In support of freedom of speech, Shasta College recently installed a permanent podium at Freedom Rock, for any student who wants to practice their right of freedom of speech. When one of our InterVarsity student leaders heard about a contest to submit a slogan to be affixed to the new Freedom Rock, he responded to this opportunity to be a witness on campus.
This student, Kyle Wayman, explains his urgency by saying,
“To me, the power of words is a key part of freedom of speech. In keeping speech free, we are accepting the responsibility to use that freedom well. My slogans were inspired by what the Bible says about our words.”
In the end, Kyle won the contest and now his words are permanently imprinted on a bronze plaque affixed to Freedom Rock. They read: “We must keep our words free, so in return they may free us.” Click here to see Kyle’s speech on YouTube. To read the full transcript of Kyle’s speech, see below.
On Tuesday, May 17th, Kyle was also given the privilege of being the first speaker behind the new Freedom Rock podium. Kyle tactfully and unabashedly proclaimed Biblical truth before a small gathering of students and administrators, including our Shasta College President, who had all come to the ceremony despite the pouring rain.
Kyle is the kind of missional leader InterVarsity is trying to raise up at Shasta College and 550 other campuses. He believes that God wants to restore the campus and he understands that he is called to be part of this renewal. As Kyle proclaimed God’s truth at Freedom Rock amidst the pouring rain, I was reminded of God’s promise in Isaiah 55:10-11:
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
May the words that our students speak at Freedom Rock, in Bible studies, and in the classroom at Shasta College continue to renew the campus and call many hearts back to God!
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Kyle’s speech:
“You have heard it said, ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.’ Why is this? Because our words are important: as the book of Proverbs puts it, ‘The tongue has the power of life and death’. Sticks and stones can break our bones, but words…can hurt us deeply.
People have an inherent moral code; almost all people will agree on at least a few things that are clearly wrong to do. We can make laws and rules regulating those actions, so that if they do happen we can deal with the situation and with the people involved. But there’s a lot of grey area; there are actions that some have a problem with, while others do not – and we cannot legislate attitudes.
Attitudes are the source of our spoken words: the teacher Jesus said that “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Because we cannot all agree on what is and isn’t okay to say in a public setting, we must either allow no one to say anything other than an absolutely unquestionable fact, or we must allow any and all to speak their opinions, their thoughts, their feelings, and their beliefs.
You have heard it said, ‘Freedom isn’t free’ – in other words, it comes at a price. Freedom of speech means that we have all granted each other the power to speak life or to speak death, over each other and into each other’s lives; over our world and into our society.
As we accept this power, we must also take upon ourselves the responsibility to use this freedom, this power of life and death, for the greater good. Again you have heard it said, ‘The truth will set you free.’ Let us speak truth, let us speak life, let us speak love and honor and worth, and let us by our words set one another free.”
