I haven't posted anything for a while because I've been waiting on a response from Louis Hensler, a Fighting Fundamentals Forum member and honors graduate from Bob Jones University. Mr. Hensler, or Professor Hensler, is a law professor at Regent University. He finally issued a [non]reply of sorts.
The last post in this series featured a comment by Professor Louis Hensler, in which he voiced concerns about "bigoted name-calling," "stereotyping," and hatred. As is typical of those trained by BJU, his concerns were only directed at me, though he had ample opportunity with his BJU cronies on the FFF. I invited Louis Hensler to also direct those same concerns to his BJU-defending friends on the FFF. He has not done so at this time. In fairness to Professor Hensler, he says he is too busy to respond but that he intends to do so. I asked him for a time-frame. Louis Hensler ignored the inquiry.
Even so, if Mr. Hensler acts like all the Jonesians I have known, he will ignore my invitation to "direct those same concerns to his BJU-defending friends on the FFF". Any objective observer would judge that Louis Hensler and his Fighting Fundamentals Forum cronies engaged in nothing other than bigoted name-calling, stereotyping, and hatred on the Forum. For the most part, the Jonesians on the FFF never dealt with issues or facts! They acted like the Pharisees who strained at gnats and swallowed camel-sized Jonesian faults.
Mr. Hensler's words seem to be mocking him doubly. Anyone who has objectively followed the doings of the Joneses/BJU through the years knows that the Joneses/BJU, who Hensler sought to defend, are the most well-known practitioners of bigotry, name-calling, stereotyping, and hatred within the American religious educational industry. My guess is, Mr. Hensler will be too proud to retract the words by which he judged me. If Louis Hensler is a stereotypical Jonesian, he will never apply to the Joneses/BJU or his BJU/FFF cronies the same standards by which he judged me.
In our exchanges, Louis Hensler hasn't gotten any farther than discussing that which he imagines is wrong with me. He acts as if I'm not qualified to point out the sinful ways of the Joneses/BJU. That is standard operating procedure with the Bob Jones University defenders. I have never met a Jonesian that has judged anyone critical of the Joneses/BJU as qualified to rebuke or reprove the Joneses/BJU.
Louis Hensler is adapting Bob Jones Sr.'s old ploy: "You want to know where a man stands with God? Ask him this one question: What do you think of this school?" Thus far, Louis Hensler has attempted to paint me as a bigoted name-caller, a stereotyper, and nothing more than a BJU-hater with a warped hatred of BJU. In the BJU sub-culture, they think that anyone who does not have a favorable opinion of BJU has lost his standing with God. It is a subtle form of idolatry because it makes what one thinks of BJU, not Christ and His Word, the final arbiters of religious approval.
The Jonesian Leaven: Do As We Say and Do As We Do
For good or ill, educators influence those they teach. This is the principle Christ cited when he warned "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." This is one of the greatest dangers of BJU: the Joneses and those they have trained to train young people, duplicate themselves in impressionable students.
As I researched the techniques the Joneses use on those with whom they disagreed, I found that the Joneses' defenders - students, graduates, faculty, preachers, etc. trained by BJU - employed similar techniques in dealing with those who would dare to point the Nathanic finger at the Joneses/BJU. One of their chiefest tools is Character Assassination.
Character Assassination: A Time-Honored Bob Jones University Tradition
Mr. Bob Jones Sr. seems to have set the no-holds-barred approach to dealing with BJU's critics through character assassination when he preached against one of his former faculty members:
"After Mercer was [fired], Jones Sr. preached a series of chapel messages on Judas. Jones identified Mercer with Judas but, Mercer remembered, 'made clear that Judas was a much finer fellow, for he did have the grace to hang himself and he did not write letters back to his school.' The analogy to the traitor Judas fit well in the minds of the Joneses. The Mercer affair reinforced their growing defensive mentality." (Dalhouse, An Island in the Lake of Fire, p77.)
