Free speech is a powerful tool. With it, we can build diverse communities brimming with unique ideas. 

We can freely spread information, whether fact or opinion, true or false, and we can freely disagree with such information. We can debate concepts, argue ideas, and bond over ideals. Communities thrive on this fluid movement of knowledge — however, such freedom may also break communities apart. 

Freedom of speech allows positive and negative ideas to surface, and lets us welcome or reject them. Rejection of ideas is natural, but if retaliation lingers too long, it makes a community feel toxic and unwelcome.

While people can say whatever they want, how we respond to them is up to us. If we do not like a particular message, we can ignore it, and if enough people ignore the message, it will stop being promoted to deaf ears.

Consuming Fire Fellowship, the Pentecostal Evangelist group that preaches on SLU’s campus every so often, is a prime example of the negative messages that can stem from freedom of speech. The group is infamous for spreading messages of religious condemnation against LGBTQIA+ groups on campus, such as “You deserve Hell” and “God only recognizes two genders.”

Their brash method of preaching is intentional, as Consuming Fire’s website explains that “exposing the works of darkness and reproving sinners for rebelling against God are necessary and are part of any gospel ministry.”

Additionally, despite many Southeastern students protesting against them, Consuming Fire still firmly believes this is the best method of spreading the Gospel.

“I don’t just believe it, I know it,” Consuming Fire evangelist Charlie Kennon said. “Because God says this is the best way to evangelize … the book of Proverbs says, ‘wisdom cries throughout the streets.’ I know this is the best way because this is God’s way.”

Angelina Hoover, a sophomore visual art major, shares many students’ feelings that Southeastern should ban these messages from campus grounds.

“It’s a shame they’re allowed to stay on campus at all. Hate speech should not be tolerated, and all minorities and other groups should be protected and cared for by the university and its members,” Hoover said.

However, free speech goes both ways. Just as we are allowed to share our ideals and values, Consuming Fire is also allowed. In fact, as journalists at The Lion’s Roar, we greatly value our freedom of speech, as it enables us to express both the truth and our personal opinions. 

While students may largely disagree with Consuming Fire, SLU is a public university, so they are, unfortunately, allowed to be present on our campus and express their homophobic beliefs.

It seems we’ll have to deal with Consuming Fire forever. However, there is something we can do in response: Simply ignore their message.

It is natural for negative ideas to rise from a community, as it is to retaliate against them. People will inevitably present unwelcome ideas in a community as diverse as our campus. 

These ideas will also inevitably be debated, argued and pushed back. This aspect of free speech is very important — necessary, in fact — for communities to thrive because if we don’t argue, our community will simmer in the resulting lake of toxic speech.

However, sometimes repeated attempts to purge ideas from a community consistently fail — or, even worse, thrive on such retaliation. When people discuss ideas, they persist for as long as they are argued; conversely, when ideas are left alone, such topics quickly die out.

Phoenix, a freshman business administration major, recognized this. “They’re just arguing and neither side is hearing each other out, they’re just screaming at each other. It’s just to see who can win a crowd out here.”

As someone who’s heard their messaging, I can attest it is not fun to hear Consuming Fire say such awful things — nor is it comfortable to listen to the angry shouting in response.

Consuming Fire will always return to campus, despite our obvious resentment toward them. Therefore, we must try something other than sparking conflict if we do not want them around. By neglecting their messages entirely, we take away whatever power they have over our reactions, and together, we can make our campus just a little happier than it otherwise might be.