“YOU ARE ALL A BUNCH OF LAZY BUMS GOING TO HELL!”

Upon hearing this, a few of you may remember Michael Worneki, who along with his “born-again” children, provided students with a fresh source of entertainment on the campus mall Thursday.

Their purpose? To inform us on our damnation and that we are, “kids wasting our lives!”

While Michael seemed to be a bit too occupied belting out his pearls of wisdom for some questions, his youngest brainwashed, oops, “born- again” son, John, agreed. It turns out the Wornekis are from “the kingdom of heaven” according to the younger Worneki, which, upon further investigation is at PO Box 10121, Eugene Oregon 97440-2121 (the “kingdom of heaven’s” address is located at the bottom of the propaganda they were dispensing).

It must be a nice place.

If you drag your family 1,900 miles across the country I would guess that you might find something a little more persuading to say to the college population than “you are no different than the bum on the street … except you have more money! REPENT AND SEEK JESUS, not church or religion!”

Examples of obstinacy like this are completely inappropriate in a university setting and the Wornekis were asking for cynicism. I share this opinion with a number of other students who were more than happy to provide some comments to the spectacle at hand.

“This frightens me because it’s religious fundamentalism, which breeds intolerance and intolerance breeds hate,” said senior Benjamin Paulson. “It degrades society. It’s the same intolerance that cause the events on Tuesday.”

Junior Chris Wallace had a similar take on the situation.

“Absolute lack of logic and logical thought, the speaker is just as brainwashed and intolerant as the people he preaches at,” he said.

The Wornekis were “preaching” the word of Jesus, however their approach in doing so resembled that of much different organizations (KKK, Nazis, etc.).

It didn’t appear Michael won anyone over by calling his family ”righteous beings from another kingdom” while handing out propaganda that immediately found it’s way to the garbage can.

I found it disturbing how Michael turned his once-normal children into deranged lapdogs.

Brainwashed children aside, it was quite entertaining to see the student population’s response to Michael’s exhibition. While most students found the act a whimsical display of narrow-mindedness, some students found the Wornekis religious fanaticism offensive.

“As a Christian, my spirit does not confirm this behavior,” senior Nicci Jordan said. “…because one, Jesus did not come to condemn, two, he died because he loves us, and three, ‘Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence; and keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are abused, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (Peter 3 15-16).

This particular “lazy bum going to hell” can only hope our newly beloved Wornekis come again soon, as they provided UW-Eau Claire with a great source of amusement on what would otherwise be a regular Thursday.