In Jack van Impe's book, Heart Disease in the Body of Christ, he had a telling quote from a letter to Mr. Bob Jones Jr. from Dr. J. C. Joiner citing an instance where Jones Jr. pronounced judgment on Dr. John R. Rice's mental fitness:
“[Bob, Jr.], I do have ‘ought against you.’ I attended the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship meeting in Tempe…and witnessed the “open” forum…In my opinion; the open forum was not ‘open’ at all because no one was allowed to speak from the floor. The forum degenerated into a gossip session!...You pronounced judgement on Dr. John R. Rice, that he as old and senile and that is ministry…had been significantly influenced by two frustrated women on his staff who have convinced him that he is perfect…The hour of the forum was to be given to discussion of issues and problems that face fundamentalists, but sadly most of that hour was ill-spent in ridicule and character assassinations…”
Mr. Bob Jones III, who was the president of BJU during Louis Hensler's and my time at BJU, showed that he embraced the technique of character assassination as well as evidenced by this letter he wrote:
“He has slandered and vilified his alma mater…He has said we are approving apostasy…He has lost all reason…a kind man, a good man would not do this.” (An attorney commented: “It is my opinion that Dr. Jones III’s words] constitute actionable and recoverable libel per se.”)
When one deals with BJU-styled fundamentalists, one is dealing with a group of some of the meanest, most unethical and hypocritical religionists in existence. The Joneses have passed on to their followers, supporters, and defenders the attitude that slandering an opponent - publicly judging his motives, heart attitude, and even his mental state - is justified if it is done to defend the Joneses, BJU, or their brand of fundamentalism. This attitude is not limited to BJU-styled fundamentalism.
Wally Metts observed: “To be quite blunt, many organizations I encounter [profess a belief in the fundamentals] to maintain peer status, but lie, cheat, steal, carry on corrupt business practices, slander, commit fraud, and practice bitterness and hatred. But as long as they [believe the fundamentals], they are accepted by their peers. It would be hard to imagine a more hypocritical stance.” (Faith Brokers, commenting on his experience at David Gibbs' Christian Legal Association.)
Anyone who stands up and exposes a Fundamentalist pope or a fundamentalist sacred cow like BJU, is going to be lied about, cheated out of his good name, slandered, and be the object of all manner of attacks.
Louis Hensler's Defense of the Joneses/BJU
Louis Hensler, from his Fighting Fundamentals Forum posts, BJU Weblog comments, and emails to me and about me, seems to have settled on "hate" as his main thrust of attack. Not once did Louis Hensler dispute any of the facts that I cited regarding the past reputation of the Joneses/BJU and the impact the Joneses' philosophies and practices had in leavening the attitudes and actions of those they trained. Clearly, in all of Louis Hensler's communications, he has never given the slightest attention to the "discussion of issues and problems that face fundamentalists..." Louis Hensler's focus was not on issues or problems plaguing the Joneses/BJU. When one finds himself in an indefensible position, one finds offense the only course of action. He seems totally absorbed with ignoring the central issues and problems that face BJU and undermining my credibility with phrases like "hatred of BJU," "watches BJU like a hawk," "what he perceives to be its vices," "warped hatred," etc.
Louis Hensler posted this 12-14-07 on the FFF:
"...it seems that the BJU-haters don't seem to think of anything else. I don't think anyone here has set up a blog dedicated to his love of BJU, such as the monument that Mark Fitzhenry has set up to his hatred of BJU. Nobody here watches BJU like a hawk looking for any opportunity to praise its virtues, as Fitzhenry does what he perceives to be its vices. Most BJU grads aren't obsessed with BJU. They're loyal. They understand that the school has its virtues and its shortcomings. A few seem to come away with a warped hatred of the place, and that seems to me to be more strange than what you see here."
Evidently, Louis Hensler sees himself as a judge of not only my heart attitude, ie., hateful, with a warped hatred, etc. but is willing to judge my mental fitness as well. Note this 1-16-08 email Louis Hensler sent me:
"...But let me be candid with you for a moment -- you sound a little unstable. If that's the case, I would hate to think that I am making your situation worse by engaging you. If I get the distinct sense that you are a crazy person on the edge, I'll have to cut off any further correspondence..."
The attacks on those who rebuke the Joneses/BJU have been remarkably savage through the years. The Joneses/BJU have survived by fostering a cult-like personal loyalty, institutional idolatry, and a well-earned fear of reprisals reserved for anyone who rebukes the Joneses/BJU.
It is no wonder why generation after generation within the BJU subculture have remained quiet about the evil vices of the Joneses/BJU for all these years.
