Jesus is the only way

Saw a brilliant Jewish preacher lecture untiringly for 5 hours today at an open courtyard about why Jesus is the only way. Students heckled him incessantly but the man was unrelenting. He fervently believed that the Bible was the only way and all those who were not Christians were not good human beings. He was jeered, abused, ridiculed and challenged incessantly by students for the whole time but he kept talking, he never yielded. This was a man who was ready to face anything for his faith and could not accept that there was any other way other than that of Jesus.

I asked him "I am not a Christian does that mean i am not a good human being?" He said, "No". I asked "Are only Christians good human beings? He said "Yes". I asked him "Why is that?" He said "Do you believe 2+2 is 4?" I said "No." He was at a loss. Then he said "I cannot explain to you why 2+2 is 4. It would take too much time." I said, "Then you are being illogical". I said "I have seen another Muslim leader who was 5 times as convinced as you are that his was the onlyway. He addressed an impressionable crowd like you today and He was also right." At which he started objecting "There is a reason why muslims are not right, do you want to know?". I said "You know people like you are the reason why there are suicide bombers in the world today." And he repeated "There is a reason why muslims are not right, do you want to know?" I said "No" and i walked away with the man speechless.

Been ages

Its been a quiet life for some time. Florida Gators are rated the top (american) football team in the country, and we have a 85,000 capacity stadium on campus. Fooball games here are a festival - preceded by tailgate parties, which mean music and beer being served outside the back of a truck and people pitching small tents and picnic at spots around campus. The college football season commenced a couple of weeks ago and the opening game was fun - with a packed stadium covered in orange and blue (our colors), chants, noise and cheerleaders.

I have a lighter term with fewer courses than the summer, so the pace is more sane. Have been playing more basketball and doing a lot of running. Also started swimming recently, which is now my favorite exersise. It is light on the joints and heavy on the muscles and lungs. Plus the recreational facilities in the university are phenomenal - we have two olympic sized swimming pols available free of charge to students.

The university is very very colorful at present, with 49,000 new students entering this fall. The boys hostels (fraternities) and the girl's hostels (sororities) got done with their rush weeks - which is the week where these halls finalize which students get into their halls. Gainesville has beautiful weather presently, with plenty of student-run activities to commence in the weeks to come.