens or whatever. if you whine you might get a bag of free condoms that are always too tight.

Okay, so now she’s mad that the free services aren’t fast or efficient. As I said before, you get what you pay for. If you’re going to get free birth control pills, condoms, appointments, and pelvic exams, you should realize that there are dozens of other people in need of those pro-bono services as well, so the over-crowded waiting rooms are part of the deal. It’s a glimpse of what universal health-care must be like, but luckily, Planned Parenthood is only a resource and not the only contraceptive provider.

She complains about standing around in exchange for no-cost pills, completely oblivious to the fact that this could happen at a broader scale if the government provides free birth control. Is she hinting at Socialism? Then, she won’t have a choice between spending hours at Planned Parenthood and five minutes at Longs Drug Store.

If the free condoms are “too tight,” she should again invest in her own for 99 cents! If her sexual partner complains about the feeling, he can buy condoms himself and stop mooching off her.

Why should any citizen expect the government to distribute free birth control pills, anyway? Is anything free? It’s a romantic notion, but highly impractical, and taxes would sky rocket if this were to go into effect. Why would we want to grant the government more power over our sexual lives? Each state currently has an age of consent, which much of the population rejects. If state senators were to provide no-cost birth control pills, they could potentially be in more control of Americans’ sex lives.

Even with birth control cost spikes, contraceptives should not be free. How does anyone define what is and isn’t affordable, anyway? If someone is on such a tight budget that she cannot buy $15/month pills or $2 condoms, she can go to Planned Parenthood or abstain. We may be a sex-driven kind, but we’re supposed to be responsible. If we can’t protect ourselves from pregnancies and/or STD’s, we have to make sacrifices.

Day Four of my observations on Brother Jed Smock’s preaching at the University of Arizona:

“Why do you come day after day if you hate my beliefs? Because you’re drawn to me like a magnet!” Brother Jed Smock fired back at one of the many UA students who violently disagrees with his proselytizing and notably bizarre manner of spreading religion.

“JESUS LOVES ME AND I LOVE SEX,” a UA sophomore screamed as she walked away from Heritage Hill, where the audience of at least 60 people sat.

“Back in college, I would have run after her!” he said, recalling his sinful Delta Upsilon fraternity days at Indiana University.

There were two incorrigible audience members from today’s session with Brother Jed. A California marijuana addict interrupted and screamed at Jed and wife, Cindy every time they spoke, so I’m going to refer to him as “California Boy.” His speech dripped with pomposity to the point of nausea, but I’ll try to maintain some professionalism as I describe him in this opinionated blog.

For two hours, California Boy jeered at Brother Jed and Cindy. He said he smokes weed every day, his throaty shouting voice indicative of this, and he kept reminding everyone that he has a lot of sex, clearly boasting or lying about his alleged Casanova tendencies rather than making a point. He swore to an unnecessary extent, he called Cindy a “f***ing b****, and spewed verbal abuse which the Women Resource Center would find appalling.

Men are punished for verbally and physically harming women, yet this pathetic-excuse-for-a-college-man gets away with yelling in Cindy Smock’s face and calling her a whore, b****, idiot, and dumba**. Why do so many college students side with this young guy’s arrogant, disgusting behavior simply because it’s directed at religious extremists? If you ask me, he’s on the same level as any verbally abusive man, and as a self-respecting female, I would never date a guy who presents himself in such a deplorable, cocky, hypocritical manner.

“You’re going to burn, baby, burn,” Sister Cindy said to California Boy.

“Jesus told me you’re a f***ing idiot!” he yelled, and then preached in support of sex and drugs.

“How does it feel to be inferior to your husband?” A student asked with a smile on her face.

“I don’t have a problem with that,” Cindy said. “My husband is very intelligent. He taught me everything I know and he gave me permission to come here and speak.”

The crowd laughed as you can imagine, and then Cindy went on to say she thinks that all women want to get married and have children since it’s their only purpose in life. Even the femi-nazi’s secretly strive for this lifestyle, according to Sister Cindy.

“I used to be a wicked, evil woman until Brother Jed came to my college campus and saved me!”

“So do you have any STD’s?”

After a pause, she replied, “I was a bad girl before STD’s came out.”

