Bob Jones University Weblog

William Parker, the Jonesian Instinct, and Modern-Day Phariseeism

On September 13, 2009, I received this comment from a William Parker on the BJUWeblog: "noticed you haven't posted in a while... why not?"

I haven't posted anything on the weblog for almost a year.  I responded to his inquiry by telling him that I had wanted to post a cover page distilling what I am trying to convey on the weblog but that I have been busy and very concerned about the domestic climate here in the US.

I don't have a great deal of time to spend on William Parker.  However, I wanted to post our exchange for the following reasons:

1.    Jonsianism is a blinding leaven.  Jonesianism is a bigoted devotion to BJU and the Joneses.  It permeates the Jonesian's intellect, emotions, and spirituality.  Jonsianism insulates its devotee's from any objective or biblical fact or principle that would bring it into question.  In the following exchanges, note how Will Parker ignores the facts and issues and biblical principles central to the observations I have made regarding the Joneses, BJU, and Jonesianism.  There is another such exchange with Louis Hensler on the weblog.

2.    Jonesianism, like Phariseeism, consists primarily of misplaced unscriptural traditions and religious self-righteousness and hypocrisy.  

3.    Note how Will Parker accuses me of applying to the Joneses/BJU a standard of perfection "they would never say they are perfect..."  Without addressing any facts, Will Parker implies that I have held the Joneses/BJU to some sort of unfair standard of perfection.  In doing so, he ignores the well-documented history of the Joneses/BJU and their reputation for duplicity.  Will Parker then ignores my plea to apply to the Joneses/BJU The Objective Standard for Conduct, God's Word.  Will Parker has tacitly rejected the Bible as the measure of Faith and Practice.  Years ago, Bob Jones Sr. said in chapel, "You want to know where a man stands with God?  You have only to ask him this one question.  'What does he think of this school?'"  Christ said to the Pharisees, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition." 

4.    As with Christ and the Pharisees, when you meet a Jonesian, a modern-day Pharisee, don't waste your time with him.  Like the Pharisees of Christ's time, Jonesians are incapable of engaging in an honest conversation about the Joneses and BJU.  Christ gave Divine guidance when He said, "Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind."

Here are the exchanges between Will Parker and me:

From: Mark Fitzhenry 
To: Will Parker
Sent: Sunday, September 13, 2009 9:57:17 PM
Subject: Re: Comment on "Different but the Same"

> noticed you haven't posted in a while... why not?

I responded:

Will:

I actually thot about it today.  ("Thot" is operative word....devoid of action, obviously!)

I wanted to draw up an introductory page, a sort of explanation and distillation of what I am trying to convey.

I've been mulling it over but it hasn't surfaced to the action stage.

I've actually been trying to earn as much money as possible over the past 9 to 12 months.

This economy has me very 'concerned'.

We are seeing in the Obama administration the same type of organizational maladies that I observed at BJU.  Yes, there are differences of degree and style.  But, its the same basic type of leadership, personalities, religious zeal, techniques, deception, blinded followership, etc.

On a global scale, I personally believe we are witnessing the proximal prelude to the accomplishment of a host of biblical prophecies.

20 years ago the "One-world government" was 50 years off.  Not anymore.  'Tis late in the day when the shadows of small men loom large.  Obama is here and it is later than we might think...

Read People of the Lie by M. Scott Peck and learn how to identify sick organizations and evil people.  With that sort of knowledge, you will be able to see those things that others and I missed in the Jonesians and at BJU.

I wish I had done that 25 years ago, AND had been ready to embrace the truth when I detected it.

There is a line in the movie A FEW GOOD MEN where Nicholson says to someone, "The truth?  You can't handle the truth!"

I have been guilty of that quite a few times in my life.  I wasn't ready for the truth God was trying to reveal to me.

Has that ever happened to you?  If it has, try to prevent it from happening again!

Good fortune to you.

mark

On Sep 13, 2009, at 10:12 PM, william parker wrote:

to tell you the truth, i stumbled on your website by accident. 