To my knowledge, no Jonesian defender has ever declared anyone highly enough qualified, virtuous enough in character, or mentally competent to expose and/or rebuke the evil deeds done by the Joneses/BJU. In this way, the BJU subculture has become a law unto itself, totally insulated, internally and externally, from biblically-based review, rebuke, or criticism.
The only powers the Joneses/BJU fear on earth are political pressure, media pressure, and economic pressure.
In the minds of the Jonesian faithful, the Joneses and BJU are above all internal and external accountability. This is a thoroughly unbiblical attitude and has led many a group into cultism.
IN OVER 30 YEARS I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THE BJU-CROWD JUDGING ANYONE PURE ENOUGH IN MOTIVE, EMBUED WITH ENOUGH WISDOM, STABLE ENOUGH IN MENTAL HEALTH, OR HIGH ENOUGH IN THEIR STANDING WITH GOD, TO BE QUALIFIED TO REBUKE THE DOINGS OF THE JONESES/BJU.
A Failure to face facts in an honest, straight-forward manner
Professor Louis Hensler has never dealt with my stated concerns about the deeds, practices, and philosophies of the Joneses/BJU and the effect those deeds, practices, and philosophies have on the students and "preacher boys" they train and the fundamentalist Baptist preachers they manipulate into supporting them.
Hensler makes a pretense that since I have pointed out some of the "vices" of the Joneses/BJU, that I am hateful and must not be stable. I cannot think of a more thoroughly dishonest way to engage in debate than for someone to ignore the underlying facts and issues and problems facing the Joneses/BJU and BJU-styled fundamentalism by questioning the heart attitudes and mental states of those who point out the duplicity and inconsistencies therein.
A Lack of Intellectual and Ethical Consistency
“They may lie about you as a Christian, but they won’t mock Christians who live consistent lives. They will respect you.” Bob Jones Sr.
I have also invited Louis Hensler to apply to his BJU/FFF cronies and to the Joneses the same standards of "candid" judgment he applied to me. HE HAS IGNORED THE INVITATION. As Jack van Impe said when he saw hypocrisy within fundamentalism, "Consistency, thou art a jewel!" Unfortunately, inconsistency doesn't seem to bother Louis Hensler, at least so far as his judgments concerning the Joneses/BJU.
On 1-22-08, I invited Hensler to join me in petitioning the Joneses/BJU to apologize to First Lady Betty Ford for the chancellor of BJU, Bob Jones Jr., publicly calling her "a slut" from the Bob Jones University chapel platform. Hensler hasn't responded. I wrote Louis Hensler:
"Professor Hensler, join me in asking the Joneses/BJU to apologize to the old helpless widow, Betty Ford, for calling her "a slut," and you will see all the "BJU haters" you could ever want to see or hear, from INSIDE the walls of the Fortess of Faith!"
And, this is how the leaven of the Pharisees spread by the Joneses/BJU manifests itself. While the BJU crowd, and loyal graduates like Louis Hensler, are traditionally free in handing out judgments of those critical to the Joneses and the BJU sub-culture, they never apply to the Joneses/BJU any objective standard of conduct. To my knowledge, Louis Hensler has never specifically objected to the inordinate speech that has come from the lips of the Joneses. But, he publicly accuses me of a "warped hatred"?
It seems to me that any man in Hensler's position, who desired to be viewed as an intellectually honest and fair-minded person, would feel compelled by ethical consistency to judge everyone, me, his Forum cronies, the Joneses, and BJU, by the same standards of conduct.
While Louis Hensler makes an intentionally vague reference to what he says I "perceive as vices" (what are those "vices," Louis, and how do you "perceive" them?) at BJU, Louis Hensler studiously avoids addressing those "vices". In fact, the only thing he seems to see are what Louis Hensler "perceives" are his speculation as to my heart attitudes and mental state. I think the Joneses'/BJU's evil speaking is a vice. I think the Joneses'/BJU's Pharisaical hypocrisy is a vice. The Joneses'/BJU's dishonesty is a vice. The Joneses'/BJU's duplicity is a vice. The Joneses'/BJU's willingness to fraudulently invoke the Bible and the name of Jesus Christ in an effort to deceive and manipulate God's people into supporting BJU's racial bigotry is a vice. The Joneses'/BJU spiritual abuse of those under their authority is a vice, etc., etc. My question to Hensler is: If these are not "vices" then what do you call them, Louis Hensler, and how do you "perceive" them? In my view, these "vices" that Louis Hensler studiously refuses to "perceive," are so serious as to call into question the fitness of the Joneses/BJU to train Christian young people.
