Quotes of the Day:
"When any faculty member speaks, he speaks for the university." Dr. Bob Jones III
"When there is a dispute between men, and one side has to stand up...and call names, you know they have a weak position. If it is a case of presenting truth, the truth is convincing in itself. You do not have to use…name-calling…to commend the truth, there are some men who major in these techniques…We do want to call our attention to the truth of the matter, to the facts, the evidence that is plainly before anyone who will look at it.” Joint statement by Dr. Stewart Custer and Dr. Bob Jones III
God Almighty 'resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.' I cannot think of one instance in which one of the Joneses responded to a valid, biblical rebuke with humility by admitting their errors or seeking forgiveness from those they had wronged. However, perhaps because of my attitude toward the Joneses, I am simply not objective enough.
If then I am not objective, then it would be a good idea to use a standard, a rule, or an objective measurement. Drs. Custer and Jones have supplied us with such a measure in the above joint statement. What could be a more fitting - or damning - standard than one's own words? And, that has always been the way with the Joneses and the Jonesians: their own standards, standards they apply to others but never apply to themselves, damn them.
In every dispute I have studied between the Joneses and their many opponents or critics, I have never detected a very high regard for truth amongst the Joneses. General George Patton, the great American mechanized armor commander and student of military history, once said, "Fixed fortifications are monuments to men's stupidity." And, it often appears that the Joneses view "the truth" as a "fixed fortification," too constraining for their leadership style. They look at facts and truth as things that can be modified later to fit new circumstances.
Dr. Bob Jones III is a man ever at play with the facts. He finds facts to constraining. He has attained the status of a religious “guru” who is not required by his followers to give specific responses to those who accuse him of sin. Dr. Bob Jones III is the Great Exception within fundamentalism. He insists upon having it both ways on every issue. He impetuously toys with the lives of those who do not evidence the personal loyalty he requires of those under his patronage. He routinely endeavors to ruin the reputations of those who rebuke his sins or who do not accommodate his duplicity. He pretends to be the Great Judge of the motives of his detractors. But God is the only One competent to "try the reigns" and to discern and to judge the "thoughts and intents" of the hearts of men. His followers, most notably his Bible faculty, dutifully aid him in his efforts to discredit his detractors and distort Bob III's record. Dr. Bob Jones III never takes responsibility for his blunders. He never answers for his wrongdoing, heaping more wrongs on those who demonstrate the Pauline audacity to hold him to any sort of immutable, biblical standards. He is a master at manipulating and coercing those who trust him and he never hesitates to cut off those who depend upon Bob Jones University and Jonesian patronage for religious advancement who do not exhibit unqualified personal loyalty. Jones and the Jonesians operate from a strictly defensive mentality. Their main defense is to attack and discredit those who shed light on their hypocritical ways. They have become a subculture with everyone's status and success dependent upon the favor of Bob Jones III. The Jonesians, those who have elevated the Joneses to divine status in their hearts and lives, individually and collectively act as if Bob Jones III is above reproach and immune from reproof. As a mechanism of self-preservation, a Jonesian will act as if those who dare to correct Bob Jones III or criticize the doings at BJU are necessarily controlled by evil.
In short, the Joneses, BJU, and their Jonesian followers have all the marks consistent with a personality cult. Those who disbelieve this need only attempt to hold the Joneses to account to find themselves on the receiving end of Jonesianism hatred and retaliation.
Next post will provide supporting examples, supplied of course, by the Joneses.
"In short, the Joneses, BJU, and their Jonesian followers have all the marks consistent with a personality cult. Those who disbelieve this need only attempt to hold the Joneses to account to find themselves on the receiving end of Jonesianism hatred and retaliation."
As a staff member of some years I heard some troubling stories from students whom counseled privately with me. They worked with me and over time came to believe they could trust me not to "bojoed" them out. I never attended the school but was hired as outside help to on staff position.
As I worked the first few years I began to discern some trouble spots within the universities way of dealing with problem students as well as staff.
I saw where certain offences were capitalized on and where depending the individual, his school ties through "certain churches", preachers or whom his parents might be...would obtain a pass or what we would call a "papal indulgence" from the popes trainers and enforces.
I know of one HS principle who could not stand the strain of passing judgement on others and within a short period of time left the State to secure a position within a less aggressive institution.
Anyone that I knew who would challenge anything in the college was usually branded as a trouble maker. One of the rules in the staff booklet is that staff is never to complain. You can show an outrage for liberals and the many other Jones approved villains as long as that gun of disapproval never pointed inside the fence.
The atmosphere was that of a bitter sweet pukey air that lacked any freshness nor individual thought.
I'm afraid that my Scotch Irish descendent coupled with a strong dislike for men pleasers caused me to become more of an observer then a participant in the family's communal game. I was 43 yrs old when I joined the staff and only was there because my wife was "chosen" to teach. I must admit upon hearing the pay scale that I smiled and said "well what does my wife get?"
My trouble. What you see is what you get!
I became friends with the overly hormonal charged sinful youth,aka: students. Yep, I like them. The more off the street the boys were the more I liked them. Why? Because I saw me in them! What a great environment to engage young people in the zest of their lives and encourage them. I took weekend adventures with "my guys", went hiking, swimming and did cook outs. I knew of their dorm rules, tattle tellers, Bojo's, nerds and all the other things that sought to discover some unknown sin that could be reported to an PC or APC to win points with the Dean of Men.
Countless stories of immature kids being commissioned to "watch over" the flock and help ensure that BJU would remain the "Bastion of Squeaky Clean Christians". Image is everything at BJU. Sinners must be sent home so that new students can see only pure glory when they arrive on the BJ bus.
I was very able to keep track of every student shipped and sometimes found out the true reason vs the rumor controlled mill that would come out of a Dean's office to his elves then to all PC's and APC who faithfully passed along every word to prove that the alleged sinner got what was coming to him. Once a friend of mine overheard the Dean's boys gleefully sharing on how many guys were shipped that year. That's the reward system at BJU. It doesn't have to be right or honorable, just a BOJO approval stamp that shows them as "defenders of the Joneses faith".
Posted by: Worker Bee | October 23, 2007 at 09:13 PM