I graduated from BJU and got my masters from there as well. and I actually enjoyed it. sorry you didn't. I know the Jones' personally and i'm sorry you associate some sort of "Christianity" with them. They would never say they are perfect. by any stretch. 

i'm not sure what problems you had while you were there but i'd say it's time to resolve them and move on. 

they've been doing what they've been doing for the better part of 80 years... so they're doing something right. even if you think it's wrong. 

make sure you're not acutally turning people away from Jesus. that's what it seemed when I got on your site.

"Good fortune"?? nah... I'll take sovereignty. 

From: Mark Fitzhenry 
To: william parker 
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 7:41:57 AM
Subject: Re: Comment on "Different but the Same"

William,

I enjoyed my time at BJ too.

Your first point is a weak, if not [a] disingenuous defense of Jonesianism.  I've never met a perfect person, Christian or non-Christian.  It is ridiculous, and disingenuous, for you or anyone to imply that pointing out the wrongdoing of the Joneses/BJU is based upon an unfair, unreasonable application of a standard of perfection.  What is your standard of conduct for BJU and the Joneses, William?  Evidently it's not God's Word because....well, why don't you field the question, William?

Are you defending religious hypocrisy by ignoring the facts and biblical principles within the bjuweblog?  That doesn't seem to be honest.  If you can't handle the truth, then don't try to engage me in back and forth.  I'll tell you the truth, William, and back it up with facts.  But if I sense you must ignore the facts because you can't handle the truth, I won't waste time on you.  Can you handle the truth, William?  Then, why not deal with the facts?  If you disagree with me, start by disproving that which I present as fact.  Don't try to paint me as someone who criticizes those who are not "perfect" or don't meet the Biblical Standard[s] of behavior you have rejected as the standard by which BJU/the Joneses are to be evaluated.  You seem intelligent.  Use your intelligence and don't assume everyone else is ignorant enough to swallow what you are gratuitously saying.     

Religious hypocrisy - the type detailed and condemned by Christ in Matthew 23 - is a major offense and stumbling block to the Gospel.  In His expose of the religious leaders while here on earth, I doubt Jesus feared turning away people from the Gospel by exposing the self-absorbed, self-righteous religious hypocrites and power mongers of that time.  What made the Joneses the way they are?  In my view, it is a core of friends, staff, students, and supporters who have neither the discernment nor the character to rebuke the Joneses when they are wrong and engaging in sin.

Based upon BJU's/Bob III's record, I doubt many of those who have had problems with BJU/Bob III, including me, will see them resolved in this world.  (Tip:  I suspect everything Jonesian within your soul and being recoils at this, but, William, it would be best to ignore this statement because it is factual and true.)

I am glad you are a friend of the Joneses.  I actually hope that you have the capacity and character to be a "good" friend to him.  You know, the kind of friend that tells someone when they think a friend is wrong or in sin.  Not many of those friends around, are there, William?  Fewer within Jonesianism, right?  What kind of friend you are to him?  Have you ever rebuked him for lying?  Or, are you the kind of friend who ignores his lies and ridicules those who point out his lying?  I hope not because I always thot that a friend who silently assents to lies and defends those lies - a friend and defender of a liar - is less than an honest friend.  Bob III does not tolerate for long those who would rebuke him for his lying, duplicity, lust for religious power and control, and the un-Christian attitudes he has leavened within his corner of Christendom.  If you bother to express your disagreement to me, take the time to read what I have written and cite specific instances where you believe I am wrong.  I realize that will be hard for you to do.  But, after all the whining, posturing, dissembling, and such, the facts are still remain untouched.

Weak again, William.  The Roman Catholic Church and Islam are quite a bit older than BJU.  By your standard, they are doing something right even if I think it wrong.  I believe I quoted Dr. Panosian regarding the exposure of sin that was mixed with good.  He opined that good mixed with sin was like fine food mixed with refuse in a trash can and that such good was doubly dangerous.   

William, evidently you spent some money at bju to get an education.  Whether or not you received a masters degree from any school, I don't know.  All I know from what you have sent to me is that you wouldn't make it through the Fitzhenry homeschool.   A "masters", eh?  Your non-use of complete sentences, capitalization comes across as lacking in respect for others, arrogant, and conceited.  Frankly, you don't seem all that well educated to me. 

