Police expel religious demonstrators

Two religious demonstrators carrying provocative signs engaged students in a verbal sparring match on Main West Quadrangle for 30 minutes Thursday afternoon before University police officers expelled them.

The men, who identified themselves as Frank Warner and Jeremiah Baldwin, arrived around noon and declared that most members of the Duke community were destined for hell unless they changed their lifestyles.

"My motivation is to communicate to people about God, to tell people about God, to preach the Gospel and to warn people about God," Warner said.

Lt. Jeff Best of the Duke University Police Department said the primary reason the police expelled the men from campus was a student complaint that the demonstrators were speaking loudly, upsetting passers-by and violating the University's "no solicitation policy."

The men complied peacefully, but Warner maintained he should be allowed to "preach" at Duke. "Granted, it's a private school, but it's kind of an area for anybody--the public can come through here," he said. "It's my understanding that when the public has access to somewhere, that your civil rights are [ensured]."

The two carried double-faced seven-foot signs. The headings on one side read "You make me sick," referring to different social and religious communities as well as certain behaviors listed on the sign. The litany included Muslims, Jews, certain types of Christians and actions such as drinking and sex. On the other side, the signs featured a biblical quotation from John 3:18 declaring unbelievers to be condemned to God's judgment.

The demonstrators also denounced problems they termed symbolic of society's diminishing masculinity, citing "the cult of the effeminate male," "weak-kneed men" and "rebellious women."

Within minutes of their arrival, a large crowd gathered around the two men, swelling to approximately 100 in number by the demonstration's end.