Mr. Hensler seems to have learned the ways of the Joneses/BJU very thoroughly. Charles Underwood observed the Joneses' lack of regard for facts. Likewise, at no time during our exchanges has Professor Hensler, a loyal honors graduate from BJU, a law professor at Regent University, a litigator trained in evidence and legal argumentation, ever directly addressed any of my concerns regarding the Joneses/BJU. He simply ignored the facts and issues and characterized me as one operating under a "warped hatred of BJU". In court, if an attorney does not refute incriminating evidence or testimony against his client, that testimony is accepted by the court as having been admitted.
Professor Hensler has done a shameful job at deflecting attention from the Joneses'/BJU's ungodly ways by demonizing me, just like his mentors, the Joneses have done with those with whom they disagree. Within the BJU sub-culture, petty, ad hominem argumentation will take the day and garner 'Good post'-accolades on BJU chat forums.
I hope I am wrong but, thus far, Louis Hensler has done a dismal job of addressing central areas of concern regarding the Joneses/BJU. Unless I miss my guess, Mr. Louis Hensler has embraced the leaven of the Joneses and will make a good example for studying Jonesianism.
Those with eyes to see, ears to hear, and minds to discern will watch, listen, and understand why I believe the Joneses/BJU are dangerous religious practitioners within the IFB brand of fundamentalism. (Edited March 18, 2008)
It has been alleged that the Joneses once used the "N" word in chapel from the pulpit. Is there any proof of this? I have been looking but can not find any proof yet that this happened, but several allege that it did.
Posted by: Michael Schmidt | February 04, 2008 at 01:29 AM
Mark here is a somple of comments that the FFF Bob Jones University mini pope worshipers have said about me in the FFF:
-- You are an idiot.
-- How stupid are you???
-- I think you have a problem with homo********** because that's all
you can talk about. That's the card you always pull whenever you know
you are beat.
-- You are an idiot.
-- You are a contentious little man. I have offered to put this to
rest, but you still want to fight.
-- Don't lie now ...
-- First off, QUIT PUTTING YOUR RESPONSES INSIDE THE QUOTE!!!!!
-- You apprear not to know much about ANY type of music, heck, you
barely even know what you mastered in in "college".
-- Make up your mind, and quit thinking that you side is perfect and
everyone elses is wrong! I am tired of arguing with a huge dumb rock!
It is foolishness to argue with a fool! I have better things to do
than to argue with you, and I know you are wrong in most areas you
fight in, so it doesn't matter to me.
-- I never met a person, in all my life, who has shown such ignorance
as you.
-- It's so simple, it's like your an idiot.
-- [Mikey] is obsessed with A LOT of things - namely being the most
obnoxious person I have ever encountered in my life.
-- YOU! You just think that you are God's gift to mankind, who knows
everything, and has all judgement on everything. GET OVER YOURSELF!!
-- This is an absolutely absurd argument.
-- But no surprise.
-- So that means that all you just said is null and void.
-- [Mikey] is probably one of the most idiotic people I've ever met
-- WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SHOUTING YOUR ANSWERS? YOUR IGNORANCE ONLY SEEMS
THAT MUCH BIGGER. [Mikey uses the largest fonts possible, usually in
bizzar [sic] colors, often in bright pink.]
-- Is there anything Freudian about the Pink font!
-- Yeah, if anything, it seems a little effeminate to be using pink
fonts ALL THE TIME!
-- Quote from [Mikey]: Ha, I hold an earned Doctorate in biblical
Education from an IFBx school.
I'm impressed, you have an earned PHD, piled higher and deeper, but
you breadth of knowledge is seriously lacking. Your posts on this and
many other threads I'[ve found to be particularly unimpressive.
-- Practice some rudimentary social skills
-- I submit that we should cease and desist in participating in this
fruitless discussion with [Mikey]. Let's permit him to go off into his
little corner and stew and pout.
-- You're not too bright, are you?
-- First of all, you are a liar.
