Left: Mr Natural by R. Crumb~*~
A defender of Bob Jones University writes me, blood a-boilin, and wants to know WHY I dislike the school. Seriously, he wants to know WHY!! What, dear God, can one say to that?
My reply:
Did you bother to read my posts? Isn't it CLEAR? If not, I can't help you.That answer didn't set too well with BJU-defender. He replied and I pseudo-fisked his reply, most of which is included below for your amusement, edification and as a cautionary tale. Names and details left out to protect actual BJU students. [I will say: I don't know anyone NOW attending Bob Jones University, at this moment. Thus, what I have said below applies only to past students and alumni I have known. BJU ANTI SEX LEAGUE: Please do not use what I have written below to start a witch hunt against anyone NOW attending BJU. Thank you.]
My question: How could you NOT hate a backward, reactionary, disgusting, repressive, anachronistic, warmongering, heretical, duplicitous, power-hungry, racist, sexist, homophobic, fascist organization like that, unless you are unAmerican and think repression is GOOD?
The USSR is history. Hopefully, BJU will be next.
Ciao,
Daisy
~*~
Mr BJU-Man replies:
Of course it's not clear, Daisy. All I see is a bunch of raw emotion and no facts.One fact, just one of 12,000 of any "facts" I could randomly provide: gay people are denied the right to marry, a right that heterosexual couples enjoy and that confers the rights of adoption, automatic parental rights, inheritance, tax deductions, insurance, and so forth... and BJU financially backs politicians (proudly!) who avidly work to continue to deny these rights.
Do you deny that this is so?
There's a fact for ya.
Great catch phrases in your description--those self righteous terms are typical of folks that are unwittingly narrow minded. U are simply another simpleton with no understanding of the school, just what U choose to believe.I've known gay students at BJU who have to slink around and arrange to meet their girl/boyfriends off campus, lest the BJU Anti-Sex-League (SEE: Orwell's 1984) catch them. I've also known AA and NA members, BJU students, who likewise had to lie and sneak around. Why? Why is it the business of the school what individuals do in their personal lives? It has been personally described to me many times as an intrusive, damaging cult environment.
I doubt you have met those particular BJU students, because they would NOT TRUST someone like you, who defends the fascist rules of the school.
Why does what a student does in their off hours matter? That's FASCISM, sorry.
It's so much easier to spout off endless ranting of hate and stereotype than to dig a little deeper and actually educate yourself, right? Hey, the world's a complicated place and it takes a little effort to gain new perspectives.I've been to the Bob Jones University campus to hear various right-wing speakers, such as Pat Buchanan. It is one of the few times the campus IS open to the public [with the exception of the Art Gallery, a somewhat separate entity].
The students were ordered to attend. I saw and heard for myself their political engagements, the employment of the student body for political ends, the expectation that the students would automatically share the politics of Pat Buchanan and Bob Jones III.
And when BJ III started to talk, BANG, I never saw a buncha kids jump into shape so fast in my life--SHUUUUUSH. Like, right now. Nobody talked over him, or dared say anything while he was speaking. He commanded an almost-cultlike respect, in my humble opinion. Of course you would not agree with me, since I speak as an outsider. You are completely accustomed to the adulation. However, I considered it spooky and Stepford Wives-ish, like a bunch of androids, all dressed alike, all abruptly silenced on cue.
Yes, I do my homework, as I think my posts make clear. Although if you want more posts explaining even further why I dislike BJU, I can certainly provide that.How about another fact: BJU party hacks monopolize the Republican Party in this area, they pack every local district/precinct meeting and in a block, elect each other as delegates to the state and national conventions. (What EXACTLY does this politicking have to do with the Lord? Render under Caesar, etc.)
[Here in] the USA, unlike the USSR, we celebrate diversity and tolerance.Does BJU allow openly gay students to attend? No. That is discrimination, not diversity... certainly, it has no resemblance to tolerance. What a joke.
BJU would be glad to support your right to think incorrectly and choose to believe anyway U wrongly desire, because that group of people actually understand the US Constitution and what America is all about. If U ever want to visit the school and learn for yourself what this place is all about, I'd be happy to give U a tour.I've been many times, XXXX, as stated above. I love the painting of St Francis receiving the stigmata in the art museum, although I find the Catholic-hating theology, cheek-by-jowl with the Catholic art, more examples of the same repugnant, disgusting hypocrisy always present at Bob Jones University.
But hey, I will try not to take it personally, right?
Like I said, I have many gripes about BJU myself, but that doesn't mean I just lump them into a boiling pot of emotion without educating myself first.I got plenty more where the above examples came from. So I think I am the one educating YOU.
Happy thinking and enjoying your first amendment.First Amendment is properly capitalized, but probably not at BJU. [Note, this was after he implied I didn't know what certain words meant, so I was being petty and correcting his punctuation. Yes, I know, I know...]
Same backatcha, Mr BJU-Man!
Daisy
Edit: Another timely plug for the Carnival for Progressive Christians - First Edition
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Listening to: The Pogues - Transmetropolitan
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