“You’re a f***ing c*nt!” one student yelled from the Hill, and even California Boy agreed this comment was inappropriate.

As Cindy started reading Luke 12:54, a male UA student picked up Cindy’s large soda and spit into it. The crowd cheered, but the Smock family was not happy. Brother Jed’s 17-year-old daughter descended the hill and poured the coca-cola onto the asphalt.

California Boy started talking to young Smock as she climbed onto the hill.

“Is that your mom?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you understand why they’re doing this?”

“They want to save souls,” she said, emotionless.

“Do you believe we’re all going to Hell?”

“Yes,” she said, grinning. That’s when I decided to cut in.

“Is it hard for you to watch everyone bash your family?” I asked.

“No, I’m used to it. They’ve been bringing me to college campus preachings since I was born,” she said before joining her father at the top of the hill.

This is off-topic, but I have to say that the Smock girls are very pretty, at least in my opinion. As you’ll see below, their looks spark more discussion, but more than anything, I sometimes wonder what their love lives are like. They’re more attractive than the average female, but they’re probably not allowed to date. Their parents oppose pre-marital kissing, so you can say these girls are missing out on a lot because of family beliefs. They’re also home-schooled, and I can’t imagine what their social lives must be like. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re entirely devoted to their parents, especially since they go on all the college campus tours. Can you imagine being stuck with your family 24/7 without any real friends or outside connections?

Jed is the only male in his immediate family, and his daughters and wife wear skirts that hang just above their ankles and over-sized t-shirts, which hide all female curves. As I’ve said before, some people may think it’s immoral to raise these girls with narrow-minded, radical Christian values, but this is how others are, and they’re not going to change. If the girls like their lives, they don’t need to be told that they have horrible parents and a bad upbringing. Everyone lives differently. The Smocks just picked an uncommon way of life.

California Boy turned to Cindy, who was finishing up some bible passages on judgment.

“Why do you subject your children to this?” he asked.

“They’re here to meet losers like you and see how evil you are,” Cindy said.

“Really? She thought I was cute,” California Boy said, his self-absorbed personality coming out.

“No, you thought she was cute and you wanted to get in her pants because she’s purer than the whores you’ve been screwing! You’re self-centered, egotistical, condescending, high-minded, and arrogant! God is not impressed, Pothead!”

A few minutes later, I saw Sister Cindy shading her eyes, and it was because three UA students decided to hold the backs of CD’s in Cindy’s direction so strong sun beams would shine in her face.

I found this to be extremely inappropriate, so I marched to the top of the hill and confronted the three laughing boys, who watched Cindy struggle to keep the sun out of her eyes.

“You do know that you’re being very immature, right?” I asked.

“Yes,” one guy said.

“I know you think she’s crazy, but you can do serious damage to her vision if you guys don’t stop this. It’s one thing to yell at Jed and his family, but it’s another to try to hurt them.”

“We’re not going to do it anymore,” another guy said, embarrassed.

Two out of the three guys I yelled at set down their CD’s, but one continued holding up his CD, which sparkled in the sunlight. I felt like I was hitting my pre-motherhood days, scolding a bunch of boys for being mean. I am proud of myself for calling them out because very few people would do that in defense of the Jed Smock family. I always have to stand up for the underdog in some way, and I will not tolerate physical harm. Jed’s daughter approached the guy still holding up his CD and kindly asked that he put it away, and he listened.

After a while, I migrated to the Pride Alliance angels, who stood behind Sister Cindy. Bible Boy from yesterday’s blog post spoke out against the angels. He wore a black t-shirt that read EX-PORN ADDICT.

Bible Boy is an advocate for Brother Jed, and he has similar if not identical beliefs on Christianity. I came into a conversation between Bible Boy and another male UA student. They were talking about masturbation, which Bible Boy thinks is a sin.

“You don’t think it’s okay to masturbate?” I asked.

“Correct.”

“But what about blue balls?” I asked, unsure of how to professionally phrase my question, which is legitimate. How can masturbation be such a sin if men (and women) have to do it for health purposes?

“You can only get blue balls if you are aroused for a long period of time. I avoid that.”

“He hasn’t had blue balls since I bent over in front of him,” one guy added with a laugh.

