Correction appended

A little free speech can drive a lot of people crazy.

Last week, members of The Gideons International came to campus, handing out copies of the New Testament’s Psalms and Proverbs.

The Gideons don’t have an actual church. They serve, according to their Web site, “as an extended missionary arm of the church and is the oldest Christian business and professional men’s association in the United States of America.”

That second part is key. They’re a business, and like any good business, the Gideons advertise – prolifically.

The Gideons claim to distribute 63 million “scriptures” annually, worldwide.

That number very likely includes their day at NIU, along with those Bibles you see in every hotel room you visit across the U.S.

Although the Gideons recently lost an appeal on a case in which they were banned from distributing Bibles in public school classrooms to fifth graders, free speech on public sidewalks has been a long-protected right.

Lots of people take advantage of this. You might put a sign up for a garage sale.

Employees of a certain sandwich shop might hand out coupons for free subs.

Anti-war activists might stand on a street corner – say, at Lincoln Highway and First Street – with signs proclaiming their position, enticing drivers to honk (or to wave with one finger).

Or a church might hand out fliers or pamphlets.

Bonnie Becker, church custodian at First United Methodist in Woodstock, said her church and others in the area do exactly that.

“At [Woodstock’s] parades, different churches hand out their bible school information, or invitations to special events,” Becker said.

To you, the Gideons’ presence might be a blessed thing or a minor annoyance.

They might drive you crazy, but your outlook notwithstanding, the Gideons have every right to be there.

If we were to place restrictions on their rights, we would all be in a world of trouble.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t support their message. The very idea of a religious propaganda machine is enough to drive a staunch atheist like myself absolutely bananas, never mind the actual existence of said machine.

That said, they have every right to hand out their Bibles, just as I reserve the right to refuse them.

That’s one of the things we Americans are most proud of. It’s in the First Amendment to our Constitution.

Legal precedent has long held, outside of time, manner and obscenity restrictions, that we can say whatever we want on public streets.

I saw several people Saturday on sidewalks as I drove through Carpentersville, holding up signs for Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. I honked. I waved, with all five fingers.

I don’t hold Republican ideals and don’t know much about Ron Paul, but I was happy to see people excited about their right to speak. It warmed my heart a little.

The Gideons may be good people. They seemed nice enough when I saw them on campus.

I suggest treating them like you would any other street peddler. They don’t deserve any more time from you.

Correction:

In Alan Cesar’s column, “Free speech protects free Bibles,” in Monday’s edition of the Northern Star, it was incorrectly stated that the members of Gideons International were handing out copies of the New Testament’s Psalms and Proverbs.

The text being distributed was the complete New Testament, as well as Pslams and Proverbs, Old Testament books.