what is bob jones university?!

naturalmom
Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:49:19 +0000

I realize it may be a mistake to bring this thread back to the top, but I really wanted to put in a few thoughts. I’m afraid they’re going to be random and unorganized, as I try to comment on various topics that were discussed.

I should admit upfront that I am a conservative Christian. Politically, I don’t really fit into a box - I am against abortion, which pushes me to the right, but I’m also against the Iraq war and the death penalty, which pushes me to the left.

On BJU: This is not a school I would want to attend myself, and I also wouldn’t be thrilled with it as a choice for my children. I am not familiar with the university as much as I am with the textbooks that they publish for Christian schools and homeschools. I don’t use them because of the viewpoint in them, but academically I have to admit they are among the most rigorous textbook choices out there.

I do find it very disturbing that there are such strong feelings about this school. I think this is what Chuck was originally getting at. This angry reaction of people who believe differently is quite shocking to me, because often these are the same people claiming to promote tolerance. It seems to be the moral views of BJU that cause offense: but I think many of those would be shared by Muslims. (correct me if I am wrong, but please do so with kindness!) Do you non-Muslims know anything about Sharia law? The penalties are far greater than BJU’s. Both BJU and Muslims would say: no premarital sex, no adultery, no alcohol, no adult movies, and they both require modest dress. For Muslims it is recognized that this is part of their faith. Why isn’t this understanding given to the group of Christians at BJU? I know the restrictions at BJU go beyond those basic things, but so does Islam.

Muslims and the people at BJU are trying to live out their faith in a world that has very different values than they hold. The comments made by the BJU president about Muslims don’t seem as harsh to me as the comments made by some of the people on this forum about Christians at BJU.

And what is a pseudo-Christian? Are there pseudo-Muslims out there too? If you looked at my life, there would be things to make you question how strongly I hold my faith. But it’s the core of my life! It would be even worse if you could see into my heart - yet I want to be following God, and I love Jesus!

I know that many of you are in the younger generation, and I hope that you will try to see and understand people that are different from you. It’s easy to tolerate people we agree with. (toleration doesn’t mean agreement!)

Just one more note: I remember the saddest thing I saw was in London, when I was out for the day with my children. There was a war protest (this was back when the US first invaded). The most striking thing about it was how ANGRY the people were. How can you win people over to peace by shouting with what looks like hatred? How can you expect anything but narrowmindedness from BJU if you ridicule so harshly?

signing off now, afraid to see what the responses might be…