The best part of the entire day was when ten male students stripped down to their shorts and danced in a circle around Brother Jed, grinding up on him and gyrating their hips. Jed stood there like a stone before yelling, “HOMO’S! HOMO’S! HOMO’S!”

The creator of this Facebook group planned the whole thing, but I hope he knows it’s been done before.

There’s nothing anyone can do to shock Brother Jed. Even if he acts surprised and horrified by a gay couple kissing or a bunch of half naked guys, he’s seen it happen hundreds of times. Jed has been doing this for nearly forty years. He probably isn’t offended by much anymore despite his expressive reactions.

“We’re coming back next week!” Jed screamed, pointing his finger at the crowd. Let’s hope so. I’m getting used to this unusual entertainment between classes.

Brother Jed Smock brought two of his five daughters to the University of Arizona campus today. Another preacher spoke, but he wasn’t nearly as popular.

It was still sunny and comfortably warm at 4:30 p.m., and a female pastor spoke to dozens of UA students on Heritage Hill. The crowd seemed wilder and angrier, particularly one vocal girl who would scream at the top of her lungs even though she was at the bottom of the grassy hill, therefore in close proximity to the visiting preachers. The pastor yelled back at this girl, and she also told me that only certain Catholics can be admitted into heaven.

As UA students tore down the preacher, Jed sat atop the grassy knoll with one of his other daughters, who bowed her head and sat at his side. Jed rubbed her back and frowned at the rabid audience. As inhumane as some say Brother Jed is, he looked like a dedicated, compassionate parent today, and I felt sorry for the Smock family. I can imagine it’s hard for the young girl to see hundreds of students abuse her father, mother, and sisters. You can argue that Jed subjects her to it by inviting her on tour, and I have no comeback to that. Still, can you picture watching the same spectacle happen to your own family? Wouldn’t you be heart-broken, too?

I never thought I’d pity the Smock family, and I can’t explain why I found it so sad to see them in pain. Maybe I’m too easy on him. Even though I think he can say hurtful, inappropriate, and offensive things, he’s a person at the end of the day, and I hate to see any family be so publicly denounced.

I explained this to a close friend, who said, “Well, of course the girls are upset. They’re Brother Jed’s children! How would you feel in that family? What are they raising these girls to be?”

I’m going to counter that as well. Most people believe that Brother Jed is a disgusting person and that his teachings are beyond out-dated. There are, however, others out in the world like him, and they’re probably content. As liberated individuals, we can’t understand how anyone would enjoy being in Jed Smock’s family, or why it’s okay to promote questionable ideals, but everyone is different. We can’t impose our opinions on the Smocks, nor can they rightfully shove their evangelism on us. If the Smock girls want to be essentially subordinate and “baby makers” (as Cindy Smock put it), they should be able to live this way. It’s not my path by any means, but I respect that maybe it’s best for them.

On a lighter note, another pastor entertained the crowd after the female pastor sat back down.

“My grandmother was the sweetest woman in the world, but she’s in Hell right now because she didn’t accept Jesus Christ,” he said.

The highly vocal girl continued shouting at an unnecessarily high volume. I truly think some of these on-lookers visit Brother Jed just to release their own anger and anxieties. It’s too easy to dump that on Brother Jed, the perfect target. I still think it’s kind of pathetic to get so worked up just to purge negative emotions. Not even the Smock family deserves to be a punching bag.

Around this time, the Pride Alliance angels gathered behind the pastor and stood in silence, passing out sheets of paper on the organization. All was quiet until a student walked up to them, a yellow bible in hand.

“Great, horse face is back,” someone said to me, referring to the same young man with the bible.

I will not call him “horse face,” so I’ll just say his name is Bible Boy. He took advantage of Pride Alliance members’ silence and preached against homosexuality, sex before marriage, and many other subjects Brother Jed mused upon. Only he was much calmer.

I walked over to the “angels,” and the loud girl and her friend were already harassing Bible Boy. One girl was wearing a bikini and asked Bible Boy if he liked what he saw. He turned away from her and began talking to the silent angels, who were trying hard not to laugh or say much.

Bikini Girl pointed to her half exposed chest.

“Do you like these?” she asked Bible Boy.

“Those are for your husband.”

