Quote of the Day: "One of the traits of a cult is its refusal to consider any evidence that might disprove the faith." Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist.
During the past two months or so, I have been corresponding with Professor Louis Hensler of Regent University, a past commenter on the BJU Weblog who has been outspoken in his criticism of me for citing the reputations of the Joneses/BJU. Louis Hensler seemed to embody the spirit and philosophies of the Joneses/BJU, so I thought it would be instructive in this case study to engage Louis Hensler in dialogue.
Our correspondence has been marked by two significant elements: First, Louis Hensler has never addressed any evidence or factual data I have ever cited to support my assertions. Secondly, to date, Louis Hensler has never answered any of my questions.
However, Louis Hensler has been very insistent that I answer his questions. I answered his questions within my last few posts on the BJU Weblog and directed him to the Weblog posts and to the Weblog "About" link for answers to his questions about me regarding my major, graduation date, and some demeaning speculation as to whether I flunked out of BJU and had to attend BJ's SAS, etc.
Louis Hensler also asked me an open-ended question about my "precise relationship with BJU". It was a thought provoking question and, evidently, my original answer didn't satisfy Louis Hensler. I provided him with this final answer:
"...Louis, regarding my "precise relationship with BJU," it is best characterized by the relationship Christ advised for His disciples regarding the Pharisees in Matthew 15:14 "Let them alone. They be blind leaders of the blind" coupled with his caution in Luke 12:1, "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." That is my relationship with the Joneses, BJU, and the people who have embraced the peculiarly Jonesian leaven of hypocrisy that pervades the BJU subculture."
I also informed Louis Hensler that I directed some questions to him within my posts. To date, Louis Hensler has failed to answer any of my questions. He has simply ignored my questions and adamantly insisted that I answer his questions!
CLOSED CULTURES HATE QUESTIONS
The BJU culture is a closed culture. Members of closed cultures hate anyone or anything that would question them. The Pharisees demonstrated a zeal in questioning Christ, His character, His authority, and everything about Him with a mind to destroying Him. The Pharisees were first and foremost, dishonest in their basic motivations. Their motivations were to maintain the status quo and no Man from Nazareth was going to bring into question their religious sect.
Yet, Christ, to the distress of His disciples at times, dared to ask questions of the Pharisees that were designed to expose the hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance that came to stereotype Phariseeism. The Pharisees had spent years conditioning - through love and fear - the Jewish people to revere and to fear them as the final authorities for all faith and practice. As Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, demonstrated, those who crossed the Pharisees paid a hefty price.
Through the Pharisees "5th Avenue PR campaign," the Jewish people, including Christ's disciples, had been conditioned to think that the Pharisees were righteous religious leaders whose commandments and practices could not be questioned. As Christ's disciples obviously knew, the Pharisees would not hesitate to punish anyone who questioned their religious standing or practices. (And, that is the way that the Bob Jones University subculture operates.)
Be careful of people and groups, especially religious people and religious groups, who will not submit themselves to honest questions about their beliefs and practices by outsiders. I recall the letter Mr. Bob Jones III wrote to a man who asked him questions. Mr. Bob Jones III said that he was "not required to answer questions of you or anyone else." Thus, Mr. Bob Jones III surrounded himself with yes-men who lacked the intestinal fortitude to stand up and ask questions when Mr. Jones III lied or perverted Biblical truth. And, Bob Jones Sr., Bob Jones Jr. and Bob Jones III have leavened the entire BJU subculture with that same attitude.
After the Pharisees asked Christ about the commandments in Matthew 22: 35-46, Christ answered their question well and followed up with questions of His Own: "If David then called him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions."
Members of cults cannot deal with probing questions. They avoid questions that - if given due consideration - would reveal their cult or sect and its philosophies and practices as unbiblical, inconsistent, and/or false. Such people hate the light of day and the light of Scriptural scrutiny. Such people and groups especially hate anyone who would expose the leadership of their sect, or members who blindly defend their sect, as lacking in the fundamental elements of godliness.
But Christ commands us to "beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy". Those of you who are confronted with Pharisaical Jonesianism - whether in a BJU-led church or at BJU itself - would do well to follow Christ's example and ask questions. Within the answers these people give you will find out whether or not the organization and its people have been leavened with the leaven of the Pharisees. It takes some effort, discernment, and questioning to determine if an organization or a group of people have adopted the Pharisaical hypocrisy of the Joneses/BJU.
But, there will be a price to pay, as Christ's disciples knew. After having asked questions, the Joneses/BJU and their defenders will normally ignore your questions, dissemble in their answers, or they will visciously attack you. In some cases, they will do all three at once!
I have emailed Louis Hensler a few times asking him some questions without getting answers to my questions or a timetable in which answers would be forthcoming. Today, I asked him two more questions. Let's see how he will respond.
On January 28, 2008, I asked Louis:
"I noted your statement in a FFF post targeting me, "...Most BJU grads aren't obsessed with BJU. They're loyal..."
Louis Hensler, as a loyal graduate and defender of BJU and one who alleges to be a Bible-believer, have you ever experienced a conflict between your loyalty to the Joneses/BJU and the loyalty Christianity requires to God's Word?
If so, Louis Hensler, as a loyal BJU graduate who alleges to be a Christian, how did you reconcile the inevitable conflicts that occur when the Joneses/BJU violate the teachings and commands of God? Does not Christ warn that those who serve two masters will end up loving one and hating the other?
Secondly, Louis Hensler, have you ever struggled with the instability of a double minded person, as James observed, while trying to reconcile what the Bible teaches with that which the Joneses say and do?"
Today, February 4th, I emailed Louis,
"Wanted to give you an opportunity to answer a couple of questions related to things you have said and done in the last couple of months:
1. Have you ever judged any person high enough in standing with God, sound enough in mind, and pure enough in heart and motive to be qualified to evaluate the words and deeds of the Joneses/BJU in obedience to Paul's admonition in 1 Timothy 5 and 2 Timothy 3:16? If so, what is that person's name?
2. Jesus Christ declared that the second great commandent was, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:39) Jesus Christ accused the Pharisees thus: "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." (Mark 7:9) Christ also said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15) In your defense of the Joneses/BJU and in your treatment of me, why have you not striven to obey Christ's commands? Secondly, why have you exempted the Joneses/BJU and your BJU/FFF brethren from the commands of Jesus Christ?
Mark Fitzhenry
