No matter which long-standing religion you look at — Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, etc. — none of them are monolithic. That is, within each religion there is a spectrum of interpretation and practice. Moreover, within each religion the different interpretations and practices of two differing sects may contradict one another. Just because a Christian looks different and sounds different, doesn’t mean that they are not Christians.

Whenever the screaming preachers come — those perennial preachers that “sermonize” outside the Maucker Union —  there is almost always an attempt to discredit them as Christians. Student Christians often join the scene and urge the screaming preacher that it isn’t within the doctrine to pass judgment on others. I also have seen in the past where some Christians bring a sign saying, “please don’t listen to him, this isn’t what Christianity sounds like!”

While I understand their point that most of the time Christians don’t do these sorts of things, it would be far more valid to instead hold up a sign saying, “Most Christians do not share this interpretation!” I say this because the screaming preacher is, in fact, a Christian. To say otherwise is akin to ISIS claiming that they are the only Muslims in the world. The desire to rebel in these cases is a subtle, but textbook, “no true Scotsman” fallacy.

Rather, the theological basis for the screaming preacher’s views is often sound. If ever you stand by and listen to the dialogue between the students and the preacher you may be lucky enough to hear one such preacher defend him or herself from the criticisms of the Christians on campus. While it may be true that the preacher should “judge not, that he may be judged,” the preacher could respond that they aren’t judging. They are just espousing the written doctrine: blasphemers, adulterers and worshipers of false idols who do not repent will not be saved. The guy has a point, as this stuff is written down in a book that the religion is largely based off of (the Bible). They might make a show and point some fingers at anonymous people they have never met, but ultimately they are advertising standard Church doctrine — i.e., the need to repent.

Another objection I hear is that the preacher should “love thy neighbor.” Again, the preacher has a case. To rebut, the preacher merely observes that the eternal souls of the soon-to-be brainwashed students at the University of Northern Iowa are in danger and in need of saving. The preacher then also observes that his actions seek to remedy this problem. Moreover, being loud, distracting and potentially hurtful while quoting Bible verses, although distasteful by today’s standards, is a far cry from relieving one of the title of “Christian.” If people are so uptight about how “nice” Christians are supposed to be, they shouldn’t be looking in the present. They should look back in time and condemn all of the figures in history that have done not-so-nice things in the name of Christianity. Surely the Spanish inquisitors are a less-tolerable breed of Christian than the campus street preacher.

To say that one of the screaming preacher’s actions is somehow a violation of what it means to be Christian is a judgment grounded in contrary theological axioms, and hence is just as invalid as ISIS disowning the Muslim cultures surrounding their land. The screaming preachers are Christians. The members of the Westboro Baptist Church are Christians. The snake-charming Pentecostal pastors are Christians. The guy who doesn’t go to church on Sunday but believes that Jesus died on the Cross to give him the opportunity to go to heaven, need only he repent, is, in fact, a Christian.

I must confess, I am no Christian. I am not defending the screaming preacher because I think he deserves a fair shot at heaven; I am defending his Christianity, because I want to reinforce the fact that religions are not monolithic. It is intellectually dishonest for Christians to deny the Christianity of another in order to “protect the good name of Christianity.” If this is the goal, take my advice from above: make the case that most Christians don’t look like the screaming preachers (utilizing some statistics might be nice). But don’t deny that he is a Christian.

If you are actually upset with the screaming preacher, and you think he is promoting a bad image for Christianity, ignore him. Few things are as satisfying as watching a street preacher pack up and go home, defeated by people’s unwillingness to humor them.