-- That now shows that you are a compulsive liar (I say compulsive
because you've lied about other scriptures in the past ...}
-- You, sir, are a LIAR.
-- You talk in circles and then expect those on the forum to accept
your wandering logic.
-- ... it appears you have a homoerotic hangup. As much as you love to
talk about "pro homo matters," I suspect you have issues there. Is
there something you'd like to share with the class?
-- I'm telling you...no one talks about "pro homo" (is that different
from amateur homo?) this much, without there being something there.
-- You know...[Mikey] vaguely resembles the cop on the Village People.
-- Yeah, I know what you mean. Especially if he doesn't like someone/
something, he'll start calling them homos. I think someone's got
issues
-- Hmmm....sometimes what gets screamed the loudest and longest...and
repetitively ....indicates a person with that very problem.
-- I don't know [Mikey]; any chance he's got a long-haired wig in his
closet at home?
-- Seriously, a DOCTORATE? Is this earned or given? This "one-inch-or-
you're-a-homo" is NOWHERE in the Bible. NOWHERE.
-- Now...why do you have such hangups about this? I think many of us
know why...
-- I hope your trumpet playing is better than your biblical
understanding. Otherwise, I doubt you know which end to put your mouth
on.
-- Your eisegesis is showing, [Mikey].
-- You're nuttier than a fruit cake! I knew you were a nut already,
but...... WOW.
Posted by: Michael Schmidt | February 04, 2008 at 01:36 AM
I wish you were wrong. I really, really wish. But you're not. You're exactly correct. And my very recent story confirms that all this is still alive and well.
God help us all.
Posted by: Camille | February 14, 2008 at 12:30 PM
I stumbled across your blog searching for something else tonight, and I have to say that I was very surprised to read comments from an alumnus that were critical of the very wrong, hateful and judgmental views of Jones et. company.
I have a personal history rich in BJU avoidance. My family essentially disowned me for refusing to go to the university over 20 years ago. I have no regrets. What shocks me to this day is that people who support the university and the Joneses can - with a straight face - condone the abhorrent behavior and comments that have come from the bowels of this institution and its leadership. The practice a religion of hate, intolerance and condemnation, forgetting the commandmants of their so-called-savior regarding those without sin casting the first stone and loving the neighbor as oneself - or my favorite, "vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord; I will repay." Yet for nearly a century, this family (the Joneses) have taken it upon themselves to support a racial heirachy and condemn anyone who disagrees with their interpretation of writings that are questionable in value beyond mythology to hell, going so far as to actually pray for the demise of those who disagree.
It was an example my xenophobic gene pool embraced. I think I was fifteen or sixteen years old the first time I heard my "parents" pray that "god" would "smite me" if I didn't "repent". If repentence means becoming a racist, intolerant, bobble-head, well... send me to hell. (I am in fact, an atheist and a woman of hard science, so the prospect of hell really doesn't frighten me at all... certainly not the way the über-fundamentalist movement frightens me).
I was reared in a family that hated minorities, hated all other religions but Brand BJU, and cannot help but laugh and wonder what they think of BJ III now that the interracial dating policy is no more... and that BJ III actually came out in support of a MORMON of all people - for President of the United States.
The Joneses and their ilk owe far more apologies than the one you suggest to Betty Ford. They should start by apologizing to all they have brainwashed for so many years and tell them that hate is just wrong, period, and that they are sorry to have led so many down a path of loathing mankind rather than loving all people.
Posted by: Dr. S (for SECULAR) | February 18, 2008 at 05:37 AM
"The Joneses and their ilk owe far more apologies than the one you suggest to Betty Ford. They should start by apologizing to all they have brainwashed for so many years and tell them that hate is just wrong, period, and that they are sorry to have led so many down a path of loathing mankind rather than loving all people".
Posted by: Dr. S (for SECULAR) | February 18, 2008 at 05:37 AM
-------------------------------------------------------------
I'm sorry for your upbringing Dr. S
I had the freedom to choose my religion and my faith.
I choose to work for BJU while my wife taught there. I now know what I do not want out of religion.......A Doctor telling me how to live base on the way he lives!!!
BJU is not and never will be a church but Bob III thinks he's the Pope of Fundalmentalism. If he is someone go tell Jack Hyles or any number of men who claimed that honor.