“But you can’t see my nipples.”

“You’re still probably going to Hell.”

“What problem do you have with her?” I interjected.

“She’s a sinner and she’s exposing herself.”

The girls and I moved back to the hill, and Bikini girl announced, “THE TEMPTATION IS BACK!”

Brother Jed was speaking at this point, and the rabid young girl stole his chair. I told her that I thought she was being immature by taking an old man’s chair, but she refused to move. She was being highly insensitive by preventing an aging man from sitting down if he needed to. No matter how nasty Brother Jed may be, she’s pathetic for taking away his crutch.

A quieter evangelist predicted that this girl will become a Christian in time because she is so passionately against it. If you hate something, you also love it, in a way. If you don’t care, you wouldn’t have any feelings on the matter.

I left just after Brother Jed said, “You guys can be saved and be like me and my wife. We’re saints.”

Don’t you have to die before being dubbed a saint?

Let’s see what happens on Jed’s last University of Arizona visit tomorrow. By the way, Bible Boy went off to get dinner with Cindy Smock and one of her daughters around 5:30. Jed can say he changed one UA student, at least.

For the second day this week, Brother Jed Smock and his wife reminded University of Arizona students that they’re all headed for Hell.

“I’m not a sinner,” his wife said. “But I used to be a wicked girl at the University of Florida!”

Pride Alliance members stood behind Brother Jed’s wife in silence, handing out blue sheets of paper with information on hate crimes of all sorts. The club members were probably seeking to oppose Brother Jed, who has condemned a broad range of groups from homosexuals to Catholics.

“I was a born again virgin. It’s not as good as a regular virgin, but I waited until I married Brother Jed to kiss him. That’s how I know he really loved me!”

Brother Jed’s daughter wasn’t in attendance, but Jed’s wife alluded to her.

“Produce right now while you can! My husband has been good to me, he got me pregnant five times!”

The audience spewed a myriad of offensive and inappropriate comments, such as, “he f***s you good, then,” but such banter is typical of furious college students. The Smocks kind of ask for some of the negative attention they receive.

Jed approached later on and once again told the audience that they needed a whipping with the bible. He sat down and relayed his preaching experiences.

“I got a Masters degree before teaching at the University of Wiscon…SIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The audience asked more civilized questions, and Jed proudly announced that his favorite sorority girls are the Delta Delta Deltas, which are more commonly referred to as the “tri-delts.”

“If you can’t get any, TRI DELT!”

Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to have a decent conversation with Brother Jed. I’ve attempted this many times, but he has never been kind to me. Last month, I told him that I thought it was very low of one student to steal Jed’s chair and run away. Jed seemed irritated and walked away himself after begrudgingly muttering, “thanks.” I have trouble believing he’d be warm to anyone who doesn’t fit his image of the ideal human.

I wonder what will happen during his visit tomorrow. Believe it or not, his audiences are calmer now than in the past, and I truly think it’s a result of his strongest objectors, the Pride Alliance, taking a vow of silence. They’ve come a long way from shouting and crying, but I also think they should continue to express such emotions through words, which make all those feelings seem much more real. Not only are they missing out on voicing their thoughts, but UA students have less of a show to watch since there’s no longer a Brother Jed vs. Pride Alliance screaming match.

It’s been a little over a month since Brother Jed graced the University of Arizona with his presence. All newcomers can watch this YouTube clip to get a glimpse of Brother Jed Smock’s unconventional evangelistic preachings on college campuses.

Last month, Brother Jed faced an angrier audience. One student stole Jed’s fold-up chair, which most on-lookers agreed was below-the-belt. Another girl watched Jed’s speeches every day, and her voice shook with emotion whenever she screamed at him. I tried to be civil to Brother Jed until he singled me out and asked, “Are you pure? Are you a pure, virtuous girl?” Knowing that he’d fight anything I said, I told Brother Jed that I didn’t have to answer any of his questions.

“That says it all! A pure girl would not have hesitated to respond!”

And I walked away laughing.

Brother Jed spoke to a more even-tempered crowd today, even though he wore a cardinal red, long sleeved t-shirt that said YOU DESERVE HELL on the front and HELL AWAITS YOU on the back. Jed’s accompanying sister and his daughter wore these custom-ordered shirts as well.