Cute ending to a very weak defense of the Joneses, BJU, and Jonesianism, William.  

The fact is, I have never met a Jonesian idolater who gave more than lip-service to the sovereignty of God or God's Standard of Christian behavior as outlined in His Word.    

BTW, don't let Bob III hear you talk about 'sovereignty'.  He might think you are going Calvin on him.

mark

On Sep 14, 2009, at 7:53 AM, william parker wrote:

mark,

i am a calvinist. and the fact that you replied to my email with a novel makes me feel sorry for you. let it go man, let it go.

will

and my emails are "unmasterlike" because they're emails. not scholarly articles. by the way, nice text use of BTW in your novel. 

I finally wrote to Will:

This the the Panosian quote to which I referred.

“Wherever truth exposes error, error will oppose truth, and truth will be drawn into conflict. The believer must both stand and advance against the enemy. Although controversy is not to be sought, it must be accepted. He cannot ignore strife, though it is not of his making. Love is a noble virtue, but Christian love is love in the truth.”… “[M]odern history affords ample opportunity for the teacher to illustrate our final lesson, that Satan’s method is to counterfeit the true.”… “We are conditioned to regard the “good” in every mixture of good and evil, when as discerning Christians, we should regard the evil. Few would value the scraps of good food in a garbage can. Just as the good food is totally contaminated by its association with the bad, so is whatever of good may seem to be in a spiritual mixture. In fact, the presence of the good makes the evil more subtly dangerous.” Dr. Edward Panosian

You have chosen your 'sovereign' and you have chosen poorly.  

Jonesian devotion like yours convinces me that BJ will not change.  A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

I do not engage those who feign ignorance of facts and truth.  You are masterful at intellectual and spiritual dishonesty.  

I'm cutting you off.  

This is your notice to not email me again or post anything on the bjuweblog.

Regrettably,

mark

From: Mark Fitzhenry 

Date: September 14, 2009 8:02:49 AM EDT

To: william parker 

Subject: Re: Comment on "Different but the Same"

Will

You missed the point, Will.

You, a Jonesian, are the point.

How sad it is that you cannot handle the truth.  

There are thousands just like you.  

Steven Jones cannot undo the leaven sown into the souls of the Jonesians by the Bob's.

mark

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Different but the Same

Quotes of the day:

"Of all the plagues with which mankind is cursed, religious tyranny is the worst."  Daniel Dafoe

“[Bob Jones III]…it was not the duty-bound combat veteran with the chest full of Distinguished Flying Crosses, Air Medals, and combat ribbons who was the ‘betrayer’. Rather, it was a group of BJU grads who were guided by their own self-interests and who reduced Biblical principles to carnal weaponry. Dr. Bob Sr. said, ‘A man’s character is not formed in the moment of crisis, it is revealed’…Your conduct reveals a character which belies BJU’s highminded prattle about standing for the ‘absolute authority of the Bible’ and ‘the old-time religion’…it is obvious that the Bible has little actual authority over the group. Once-upon-a time BJU’s teachers condemned situation ethics. Today, situation ethics are standard operating procedure for many in the BJU crowd…People are catching on to your see-no-evil, hear-no-evil antics. Acting blind, deaf, and dumb can be useful at times, especially at a BJU fundraiser [hosted by John Stevens and Northside Baptist].” 1997 letter to Bob Jones III

When I still lived at my parent's home, my father confronted me with an unflattering report from one of his contemporaries.  (To the best of my recollection, it involved some fairly aggressive driving.)  I protested and set out to mount a vigorous, self-serving defense!  That is, until he told me that he had received an identical report from another friend.  In fact, the second friend didn't know the first informant and cited a different incident!  

With this independent, corroborating testimony, my vigorous defense evaporated.  There was nothing else for me to do but to face facts and own up!  I was wrong, I couldn't attack the credibility of my accusers, and I was forced to take responsibility for my actions.  

It is hard to argue when faced with reports from unrelated people who have independently observed separate instances of behavior and who have come to similar conclusions based upon those observations. 

