The First Amendment rights that all Americans share are rarely challenged, but one question tends to come up whenever those rights are pushed to their limits: just because you can say something, does that mean you should?

It always creates a buzz when evangelists come to Grand Valley State University and set up shop under the Transitional Links, but when evangelical preacher Jed Smock arrived in Allendale on Friday afternoon, both Smock and a few of the students that surrounded him pushed things too far.

Smock not only railed against the lifestyle of today’s college students, but also condemned gays, women and non-Christians during his time at GVSU.

His signs, which proclaimed that bystanders “deserve Hell” and should fear God, were met in force by members of Center for Inquiry GVSU, a group that argues for rational discussion of religion, as well as various other students that stuck around to view the spectacle.

Ranging from theological quotes from well-known public figures to “Citation needed” to “You ain’t got no pancake mix” — in reference to a YouTube video showing a previous evangelical preacher’s visit to GVSU — the CFI members’ messages all illustrated the same point of view: Smock was wrong.

Smock’s visit brought the vitriol out of the GVSU community and proved once again that the ability to say something doesn’t always translate into the requirement to say it. Verbally attacking someone because of their sex, sexual orientation or belief system is never necessary and only serves to breed more hatred and negativity. Instead of stepping onto soap boxes to argue over who’s right, people should foster acceptance and tolerance of each other’s differences.

And that goes for both Smock and the various students that encircled and mocked him during his visit. Disagreeing with another person’s belief set is one thing – even a rational debate about beliefs would be fine – but attacking someone on a personal level because they hold to a different belief system or lifestyle than your own is uncalled for.

The power to speak freely comes with the duty to speak responsibly.