Six students stood silently behind Brother Jed, and they wore wings made out of cotton sheets on their backs, resembling angels. Among these students was the highly emotional and vocal girl I mentioned earlier in this post, so I really think Jed received a tamer audience because his worst UA enemies went out of their way to mock him in silence for the duration of his lecture.

Sex was a major discussion today. Brother Jed admitted to not being so pure in his college days at Indiana University, where he was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity. He drank heavily and had countless sexual partners.

“I wasn’t looking for nice girls. I looked for girls who smoked! I thought if a girl put a cigarette in her mouth, she put anything in her mouth!”

At least he was honest. He did, however, create an uproar when he dubbed himself a “born-again virgin.”

“You are not a virgin if you’ve had sexual intercourse! If you and a woman have sex and both become born-again virgins, will your child be of immaculate conception?” someone asked, egging on the others.

Brother Jed didn’t answer that question. Instead, he continued listing the kinds of girls he went after in college.

“You could pay to sleep with women back then. It was $5 for a white girl, $3 for a black girl. I never had a prejudice bone in my body, so I always went for the best deal!”

Once the sex talk ended, Jed proudly introduced his 14-year-old daughter to the audience. To my relief, all UA students treated the young girl with respect, and she gladly answered a few questions before sitting back down. It must have been hard for her to watch so many students annihilate her father, but he made the choice of bringing her along, and he chose to expose her to the ugly aspect of his job.

Another memorably foul, rude student met up with Brother Jed once again. This was the guy who stole Jed’s chair and never gave it back. Today, he marched right up to Jed and yelled, “You’re an dumbass, you’re such a f***ing idiot!” several times before leaving the area. Someone needs anger management classes.

A long-haired male student wearing a green recycling shirt flipped off Brother Jed and the Sister with both hands. He chased Jed around with his middle fingers, and I eventually told him to just go away. It’s one thing to talk back to Brother Jed, but it’s another to be heinously disrespectful and immature.

The most memorable part of Jed’s lecture happened in the late afternoon. A male passerby kissed his hand and moved right next to Brother Jed. He tried to touch Brother Jed, who backed up uncomfortably and scooted away before yelling, “HOMO! HOMO! COOTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I think I can die happy after hearing a grown man shriek “cooties” in all seriousness. I wouldn’t be surprised if he started having heart palpitations.

Stay tuned this week for more on Brother Jed Smock.

Read my opinions column on Meghan McCain in today’s issue of the Arizona Daily Wildcat. Enjoy!

Following Kappa Sigma, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Alpha fraternity has lost recognition as of March 12. UA junior Courtney Collen wrote these reports, yet three of the four stories lacked specifics on why the fraternities had their chapters removed from campus.

On February 12, Collen reported on the removal of Sigma Phi Epsilon. She used an email as her first source:

“Sigma Phi Epsilon has had their recognition removed by the university,” said UA fraternities and sorority programs coordinator Zachary Nicolazzo, via e-mail. “Sig Ep is appealing the decision, but the appeal will not be until later in the semester.”

And why exactly was this fraternity shut down? This report gives an unsubstantial hint:

Tyler Carlin, a communication sophomore and member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said there were several mitigating factors that eventually resulted in the fraternity going under as of December 2008.

Collen included one detail that may be of some significance:

Carlin said there was a party at the fraternity house that was not sponsored by the fraternity, but UA administration thought it was sanctioned as an official party of Sigma Phi Epsilon.

If you’ve ever been to a fraternity party, you understand that many of them go unregistered. This can’t be the only thing that led to Sigma Phi Epsilon’s removal.

The Wildcat was just as vague in it’s March 13 report on Kappa Sigma’s loss of charter, which I opined on based on my interpretation of the article:

Fraternity Organization, Mitchell Wilson provided a vague answer in the article:

There are two ways a chapter can lose their charter or campus recognition: either by university decision or by the national headquarters of the fraternity organization.

Nagy explained that the most recent decision was not based off of one specific incident.

“They have kept a list of things against us for a few years now,” he said.

What else was going on behind closed doors, and why hasn’t any of it been reported? I posed in my blog, and I’m still asking the same question right now.

