PREACHING TO THE UNCOVERTED

Evangelist's sermons on the lawn earn him police escort from campus

by Bill Rolfes and David Baugher

A traveling Independent Pentecostal evangelist was arrested Wednesday for trespassing on the UM-St. Louis campus after his sermons attracted a crowd and incited observers.

"Brother" Jim Gilles preached to a crowd of about 40 students gathered around him in the quadrangle between Clark Hall and SSB. Some students in the crowd became agitated over his remarks about social issues, women, homosexuals and other groups.

After Gilles claimed "people in India drink cow urine for salvation," one woman began crying and yelling as she approached him. More students joined the woman, moving to within about three feet of him.

Campus police arrived shortly thereafter and arrested Gilles, who sang hymns as he was led away.

"You were told to leave because you were threatening the safety of my students," Robert Roeseler, chief of police, told Gilles during the arrest. "You are going to be charged with trespassing."

Gilles was released on his own recognizance within the hour.

In addition to his message of salvation through Christ, Gilles also preaches that all lesbians and gays are sinners; men are inherently superior to women; and hedonism is responsible for the decline of societal values.

He said he believes that Catholics and Muslims are pagans.

"Catholics are pagans because they worship idols and eat their deity," he preached.

Many of the students who heard Gilles said they were disgusted with his message. Gina Puglisi, a junior psychology major, confronted him.

"I believe this is taking away our rights as citizens because this is not separation of church and state," Puglisi said. "This campus has many other problems. I don't need to come out here and find this."

Benjamin Bender, a sophomore, also became vocal with Gilles. Bender agrees with the constitutional right of free speech but also disagrees with Gilles' logic.

"The allowance of religious and Bible studies should be encouraged," Bender said.

"However, when such an institution becomes utterly offensive on both a moral and intellectual basis, it should be curtailed."

Although many of the students were angry with Gilles' message, some felt his presence was a positive influence.

"I think it is almost a good thing he is here because he is drawing the campus together," Kendall Mines, a senior political science major, said.

Gilles said he did not feel physically threatened by the students and that his arrest was intended to shut him up, not protect him.

"How many rights have gone out the window in the guise of 'for your own good?'" he asked.

The day before his arrest, Gilles had a confrontation with Karl Beeler, interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs because of complaints about the volume and content of his speech.

"I thought his close proximity to the library was likely to disturb people's attempts to study there," Beeler said.

According to Gilles, Beeler was upset because Gilles referred to fraternity men as "drunken, horny, little masturbators."

Beeler said his actions were based solely upon the volume of Gilles' speech.

Gilles pointed out that his voice was not electronically amplified and that there was a considerably louder blues band playing near the library the very next day.

"The issue has to do with the timing and when the band was playing," Beeler said.

"Were there classes taking place? I do feel that I may have been preemptive, but he didn't appear to me to be willing to discuss an alternative place to deliver his speech."

Thursday afternoon Gilles returned and preached again. Campus police said that Gilles had a legal right to return.

He said he has lawsuits pending against UM-Columbia and UM-KC. Policies at those campuses require guest speakers to be sponsored by a student. He said those restrictions constitute "prior restraint" and violate his right to free speech.

UM-St. Louis does not have any similar policies on such speeches.

Most of Gilles' financial support comes from the small churches where he preaches while traveling with his family. He denied suggestions that his appearance on campus was a ploy to provoke campus authorities and establish grounds for a lawsuit, but he allowed:

"I also would not mind having some university fund my ministry for the rest of my life (through damages awarded from litigation). It would be the irony of ironies."