Anytime a man is raised up in a religious circle look for his fall...............it always comes.
Bob III met his match during the 2ooo campaign and ended up crying out to Larry King. Ohhhh the students! (he cried)
What he was crying about was the fact with all the bad press about Bush's visit and the interracial problem he thought BJU would lose it's attendance ($)and thus his inherited kingdom would be no more. Gone would be his power over all the BJU churches who supply him with new empty headed brains to fill each year.
Everthing at BJU is all about keeping the faith in BJU!!
Long live the King! But Bob....your not it!
Editor's comments: Squire, The duplicity and deception surrounding the interracial dating ban controversy and the Larry King Live interview served to reveal the true character of Bob Jones III and his influence on BJU-dom.
Pragmatic expediency, personal loyalty to the Joneses, and institutional idolatry - not Christ, His Word, and His Spirit - are the triune supports that sustain BJU/the Joneses.
And, yes, they owe many apologies.
mark
Posted by: The Squire | August 05, 2008 at 07:56 PM
Dr. Bob Jones, Jr., himself, wrote a letter of apology to Betty Ford after the incident you mentioned in which he called Mrs. Ford a "slut". Publicly he stated that he misspoke. I don't remember if it was mentioned at the time, but I believe he meant to call her a "lush".
Perhaps even this would have been an unkind, though true, characterization. However, Mrs. Ford later sought help for her alcoholism after a family intervention. Now many other public figures seek help at the Betty Ford Center, so some good did come from the situation.
In case someone thinks Dr. Jones, Jr. took credit for Mrs. Ford's rehabilitation, I do not believe he credited himself with this transformation. I do believe he rejoiced in the fact that she overcame her addictions.
Allyce,
Thank you for your comments.
There's an old saying: "Repent publicly for public sins." There's an old Bible principle, "Them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear." What a shame, especially for Bob Jr., that there was not a Pauline-type Christian in the Amphitorium with the intestinal fortitude to publicly rebuke Bob and put him in his place. (Note Gal. 2 where Paul (fka the feared Saul of Tarsus) publicly rebuked Christ's disciple Peter).
I have never heard the report that Bob Jones Jr. wrote Betty Ford a personal letter of apology. I would be interested in seeing a copy of the letter. I am not aware that he ever apologized to the University staff, faculty, student body, or the people of the United States. Nor am I aware that he ever maintained that he "misspoke". It seems like an unlikely mistake for an accomplished semi-professional Shakespearean actor as well-versed as Mr. Jones Jr. This replacement of words was certainly not communicated to me or any of my roommates/classmates in 1980.
When, where, and to whom did he "publicly" state that he "misspoke"? Were you present? If so, who else was in attendance? If you were not present, what is your source for this information and is there anyone who can verify that this actually took place?
Do you have a copy of the letter Mr. Jones wrote Mrs. Ford, or a copy of his public statement, or a press release related to this incident? Certainly, if such a letter of apology exists, one would think the University would be morally and ethically obligated to provide one on demand to make sure the record remains corrected. If you do not have possession of such a letter, are you confident enough in its existence to request a copy from the Joneses/BJU?
Did Mr. Jones Jr., or the University ever contact the press to publicize the letter of apology to first lady Betty Ford? Did he ever contact the press to publicize his retraction of the word "slut" and its replacement with the word "lush"? Was either assertion ever publicly reported by any news organization?
Now, in re-reading what I have written, it sounds as if it came from an officious junior cub reporter wannabe. That was not my intent.
I simply do not know if what you have written is true or not. I have heard many unsubstantiated rumors - both pro and con - about the Joneses/BJU. If I am skeptical of your report it is borne of a skepticism that has grown as I have observed the Joneses/BJU for over 35 years. I would place the blame for such skepticism squarely on the Joneses. In 35 years I have observed many things from the Joneses: vile tempers, hatred, viciousness, cruelty, variance, arrogance, pride, contempt for brethren, lying, deception, duplicity, self-serving religious craftiness, religious bigotry, racial bigotry, etc. .
In short, the Joneses and the University I have come to know have never been accused of being "overly anxious to apologize" to those they have abused.
Perhaps I missed this one. I would appreciate you getting back to me with any supporting documentation, should any exist.
mark
Posted by: Allyce Roberts | August 22, 2008 at 01:26 PM