Finally, we end with Collen’s story about Kappa Alpha’s loss of recognition, which can be found in today’s issue of the Daily Wildcat. Once again, the report does not have any details about why Kappa Alpha is no longer associated with UA Greek Life or why the fraternity will only be removed until Fall 2010. Why won’t Kappa Alpha have to wait the “minimum of five years” as President Brian Nagy of Kappa Sigma said was the necessary waiting period?

Former Wildcat Editor-in-Chief, Lauren Lepage shared my concerns in the Kappa Alpha online story:

What is the point of this article? WHY has this fraternity lost its recognition. WHAT does “risk management concerns” mean? If most fraternities or sororities are suspended for about five years, then WHY is it different in this case? What is the background on this situation for readers who haven’t seen earlier articles? How does this relate to the other two fraternities? What happened with them? Where’s that background?

How is this even a lead news story when all the vital facts are missing, and there’s only one source?

Consider me one very frustrated, let-down reader.

You and me both, Lauren. I personally know reporter Courtney Collen, so everything I say does not reflect my thoughts on her quality of her character, but on the quality of her news writing. I understand it’s difficult to get the inside scoop on Greek Life, an organization that seems content to keep outsiders oblivious to all fraternity/sorority inner workings. It’s not Collen’s fault if these fraternities failed to comment, but it’s a reporters job to answer all the questions Ms. Lepage posted on the Kappa Alpha article. If the writer is unable to provide crucial details to a story, then it should not be in the newspaper. Collen could have interviewed Kappa Alpha fraternity brothers, and even if they declined to state what really went wrong with their house, she could have mentioned this in the article. It’s worth noting if fraternity members are pleading the fifth.

I set aside the Wildcat with more questions than answers. As a reader, I want more information, and if I can’t have a significant amount, I feel cheated, and the article as a whole was nothing more than a teaser.

The Associated Press reported today that immigrants are worried that English language classes will be cut from adult schools and community colleges:

The New York state budget proposed by Gov. David Paterson would cut three programs that contain an English education component. The proposed budget takes funding for the three programs from nearly $13 million down to $8.6 million, a cut of about 33 percent.

According to the article, other states have already cut the programs, and immigrants are starting to worry.

Well, everyone in the world is worried right now. The United States Postal Service is in trouble. Post Offices are being forced to reduce management, eliminate staff members, cut hours of service, and consider cutting Saturday as a mail-delivery day.

Many states have proposed high budget cuts on education. Nevada students recently pleaded Gov. Jim Gibbon to change his proposed 37% education budget cut. Arizona students protested the 40% proposed cuts on education in late January of this year. California is also in trouble. On March 13, Californians protested in pink, which symbolized the pink lay-off slips that so many teachers have received.

The list of cuts is endless. Earlier this year, I wrote an an opinion’s column about the economic crisis. I said that absolutely everyone is in trouble right now, so there’s not a whole lot to fight the problem other than to endure it and wait for everything to pass.

It’s truly unfortunate that these English education classes will probably get cut. It must be hard enough to move to the United States, especially without any outside assistance. The best way for a struggling immigrant to learn English is to practice with native speakers. They’ll face difficulties without a foundation, but it’s a risk to immigrate regardless. I empathize with these people having traveled to foreign countries. If there’s no money to accommodate immigrants right now, well, everyone else is suffering, too, so it’s not as if the non-English speakers are getting the short end of the deal.

The Associated Press reported that eight contract baggage handlers of Delta Airlines stole more than 900 items from checked baggage at the St. Louis airport.

I have so many issues with this article, most of all, the way authorities handled the situation:

Formal charges have not been filed, and names of the suspects were not released.

It’s not enough to just fire the workers. If they have reached the age of consent, their names should be released to the public. Besides protecting their unearned privacy, these criminals should also have formal charges filed against them if authorities have any knowledge of what was stolen.

The thieves targeted expensive goods, mostly electronic devices, games, computers and computer equipment.

The employees should not have broken the law, but you have to be moronic not to carry on laptops, ipods (a listed item in the article), or anything of high monetary value. Why would someone check a laptop, anyway, unless of course he doesn’t care about any damages? The same can be said for ipods and other pricey electronic goods. These customers make it too easy for bad employees to break the law.