Controversial Speaker Sees Students Both Delighted and Dismayed
Joshua Haymes, host of the Reformation Redpill podcast and member of Turning Point USA, a prominent conservative student group around the nation, came to speak on campus last Friday, March 6. The event, known as “prove me wrong,” saw Haymes sat in the center of the Student Union taking questions from students on both sides of the political aisle. Some questioned his beliefs, while others expressed agreement, creating a divisive but constructive dialogue between the increasingly polarized sides of the political spectrum.
Haymes, a prominent figure in the Christian Nationalist movement within America, is primarily motivated by a desire to “Make America Christian Again,” a slogan which was parroted by several in his audience, including one member with a hat that said as such. He stated that America is currently under the influence of “bad ideology,” claiming “bad ideas have victims, and there are lots of victims; children, women, babies, there are lots of victims of the horrific ideologies that we have permitted in our country . . . I am here to do whatever I can to push the Overton Window . . . my goal in all that I do is to help make America Christian again.”
Haymes talked about a wide variety of political topics as questions came from the audience, including white demographic replacement theory (known in some circles as great replacement theory), steps that he would take to prevent further ideological corruption in his view (such as banning abortion, pornography, and transgender surgeries for minors). When asked for what specific policy steps he would take to achieve his goals, Haymes stated, “We got things that are already underway, just last month there was a supreme court case that was just heard . . . that made it so that you can sue doctors who performed these Frankenstein transgender surgeries on minors . . . to get more specific on how I get that done, it’s this: by moving the Overton Window.” The Overton Window, a popular term within political science circles, refers to the range of policies acceptable to the mainstream population, with Haymes believing that the window has been shifting to the right in recent years.
Students were divided on Haymes’ presence. The Chapter President of TPUSA at the University of Wyoming, Gabe Saint, said of Haymes’ presence, “It’s fun that more of the people from that end of the Christian world (reformed Christianity) are getting popular, you know, a lot of the founders were . . . traditional Protestants, and had classical Protestant political philosophy. So we’re just trying to bring that back and talk about it.” Another student, Owen Ankley, said, “I’ve always been a longtime supporter of TPUSA, I like what they stand for, I feel like a lot of people get the wrong idea about what they stand for; it’s not just pushing right wing ideology, it’s pushing dialogue, which is really what this country needs right now.”
Others were not as accepting of Haymes’ presence. Illyas Khan, a student at the University, stated, “It’s a complete disgrace in this university . . . This is a public education system, we are not supposed to have religious ideologies come here and flood . . . I get the freedom of speech, but these people here are encouraging the prohibition of freedom of speech . . . They are trying to imprint their ideas of hate and of prejudice and discrimination upon the student body and I will not stand for it.” Another student, Zeren Homer, stated “I understand freedom of speech, but when all of your talking points violate someone’s right to exist or somebody’s right to live their life freely I don’t think your expression is valid or needed.”
The event lasted for most of the day, with numerous students asking questions, some in favor of Haynes’ position, some against. Despite the controversial nature of the subject, nobody was disruptive, and each student had a constructive dialogue with Haymes, with both sides remaining generally respectful throughout the event. Haymes ended his event with a prayer and a call to action for all conservative and right-wing students to stand up for what they believed in.
