I get out of my political science lecture at 1:00 every Tuesday and Thursday, and stroll over to the Atrium to get a quick bite before heading to Talley for coffee and what seems like eternal studying. The hike along the Brickyard is enduringly nasty, as the echo of preaching in the distance becomes closer and closer with each step.

If you thought that the era of fire and brimstone preaching was dead, then think again, because NC State students get the off-brand version every single day of the school year.

The preachers in the Brickyard are on the same side as me; we’re all Christians. I have to constantly remind myself of this sentiment when I hear the echoing of their voices extend past the Greek Life bake-sales and climate change petitioners. As a person of faith, the words can be hurtful, but it seems almost unbearable for someone that practices a different religion or no religion at all.

Last week, one of the preachers on the pedestal had a picture of an aborted child with the caption, “Are you more disgusted with this picture or with abortion?” I finally snapped.

For the first time in my two-year college career, I interacted with one of the preachers and began to engage in a war of words with a man that shares the same faith as me. I blasted him for fear-mongering and forcing students, many of them women who may have had or would have abortions in the future, to stare at the picture during their routine day. Days later, my initial rage has since subsided, but sadly, the fire is still there.

This is the age where Christianity has become political, and it thrives on college campuses with little more than turning a blind eye or arguments to call it out for what it is. This is radical Christianity and it’s tarnishing the very essence of what Christian faith should be about.

In no way do I consider myself to be “holier than thou” in regards to any of those demonstrating their faith in masses on college campus, but the forceful attacks towards students is not only exceeding acceptable boundaries, but ultimately hurting the stigma of Christianity on campus.

Jesus Christ ate with tax-collectors and bonded with the worst of sinners. While Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for their pseudo-faithful practices, he never reduced them to words of hate, as can be heard in the Brickyard on the daily. Just last month, the word “slut” was used in a sermon to describe women who are unfaithful in relationships, which should be unacceptable to use by all standards. Simply listening to the word being spewed disgruntled me and left me questioning whether we truly are on the same side after all.

However, I’ve realized that we the students are also at fault. I’m at fault for fighting back with my words last week instead of turning the other cheek, as Christ would tell us to do. By antagonizing the preachers, we are fueling their desire to fight for their faith on their pedestal.

We as Christians are not called to transform the culture of society or even the culture of our campus, but rather to love others in such a way that they are transformed. Love doesn’t start by arguing against the preachers for spitting their rhetoric, no matter how hostile it might be. Love is reminding those who feel threatened by the preachers’ rhetoric that they are so much more than a title or damnation from a man on a pedestal.

While we shouldn’t have to defend ourselves against hostile rhetoric, the negative stigma of the preachers and the faith that they practice can be fought through our reactions to the rhetoric and how we, not as Christians, but rather as students respond to the rhetoric in such a way that ultimately values love and humanity over condemnation. This isn’t a mission for just individuals of one faith, but rather all students of all backgrounds and beliefs. These actions change lives and catalyze more positive change in the world than any one individual with a loud voice ever will.

Responding with equal or greater intensity will never be the answer.