When I graduated from BJU in 1980, I was confident that BJU and the Joneses represented a sort of "ground zero" in sincere Christianity. In 1991, while attending Northside Baptist in N. Charleston, SC, that all changed.  

Bob III had given the go-ahead recommendation that made John Stevens its pastor.  Mr. and Mrs. Bob Jones III were members at Northside (even though it was some 200 miles from Greenville).  

Northside employed many BJU grads in the church and its schools.  It fed BJU many students and was, and is, one of the hundreds of churches across the USA that are vital to BJU's survival.  

Questions arose regarding some questionable financial dealings of Mr. Stevens, the preacher.  When I asked to see the books of the church, one would have thought I had asked the preacher to undress in front of the congregation.  I arranged to inspect the books on a Friday with BJU grad (now, a teacher at BJU) Barry Formanack, the church treasurer and a deacon.  Barry Formanack confirmed the appointment in writing.  We were excommunicated two days before that appointment was scheduled.  

(I understand that former  Northside treasurer and deacon, Barry Formanack now teaches accounting at BJU. Perhaps some of you will meet some of his students in the coming years.)

I kept Bob Jones III abreast of the situation at Northside.  It quickly became evident that Northside's support for BJU was more important to Bob III than truth and financial accountability.  

I learned a great deal about Bob Jones III during that time and how he approached issues and protected his and BJU's financial and fraternal interests.  I am convinced that Bob Jones III has chosen to serve "mammon" rather than God. 

I also learned a great deal about how the graduates of BJU acted when people tried to hold their fundamentalist leaders and institutions accountable.  I was met with coercion, intimidation, treachery, deceit, and every kind of deviousness imaginable.  

I sought to find the source of these things.  I finally concluded that the BJU-crowd - starting with Bob Jones III, their preachers, their full-time employees, and their rank-and-file people - are devotees of pragmatic expediency driven by personal loyalty to the Joneses and institutional idolatry for BJU.  

I concluded that it is perilous to trust anyone or any institution within the BJU/fundamentalist orbit.

People - especially those who wish to remain in the BJU/IFB orbit - seldom talk about their bad experiences with the Joneses/BJU.  It just isn't safe to talk about such things.    Just ask those who have talked.  One could be blackballed, shunned, fired, or excommunicated!

Dr. Grant Lewis, Dr. Camille Lewis' husband, evidently is not afraid to speak the truth regarding his exit from the BJU orbit of fundamentalism and from Heritage Bible Church in Greenville, SC.  He has written part of his story here.  

Dr. Grant Lewis independently came to some of the same conclusions I did about how the BJU orbit operates. While Grant's exit from Heritage Bible was not as dramatic as my wife's and my excommunication from Northside Baptist, the BJU-controlled church we left, it is uncanny how many similarities to our story I found in Grant's.  

It really doesn't matter what the circumstances are when a Fundamentalist's personal loyalty to the Joneses and institutional idolatry to BJU are challenged.  Those who seek the favor, patronage, and support of the Joneses/BJU act in a fairly predictable way.  I haven't trusted a BJU-trained preacher for years.

Leaving the BJU/fundamentalist orbit was a freeing experience for my wife and me. I will never again knowingly place myself or my family in a position, relationship, or belief system that is controlled or influenced by the practitioners of pragmatic expediency within the BJU orbit.

I learned a hard lesson at the hands of the BJU crowd.  Evidently, that is what the Lord thought was the best way to get us out of the sect.  I am certain that I made the right decision to get out of the BJU sect.

As was the case regarding reports of my aggressive driving, independent, corroborating observations are impossible to ignore.  (Except for the Joneses and BJU, of course.) The Grant and Camille Lewises have made some independent, corroborating observations about the BJU sect that should not be ignored by Christian brethren.

May the Lord bless the Lewises and help many people through them and their story.

mark

The Prince: Machiavellian Leadership

Quote of the Day:

"Christianity, said [Dr. Benjamin] Wiker, was the religion that defined the culture Machiavelli was born into and the religion he rejected – it is never permissible to do evil in the service of good. Machiavelli's singular statement that summarizes his entire worldview – The end justifies the means – meant "no act is so evil that some necessity or benefit cannot mitigate it." This idea, Wiker says, has Machiavelli inextricably linked to atheism.

