Feeder 2.2 Revised

Walking through the main area of social activity on campus, the pit can be an enlightening experience. You will see many different activities taking place that involve interaction with people. One activity caught my eye, and it was the pit preacher. The pit preachers consist of men in button down collared shirts with suspenders, and a large jug of water to keep then hydrated during these long hours of preaching. They have their own style of preaching that really has no boundaries to it. They often yell and use derogatory language towards the students all in a matter of trying to persuade the students to follow their religion. As I observed this I realized that their method of preaching was not very affective, and often caused students to become hostile towards the preachers. I encountered one situation with one of the pit preachers, and the preacher was accusing a man of being homosexual. He also decided to accuse the young man of being sexually abused as a child. This created a lot of animosity, and caused the young man to lash out at the preacher. The preacher walked away with a black eye. This incident is what piqued my interest for this topic. I realized how these preachers are trying to teach about a God of love, but are using hate to do so.
I hypothesize that if the pit preachers would use a different tone and style of preaching that is loving and kind towards students it will help them win people over to their religion. People do not respond positively to someone criticizing them in a negative and derogatory way.
This would be a very important research topic, because Carolina has dealt with many problems involving the pit preachers. There have been many altercations between the preachers and students, and some have ended in violence. If my hypothesis proves to be true then altercation rates between the students and the preachers will decline, and the preachers can be more successful in what they are trying to accomplish.