The Margaret White award for zealous Christian witness goes to...

Yes, you know who it is.


BOB JONES UNIVERSITY!



Specifically: Stephen Pettit, head flunkie in charge.


Back when Pettit "took over" BJU (and as we see, he didn't really), I wondered aloud if this was going to be a Soviet-style puppet regime with the Jones faction still running things behind the scenes, or if Pettit might really be an improvement.

Alas, now we have our answer. (I wonder where they put the gulags? Wait, getting ahead of myself.)

First, let's have the AWARD CEREMONY.

Stephen, you have hereby been SELECTED for Dead Air's very first and highly coveted MARGARET WHITE AWARD FOR ZEALOUS CHRISTIAN WITNESS. As one not permitted to peruse popular culture (although I know you secretly do), you will undoubtedly feign ignorance and pretend you never heard of the infamous Mrs Margaret White. Well, I have a quick tutorial below. Let's just say, the Mrs Whites of the world do not waste time with politeness and southern pleasantries, they just get it done, people.

Mrs White, the famous Mrs White. The one who uttered those immortal lines, I CAN SEE YOUR DIRTY PILLOWS!

I refer to legendary actress Piper Laurie, Carrie White's mother, one of Stephen King's most amazing, enduring and (as we have learned from the Jones boys) REALISTIC inventions.



Eve was weak! Eve was weak! SAY IT!

~*~

I don't have the time or patience to delve into the theological question of whether Christianity is misogynist at base. That particular case was already made a long time ago, by Mary Daly. Is there even the possibility of respect for women in a religion that constantly reminds us EVE WAS WEAK? The Biblical literalists are among the most deeply-sexist of Christians, because after all, it IS right there in the text. They didn't make it up. Mrs White is offering the interpretation that I basically grew up with, only she's doing it with ZEAL. And hey, aren't all Christians supposed to witness with ZEAL??? Because (I wish I had a dollar for every time one of them SPAT this one out at me): IF YOU ARE LUKEWARM, HE WILL VOMIT YOU OUT OF HIS MOUTH (and ohhh how they love that verse.)

The G.R.A.C.E. report, about the treatment of sexual abuse survivors at BJU, came out late last year and laid out BJU's sins in detail. The Greenville News (finally!) excoriated them on their editorial page (its only taken 67 years!) and the internet was abuzz with accusations and counter-accusations. I deliberately took a hands-off approach, because I have tried hard not to join the nasty internet habit (that I once had) of kicking people when they are down. That ain't nice, I decided. Give peace a chance! And so I did.

About a week later, I drove past a BJU-affiliated church here in town (they got dozens of em), amusingly positioned right across the street from some "liberal" (compared to BJU) Baptist church... and the marquee on the "liberal" church just read, simply: GRACE.

I instantly recognized this as an in-your-face gesture. Obviously, these liberal Baptists didn't expect SHIT from BJU. Hm, I thought... these Baptists know the BJU-people far better than I do. And I decided this was NOT a good sign.

The liberal Baptists called it. Credit where it is due.

Stephen Pettit has finally spoken. Its mostly in the Christian vernacular, so some of you may have trouble understanding it. I will therefore translate into standard American English that you will easily understand:

FUCK YOU.

Yes, that is the gist of Pettit's speech, one long, gooey preacher-boy, grinning FUCK YOU.

I have not actually decided if this is one loooooong fuck you, which would be FUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOU!!!!! -- or is it a series of small, nasty little fuck yous?

Make no mistake though. It is a big, giant, brazen, nasty, vicious FUCK YOU.

Amen.

~*~

G.R.A.C.E. stands for Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment.

I like the acronym and the name, because it reminds me of one of Christianity's greatest moral strengths: in humbling ourselves to admit our faults and face our mistakes, we are granted grace. Everything changes, everything is made new. It takes GRACE to admit you are wrong, GRACE to admit you need help. And in doing so, the light dawns, the clouds clear.

The old hymn AMAZING GRACE sums it up: I was blind but now I see.

In other words, preacher Pettit, you had an incredible opportunity given to you, an opportunity for what you claim to want: GOD's GRACE. This was your chance. You could have stood up, taken a deep breath and apologized. You could have. I was hopeful that this crisis might make a lasting impact. Like we used to say in Alcoholics Anonymous, you were provided with a priceless, clear MOMENT OF CLARITY. These moments, these realizations are usually regarded as GIFTS from God, in most religious traditions. This is the meaning of the acronym G.R.A.C.E., which I thought meant you might actually PAY ATTENTION this time, and do the right thing.

