If you have spent time on an American campus over the past few decades, you probably know who Sister Cindy is. She is impossible to miss as she professes the dos and don’ts of her religion on campus walkways. Most students attend her sermons for amusement, but she does claim to have converted more than a few sinners.
Sister Cindy is known on the internet via the TikTok page crazycampuscouple. The page has more than 160K followers and contains clips of Sister Cindy’s and her husband’s sermons. The profile picture is a snap of Sister Cindy passionately delivering a message.
This piece will look at Sister Cindy’s transformation, her family, and the criticism she receives.
Sister Cindy engaged in all the sins of campus life before meeting her husband Brother Jed
In late December 1977, Sister Cindy, then known as Cindy Lasseter, was a campus sophomore enjoying campus life like any other late 70s young adult. The journalism student at the University of Florida was a famed dancer who had completed various dance challenges.
Cindy attended Brother Jed’s sermon in late December 1977, but to any observer, Cindy considered Jed’s teachings a source of entertainment. After Jed left, Cindy re-immersed herself into sinful campus life which involved, among other things, drug and alcohol abuse, ceaseless partying, and sexual immorality.
However, somewhere inside, Brother Jed’s word stuck with Cindy. When he returned a year later, Cindy was much more receptive to his teachings. Brother Jed accepted Cindy’s invitation to lunch, but only if she agreed to wear a modest skirt. In stark contrast to the typical campus date, this one involved nothing but preaching. Brother Jed writes on the couple’s website:
“I preached to her the whole time and she seemed open to the things of the Lord. She accompanied me to a revival service that evening but she refused to repent of her sins and commit her life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Convinced that Cindy was ripe for salvation, I invited her to the revival meeting the next night.”
According to the article, Cindy tried to tempt Brother Jed into sin, but Jed stood firm in the word of the Lord. She didn’t rebuke her, however, as the next day he accompanied her to church. After a lengthy struggle, Sister Cindy accepted Christianity. Brother Jed gleefully baptized his latest convert in the Gulf of Mexico.
Cindy was a promising journalism student, widely expected to become a state and national star in the future. “But God had other plans for her,” the site reads. Cindy quit working for the campus newspaper and joined The Campus Ministry. Sister Cindy’s about-turn shocked everybody, moreso her former party mates and hecklers. She writes:
“My preaching was quite a shock and a wonderful testimony to the student body, especially to Brother Jed’s regular mockers who knew me as a fellow heckler at the very spot where a few months earlier I had mocked God’s Word. Now I was a new creature. Old things had passed away. Behold, all things had become new.”
Cindy eventually joined Brother Jed’s mission and married him.
Cindy, Jed, and their five daughters travel together all around American campuses spreading the word of the Lord
Cindy and her husband brother Jed have five daughters, all of whom were homeschooled.
The daughters occasionally travel with their parents around the United States, preaching the word of the Lord. However, Cindy and Jed still take center stage when it comes to preaching. We are yet to see one of the daughters step up with the verve associated with Cindy and Jed.
Cindy has received criticism for her delivery of sermons but she appears unfazed by the disapproval
“I am here to do some good old-fashioned slut shaming,” Cindy says in a recent video uploaded on Twitter by writer Ashley Ray. Cindy’s statement receives some excited cheers from a gathering crowd, but the excitement is more than likely disguised mockery.
Such kind of rhetoric is virtually unacceptable in modern-day America, especially among the youth dominant in campuses. Cindy has the constitutional right to say as she pleases and is therefore unlikely to stop spreading her fiery messages. She’s been doing it for decades; why stop now?
Sister Cindy is perhaps more motivated to press on, as, through social media, her sermons can travel across America, and indeed around the world, with the simple tap of the share or retweet button.
People don’t criticize Cindy for spreading religion, but rather for how she does it. Cindy’s predominant message is to accept Jesus or go to Hell. There is no in-between. “Raise your hand if you believe in Jesus Christ… the rest of you are going to hell,” Cindy told Missouri State students amid a chorus of boos.
She went on to call out female students for dressing like ‘whores’ and ‘sluts’, and male students for allegedly getting women drunk and raping them. According to The Standard, Cindy’s autograph read ‘repent you horny devil’ alongside her signature. “It’s ridiculous. She’s giving Christianity a bad name,” one of the students interviewed by the publication said. “This is not what Christianity is.”
Most critics dismiss Sister Cindy as an attention seeker. “They say they are out her to preach, but it’s just a show,” Jenna Gibbs told Reveille. “It’s just a stage act to get views on YouTube and get a rise out of people.” Maybe Sister Cindy would be better served spreading the Word through messages of love rather than through vile, hateful expressions.
Cindy is spreading the HO NO MO message across schools in America
Sister Cindy has become synonymous with the HO NO MO message, translating to Hoe No More.
Her Instagram page has videos of students chanting ‘HO NO MO’ alongside Cindy. The slogan has proven profitable for Cindy as she sells branded merchandise featuring the popular message that condemns all sex outside marriage.
As expected, Cindy faces opposition in every campus she visits. After visiting Iowa State and attracting a 200-strong crowd, Sandra Marcu, director of the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity, lamented that so many people had gathered to listen to Cindy.
“It feeds this narrative that it’s okay to slut shame people, it’s okay to make homophobic remarks; that it’s all within the realm of comedy or fun, when it’s really not,” Sandra told Iowa State Daily.
When asked whether slut-shaming produces good results, Cindy didn’t mince her words: “Yes. Guilt is good. Guilt leads to repentance and faith, but you do need to get your guilt cleansed.”
Marcu said that though she supports the freedom of expression, people shouldn’t allow Cindy to spread hateful messages. “I’m all about freedom of expression on campus and I think it’s healthy to have dialogue, but I think it’s unfortunate that someone spouting such hateful rhetoric is getting such applause and platform,” she said.
It’s unclear whether the crowds Cindy attracts concur with her message or attend her exuberant sermons for comic relief. For instance, as she had lunch, a student asked her stand-in, Vijay Pisini, whether he preferred ‘ass or tits.’