I attended Bob Jones University from 1977 to 1980 and graduated with a degree in Business Management. I had a great time at BJU! I loved the campus of "World's Most Unusual University" with its manicured lawns, immaculate flower beds, and beautiful fountains and buildings. I wasn't a discipline problem. I wasn't a critic of the rules or how the Joneses ran their institution or ruled over those in their fundamentalist orbit. I loved the "Fortress of Faith," had a great time there, and stayed out of trouble. Like everyone else there, I admired the Joneses.
Like most college guys majoring in business at BJU, I wasn't attentive to all the Joneses' controversies. I signed the rule book, paid tuition, and started classes. But, 1977 was when the Jones boys and John R. Rice had a falling out. Apparently, the conflict was so intense that John R. Rice called Bob Jones Jr. and Bob Jones III, "hell-raising Pharisees". My roommate, Scott, was a Bible major. He was engaged to one of the Rice girls! The Rices' had even given him a car. As I recall, Scott met with the administration several times. Scott was very concerned about his relationship with BJU and the Jones clan. As I recall, all the BJU "preacher boys," as they were called, were required to sign a statement supporting the Joneses. Those who didn't choose the Jones boys, as I recall, were removed from the preacher boy group, not a great starting point for an aspring fundamentalist preacher who would depend on the Joneses for a recommendation! He finally ended up siding with the Joneses, breaking off the engagement, and returning the car! But, none of this involved or affected me. That's the way it is often; if something doesn't affect you personally, you don't pick up on the import of what is occuring.
Had anyone been critical of BJU or the Joneses during this period, I would have simply disbelieved the report and turned them off. In case you missed that, I would not have given due consideration to anyone regarding any failings by the Joneses or BJU. (Would I consider such an attitude "cultic" today? Yes.)
In 1982 I married Wendy Ardt, a former BJU student. Wendy and I remained loyal, unquestioning supporters of Bob Jones University, the Joneses, and Bob Jones-styled fundamentalism and organizations until 1991. I was confident that our children would go to a BJU "approved" church, worship with other BJU graduates, be educated in a Christian day school by BJU graduates, and go off to BJU to become campus queens and king, reflections of the self-proclaimed Christian excellence promoted by the Joneses and the Bob Jones University educational system.
Little did I know but that our Lord had other plans. My eyes and ears would be dramatically opened. I would have my own experience with my alma mater, with Dr. Bob Jones III, and with fundamentalism. My "faith" in men and institutions would be challenged. Like my roommate Scott, I faced a decision regarding my support of the Joneses and Bob Jones University.
The purpose of BJU Exposed is to detail the factor's that helped make that decision, reveal troubling side of the Joneses, Bob Jones University, and fundamentalism in general in the hope that it will help others.
Cycling