Ha. Dream on.

In the weeks that followed the release of the report, The Greenville News talked with one of the survivors, blogger Cathy Harris. I was so profoundly disgusted by this article, I went on the radio and announced the Margaret White award was imminent, and I would be taking nominees. "But so far," I said, "there isn't any contest."

WHAT made me decide on Margaret White?

THIS PASSAGE:

[BJU counselor Jim] Berg also asked whether [Cathy Harris] felt any pleasure during any of the [childhood sexual] abuse and, if she did, she needed to repent, she said.

During one session, she said Berg told her he wanted to do a trust exercise. He pulled a rat trap from his desk, set the hammer and put a pencil on it. The trap broke the pencil into pieces.

She said he then told her to put her finger on the trap. When she refused, he got angry and put another pencil in. The trap did not snap shut.

If she couldn't trust the people God put over her, how could she trust God? she recalls him asking.

"I kept being told how unspiritual I was," she said.

The counseling ended when he told her he couldn't help her and God couldn't help her either.

"His counseling was more harmful than the abuse," she told The News.

In his interview with GRACE, Berg acknowledged that his counseling was often hurried due to his heavy workload and that he did not have extensive training in counseling sexual abuse victims. He said he did not know until 1992 that South Carolina had a law that required certain professionals, including educators, to report abuse, despite the law having been passed in the 1970s.

Really? Because *I* knew, and I think most people know, due to LAW AND ORDER SVU reruns... which I forgot, they are not allowed to watch over there.

That finger-in-the-rat-trap game is something worthy of Carrie's mom, doncha think? (ASIDE: Cathy, if this scene ends up in a horror movie, as it surely will, you could probably sue for copyright violation and make some bucks.)

This passage, Cathy Harris' harrowing horror-movie counseling session, is like Bette Davis serving Joan Crawford a rat for dinner in WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE; it is definitely in the same neighborhood as Margaret White yelling that Eve was weak! Eve was weak!

~*~

Stephen, if you ever want this done up properly, let me know. We might be able to take some donations and rustle something up, like a plaque, certificate or whatever, you know, for your wall. I am sure you are proud of this award and will want to show everyone, so I will do my best to make it pretty. I mean, you do want to impress your new right-wing politician friends, doncha?
Congratulations!

Just remember something.

The end of the film instructs us: "Carrie White burns in hell."

And whose fault was that? Will Margaret White burn there too, for driving her daughter crazy? I think that's an easy call, even for you.

Take heed and repent, Pettit.

~*~

Warnings for graphic violence, probable heresy and so on.



You knew I couldn't resist posting that... dirty pillows at 20 seconds!

~*~

NOTES

1) Please see Camille Lewis' refutation of Pettit's lies/fuck yous. As usual, Camille is the go-to on this subject, as one who knows where all the bodies are buried.

2) All photos in this post are from THE ORIGINAL Brian DePalma version of Carrie--except no substitutes, especially inferior remakes of perfect horror movies.

Unbelievably, I started writing this just as AMC decided to show CARRIE, which I take as a sign of divine intervention, just so I could get some good shots.

GRACE investigation outcome rocks Bob Jones University to its foundations

After much gnashing of teeth, inside-intrigue and at least one publicly-threatened cancellation, the investigation of Bob Jones University by the independent religious organization called GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) has at last concluded. (pdf file here)

It was officially presented last week, and the Baptist community of upstate South Carolina was promptly thrown into convulsions.

There is nothing in this report that would surprise followers of religious fundamentalism, or those who intimately know how deep-fundamentalism works on the psyche. I first heard stories about how Bob Jones University shames victims of sexual assault, when I arrived in Greenville over 26 years ago and attended AA meetings here. Women who abuse alcohol make excellent victims, and I heard about the shaming of these women (for both drinking and then for having been victimized), up close and personal... over and over.

It has taken all this time for these stories to come to light.

The tales were rampant, and yet, I didn't really understand the authority of BJU and how these places work psychologically. Can't you just leave?!-- I would ask them, uncomprehending.

I might as well be asking the Amish to leave. I think that's a good comparison for the lack of preparation young fundamentalists (often homeschooled) have for the real world. They are frequently very unworldly, confused, overprotected, sheltered... again, the perfect victims, who will stay silent. And so they have.

Until now.

