This week the University of Montana campus, where I am a student, has been seized by angry Christians. Specifically, it's a group from New York called Open Air Outreach, a group of men who — I can only assume — have been told by Jesus that it is appropriate for them to travel around the country being dicks in the name of God. (Go here to read the article.)

I know that it is an old cliché to reject the idea of the evangelical Christian with their sanctimonious ramblings, but I'm going to do it anyway. And mostly, it's because I'm annoyed with non-Christians.

The OAO is setting up everyday by the University Center (a student union building) for big "discussions" with the angry, vocal students around my campus who've yet to realize you should never fight an idiot. They can't see that it's useless to fight the men of the OAO — men with God on their side, don't ya know.

This is what I've had to deal with when I want to buy some orange juice or a bagel: endless shouts back and forth between diametrically opposed groups. And the students should know better. People traveling around America to stir up controversy should be ignored.

In this scenario of fervent opposition, neither side can win, and their disdain for the other has ruined any chance of having a real talk. The OAO has an excuse — their beliefs are such that they have to be certain, but students are supposed to be open to new ideas and concepts. Or what would be the point of college at all?

My personal belief in the Almighty is not what I would call strong, but I do hold a small lingering spirituality from my childhood days spent in the Catholic Church. This is what I would call an Agnosticism that leans toward the notion that something caused that first cell, and I'm not sure what that was.

I'm setting those aside so I can approach the question of what it is that causes a person to grab a Bible and a bad attitude and hit the road in the name of God.

If you ask me, which you didn't, I think these guys would be doing the "I'm Right!" thing with whatever they believed in. That is to say, I think if these people were selling cars, they'd sell the best cars ever — you'd only have to ask them for confirmation.

In other words, I have no idea what causes this sort of feverish attitude. I can barely decide on pizza toppings for crying out loud.

So as Easter approaches, I am making a request to people of all spiritual persuasions to just stop the fight over who has it right. We're all flung together on this rock. I'm not sure why, and I've yet to meet a person who really does. Belief is a complicated concept, and it should never stand between two people.

That said, I can't wait for these guys to leave. I miss bagels.

Patrick Duganz