Taunting evangelist stirs Student Union gathering
Written by Carl Miller for the Spartan Daily
Monday, February 13, 1984
A confrontation between an evangelist and students resulted in a brief altercation Friday in front of the Student Union.
The near-fight becan when the man who identified himself as Brother Coplin, an independednt evangelist, criticized the attire of a passing student.
"Look at that girl, she has jeans on, that doesn't look good," Coplin said.
Coplin then turned and looked at another female student and said, "Look at that girl, she looks nice, she has a nice, long skirt."
He abruptly turned back to the first girl and said "Look at this girl, she looks like a boy."
Coplin's last remark drew anger from the girl's male companion, who charged the evangelist. Coplin was able to avoid punches and continue preaching.
"You, young ladies, better judge well. These horny, little devils will do anything to get into your pants."
One student screamed, "Who are you to judge?"
Coplin replied, "God loves judges. He hates sinners and wrongdoers."
Coplin then turned to the student who made the last comment and shouted, "You, you're a hypocrite, because you judge me."
By this time the original croud of about 50 people had increased to about 150.
"Jesus didn't say judge right, but judge righteous," Coplin said.
Eli Macias, a senior in the Environmental Studies Department, replied with a yell, "The world should be judged by you?! You're a fasciest!" Macias hollered.
Coplin now had an audience so large that it became hard to see him preach over the heads of listeners. The crowd form a half-circle around him
"Are you a socialist?" Coplin shouted at at Macias.
"Yes, I'm a socialist," Macias said, stepping forward.
Then you're a facist," Coplin replied. "Hitler was a socialist and he was a fascist."
Many of the crowd doubled over in laughter, but very few people walked away.
Standing above the crowd on a concrete planter, Coplin screamed, "I know why all of you are here. You want me to make you feel good, you want me to tell you how much Jesus loves you."
Without a pause between his words Coplin preached out, "And I don't think people should go around calling the queers 'gay' ."
"I have good friends that are gay!" Macias shouted.
"Then you're queer, because the Bible says that people change with their company," Coplin said.
A familiar figure emerged to battle Coplin- Giovanni Panciera, a Spartian vendor.
"Who are you to judge, are you perfect?" Panciera asked.
"I'm a moral creature, I'm perfect," Coplin said.
"You're not perfect with that tie on," Panciera replied.
The crowd laughed as Panciera walked away.
"You're just a long-haired, burned outh ippie from the sixties," Coplin shouted at Panciera's back.
And fromt he crowd, someone yelled, "God had long hair."
