Photo by Kevin Karampelas vis Unsplash
On Jan. 22, a video was posted on the app TikTok about West Chester University’s most controversial visitors, Matthew24, that garnered over two million likes at the time of writing this article.
The Quad has written its fair share of articles on Matthew24, but if you need a little refresher, Matthew24 is a ‘religious’ group that visits public college campuses around the Philadelphia area as well as Philadelphia itself. Pastor Aden Rusfeldt is the leader of Matthew24 and regularly visits West Chester and surrounding universities.
I saw the video when a friend tagged me in it, and I was surprised to see the Academic Quad pop up on the app that’s usually filled with teenagers doing dances and skits. I immediately recognized the hate-filled signs and throngs of people surrounding the little orange barrier. Like most of the other times I’ve seen Pastor Aden and his group, the crowds of students weren’t visibly angry or even upset. Rather, they cracked jokes and laughed at the group.
Every time Matthew24 comes, an email is sent out by the university that reminds students, faculty and staff of the reason this group is allowed on campus and lists resources and solutions to respond in a thoughtful way. The most helpful strategy, most people will tell you, is to ignore them – but that rarely happens. Instead, kids gather around those orange fences for entertainment, jokes and sometimes just meaningless acts to drown out the voices of hate. The things they say and the rhetoric that Matthew24 spews would, in any other circumstance, make me incredibly angry and upset. But, like most students, I pay no mind to them anymore and when I do, I know any logical debate with them is futile. But how did we get here? How did Matthew 24 turn into, essentially, a joke for the students of West Chester? And why did that joke garner so many views?
It’s hard to say for sure what draws people in about Matthew24 – maybe it’s their ridiculous rhetoric, where anything under the sun makes a woman a slut. All the ideals that a mostly liberal campus like WCU holds is pushed back against by Matthew24, and that appears to be exactly what they want. Their ideas and ideals are so out there that it’s laughable to me, and that is part of the reason why no one seems to take them seriously. Once you know their game, everything becomes a lot less heavy.
I’d argue, it’s also in part a way to cope. I remember my first encounter with Matthew24, and how I was shaken up when I saw these people go against everything I stand for. Many students I’ve talked to have said the same thing, that at first they were as shaken up as the group wanted them to be. Especially in West Chester, a liberal, open-minded and safe campus, you don’t expect to encounter views that are so opposite to yours in such a violent and open way. As time went on, it became much easier to ignore them, but even easier to turn that fear and anger I felt the first time into something funny and lighthearted. The things they preach are so absurd and out there and the through the supportive atmosphere of WCU, especially on days Matthew 24 visits, it’s easy to reclaim what they’re saying, calling women sluts and everyone sinners, and take it in stride. It’s a way to cope with all the emotions that homophobia, sexism and everything else Pastor Aden preaches bring on.
But what about an outside perspective? The first time I saw the TikTok, it had a couple hundred thousand views. Then a million, and now it sits at over two million. Are people entertained by the way the onlookers take the preachers’ words and run with them, making jokes? Is it the outrageousness of the video that made it go viral? Or do people really believe what is shown, and believe these people are true to what they’re saying?
To me, it seems like a little bit of all of these answers. While I looked through the comment section, I saw a lot of comments which talked about and reiterated the comebacks from students, laughing about how absurd the claims Matthew24 made actually were. However, on the other side, a lot of the comments were also Christians apologizing for Matthew 24’s behavior and reiterating that not all Christians behave in the same way they saw in the video. A lot of comments were along the lines of, “They’re making Christians look bad,” and “This is not Christianity.” Maybe people watched because of the absurdity of the entire thing, for the shock value. Maybe it was the way the students reacted that made the video so share-worthy. Or it was the outrage of people claiming to be Christians and spewing this rhetoric that doesn’t line up with Christian values whatsoever.
All in all, I think it’s a good thing this video went viral. The more people know about Pastor Aden and his tricks, the less people will pay attention to him or try to hurt Matthew24. In a perfect world, if everyone knew about what this group was up to, they wouldn’t get the reaction that they want and would, ultimately, go away. However, it is important to note for the people who have never encountered Matthew24 what a nuisance they truly are to the open-minded culture here at West Chester University. Comic relief is a great way to cope and react to what these people are saying, especially in place of anger or violence, but also make sure to check up on the people who aren’t as familiar and comfortable with their presence, and let them know that they have a voice and a place here at WCU.
Alison Roller is a fourth-year English major with a minor in journalism. AR875447@wcupa.edu