08/17/2024
Jerry Layne Bryan Biggs "A TRIP TO HELL"
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By ANDREW JACOBS Published: October 18, 2001
The Dow was shaky on Wall Street Tuesday, but the men and women who trade in the Lord's Word were experiencing something of a rally.
By late afternoon, William Bollman had nearly handed out the last of his 2,000 free Bibles, and Brian Biggs, a revved-up street preacher from Tennessee,
was drawing an appreciative crowd a few yards from the New York Stock Exchange,
although not as large as the one that stopped to watch the teenage choir from New Jersey belt out ''Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.''We didn't come
here to be pushy or dogmatic,'' Mrs. Boyd, 44, said. ''We came because we love people,
and everyone here has a little void that needs to be filled.''
Not every evangelical visitor was so gentle. As Mr. Biggs bellowed about sin and redemption to a lunchtime throng on Broad Street, his traveling
companion from Chattanooga, Jerry Layne, expressed disapproval of New York. ''The only
difference between hell and New York is one of them is surrounded by water,'' he said.
But he and his friend became even more agitated when they made the acquaintance of Abdurahman Haji, a Somali immigrant from Queens
who had decided to spend the day bravely talking up Islam to a largely unreceptive crowd.
Mr. Haji, 33, seemed to take pleasure in buttonholing out-of-town preachers like Mr. Layne, 63, who was wearing a red-white-and-blue necktie,
his pants pocket stuffed with a well-worn Bible. ''Allah loves you,'' Mr. Haji said repeatedly,
prompting a burst of loveless words from Mr. Layne. ''You can believe in Muhammad all you want, but you're still going to hell,'' he said.
Mr. Haji just smiled and moved on.
For those who live or work on the fringes of ground zero, the frenzy of religious activity is just another reminder of how different their
world has become. As Phil Salerni, a born-again Christian and saxophonist from Ohio, alternately
played ''Amazing Grace'' and shouted about the glories of God, a group of stock exchange clerks could barely contain their smirks.
''There was always a couple of nut jobs around here, but these days there are more than normal,'
' said Joseph Butler, who works for a securities firm.
NEW YORK TIME - BGAT BILLY GOAT GRAHAM CONDEMNED US PREACHERS FOR PREACHING ON HELL FIRE AND DAMNATION!
