It’s bound to happen at least once a week.

You’re walking to class through the Martin Luther King Commons and you see people crowding around someone, but don’t have the time to see what all the fuss is about.

Well, Sweeps has got your back. From time to time, we will introduce the people who exercise their right to free speech by preaching, singing, rocking out, telling jokes or protesting. You might call them a nuisance. We call them “Free-Speech-Zone Warriors.”

While most people spent Wednesday afternoon nursing a husky hangover, William Landerholm preached the gospel. The Rockford native drew quite the crowd, most of which engaged him in spirited discussion about his sign, which featured a list of people who would not be inheriting the Kingdom of God any time soon. The other side of the sign, in a not-so-subtle way, stated “Fear God or prepare for Hell!”

Do you really think someone will see your sign and change their behavior?

Well, I’ve seen people already change their behavior. They were going to walk by here and then they stopped.

Let’s go down this list you have here. In one sentence, what’s wrong with fornication?

It’s hard to say it one sentence, but God said it was wrong. By the way, I didn’t write that list on the sign. It was in the Bible – I Corinthians 6:9.

What’s an idolater?

Someone who worships another god that didn’t create the universe. They are giving another god or gods credit for what our God did. It’s not right to take and give credit for something you didn’t do. That’s plagiarizing.

That happened to me once. I came up with a joke and then a friend took the joke and started telling it to people as if he created it. Is that the same thing?

Sort of.

It was at this point that people started coming up to confront Landerholm. For instance, wind momentarily blew his sign down and someone pointed out that if God created the wind, then maybe it was a sign that God wanted him to stop. Another called him an idiot. Landerholm handled the negativity rather well and said,” Do you go to college? You’re a college student and you can’t come up with an insult better than that?” We then continued our conversation.

What does effeminate mean?

That’s one of the more difficult ones. That’s what the original Greek called “soft.” Basically, it’s a man who wants to be a woman.

If I dressed as a woman for a Halloween, am I committing a sin?

I don’t think so. If you wanted to remain in that type of clothing, that would be wrong.

Do you think a homosexual would walk by, see your sign and then stop being gay?

No. They may have to read the Bible or talk to other Christians before that happens.

What does it mean to be covetous?

That’s to have an inordinate amount of affection for something that doesn’t belong to you.

If I were at a restaurant and saw a really juicy steak at someone else’s table and wished it was mine, would I be sinning?

No, but if the owner of the steak got up to go to the bathroom and you thought about stealing the steak – that would be.

I know that list on the first side of your poster is from the Bible, but did you write the “Fear-God-or-prepare-for-Hell!” section?

It’s not actually my sign. I borrowed it from someone.

How important is free speech to you?

It’s very important to me. Obviously, if we didn’t have free speech, I couldn’t be here right now. I’m glad and proud to live in America.