According to Wiker, Machiavelli believed "that it is not only permissible but also laudable to do evil so that good might come – one must reject God, the soul, and the afterlife. That is just what Machiavelli did, and that is the ultimate effect of his counsel."

Wiker said, 'Because Machiavelli discarded notions of good and evil in 'The Prince,' he could confidently call good evil and evil good. Don't guide your life by what is good, but what is effective. …'"  Machiavelli in the House by Ellis Washington

Christ warned us in Matthew 20:25, "But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them."

I certainly don't pretend to know the mind of Christ or to be capable of plumbing the Wisdom of the Only Wise God.  I do believe that genuine Christian leadership is never cruel, cunning, duplicitous, double dealing, deceitful, arrogant, unapproachable, self-serving, or guided by pragmatic expediency.  True Christian leaders serve with Christ-like humility...the kind of humility that I find, as a proud American male, shocking, counter-intuitive...and, very humbling.  

It is the kind of humility that Christ demonstrated in John 13:

"Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him."..."When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you?  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."

The All Powerful One Who spoke the worlds into existence took the office of the lowest-ranked house servant.  What a contradiction of His deity.  He served and He led by example, not only in foot-washing, but in presenting Himself as a Lamb to be slaughtered for unclean creatures.

I have watched modern-day fundamentalists leaders embrace and employ Machiavellian principles and practices while the rank-and-file within the movement give active or tacit approval.  Christian standards of conduct have been separated from Christian ethics.  That is bad.  But, what is worse is that it affects and hurts good, honest, trusting Christians.  Many BJU grads - most notably, BJU trained preachers and religious professionals - have adopted Machiavellian ways as the norm.  

In the past few years, I have met an increasing number of BJU graduates who have become disillusioned with Christian society and its institutions in general and Independent Fundamental Baptists and BJU in particular.  

We came to BJU convinced that it was the 'Fortress of Faith' and stood for "the absolute authority of the Bible".  We were more separated, doctrinally purer, adhered to higher standards of conduct, and were ethically and academically superior to all the other schools.  We were proud of BJU and being BJU students and grads.  That pride was bolstered by frequent criticisms of those who the Joneses judged fell short of BJU's standards.  Ours was a religious utopia.

It seemed there was a subtle shift in our attitudes and, instead of 'standing for the absolute authority of the Bible,' BJU decided what constituted biblical authority.  

The leadership did not act in concert with Christ's servant/leadership example. Rather than acting like servant/leaders, the Joneses acted like Machiavellians.  They excoriated those who disagreed with them.  They ridiculed those who didn't hold to their pet dogmas.  They ran roughshod over students, graduates, supporters, and anyone who didn't unreservedly support BJU and the Joneses.

And, despite the talk about separation, doctrinal purity, high standards of conduct, and ethical/academic superiority, the Joneses turned out to the be hypocritical; they didn't meet the standards they applied to others.  And, that inconsistency coupled pragmatism and cruel, authoritarianism, and disconnection from Christ's example seems to have led to disillusion within the BJU-styled religious utopia.  

That disillusionment is consistent with the effects of 'secular' Machiavellian society as Mr. Ellis Washington concludes in his article: 

"...What does this tell us? Liberals, progressives, socialists, intellectuals, academics and others adopting Machiavelli's separation of morality from politics and the end justifies the means – both atheistic notions – have no other choice than to create a paradigm where metaphysical concerns are unconnected to public policy, and the only real and relevant heaven one needs to be concerned with is right here on earth.

We can thank Machiavelli for separating politics from morality, which turned the rule of law into tyranny – also for deifying cruel, perverse, unconscious leaders, denigrating heaven and transforming it into a utopia on earth … thus making earth a living hell."

One of the reasons that led me to leave BJU-styled fundamentalism was because many fundamentalists seem to have diefied "cruel, perverse, unconscious leaders" who denigrate heaven and Christianity.  

mark