Freedom to oppress: Berkeley’s civil war

Protesters and police wearing riot helmets fill Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley, September 24, 2017. All photos by Pax Ahimsa Gethen, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Scene: Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley, 1993. I had recently started my first full-time job, working in Sproul Hall, and was taking my lunch break outside. I was entertained by an evangelist dancing around with a Bible, shouting out praises and curses while onlookers generally pointed and laughed. I thought about how different the scene might have been at my alma mater, Northwestern University, where religious conservatives…