The much-awaited report came out last week. There are now several follow-ups from the Greenville News, suggesting legal action is not out of the question. (More here and here.) And hey, let's count it as a small miracle and nothing short of AMAZING that the once-reticent Greenville News is finally getting with the program. This is the same Greenville News that studiously and deliberately IGNORED all reports of questionable, hinky behavior from BJU since I first started reading it. As I have complained countless times, our local paper of record mostly talks about how WONDERFUL Bob Jones University is; lots of special-interest stories about alumni and their opinions, business ventures, gardens, whatever... not to mention their super-duper Arts Department, Music Department ... just one long GUSH GUSH GUSH.... you'd think it was freaking Oxford, the way they have constantly extolled the virtues of the place.

Sometimes I have felt like the Greenville News is one long combo education/travel brochure advertising Bob Jones University.

Well, not this week. A editorial gives them what-for, in no uncertain terms:

Bob Jones University will be challenged over the next few months to prove it truly understands the devastating nature of the findings from a two-year investigation into how the school for decades handled reports of sexual abuse on and off the campus. The school's response will demonstrate whether it is committed to helping vulnerable people failed by school leaders who handled sexual abuse disclosures in a manner that for many victims deepened their pain and stalled or made impossible their efforts to recover from traumatic experiences.

GRACE began its long-awaited, 301-page report that was released Thursday with a compliment to BJU for taking a "bold step forward" to examine "how it may have caused deep hurt in the lives of students who had suffered from the ravages of sexual assault." GRACE is a self-identified Christian organization based in Lynchburg, Virginia, and its full name is Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment. BJU under former President Stephen Jones does deserve credit for undertaking the independent GRACE investigation and agreeing to make public its findings.

Others deserve even more praise, however, and that includes the former students who have forced the university to acknowledge and address its failures when it comes to how allegations of sexual abuse were handled. Former students and even some current ones recognized the injustice that has taken place and have refused to back down even in the face of criticism and some hostility. The courage displayed by alumni and former students who insisted on the GRACE investigation is even surpassed by that required of the sexual abuse victims who participated in this study. They are the heroes here for agreeing to share their stories of the original abuse and then the revictimization that followed as they were struggling to deal with what had happened to them.

The two-year investigation produced an unflinching report into how BJU failed to provide a safe environment where students could seek help and begin the healing process after they arrived on campus dealing with childhood sexual abuse or were assaulted during their student years. Part of the investigation included a confidential survey, and in it more than 60 percent of the self-identified abuse victims who responded said the college's attitude toward victims was one "of blame and disparagement."

One of the most damaging findings was that key college leaders were slow, by decades, to understand their legal requirement to report alleged sexual abuse in many cases. Laws were developed more than four decades ago, and refined and sharpened over the years, to require adults in positions of authority to protect innocent children who are being abused. It is absolutely appropriate for Solicitor Walt Wilkins to begin his own investigation, which was announced Friday, into the way BJU handled the sexual abuse reports.

Wilkins has an opportunity to put an exclamation point on the brutal report by holding BJU officials accountable if his investigation finds violations of legal requirements to report sexual abuse. "If they were convincing individuals not to report crimes that could be considered obstruction of justice," Wilkins told Greenville News reporter Lyn Riddle. "We need to see if it rises to that level."

One key finding of the GRACE report stated, "The survey findings support a possible conclusion that BJU representatives may have sometimes discouraged the reporting of sexual crimes to the proper authorities." Although school officials have reported a different interpretation of some comments or counseling advice, some victims said they were told the abusers should be forgiven and not reported to law enforcement authorities, and that they would be selfish if they shared their experience with others and in doing so hurt the school.

Victims also reported how they were made to feel ashamed for what had happened to them, and they came away from sermons or counseling sessions thinking they had contributed to the abuse. "Women and girls were taught they must 'confess' the part of sexual abuse they enjoyed, that they probably enticed the abuser," was among the viewpoints expressed.

One victim reported she was abused by her grandfather from the ages of 6-14, according to the GRACE report. When she went for counseling, she later reported being asked, "Did you repent for your part of the abuse? Did your body respond favorably?"

Daisy interjects: OH GROSS.

Two school leaders were held out for especially strong criticism in the GRACE report: Bob Jones III, who led the school for many of the years covered by the investigation, and Dr. Jim Berg, dean of students during much of the period covered by the investigation and the man, who with an educational background in theology, helped develop the counseling program for students.

The GRACE study led to a number of recommendations, some already implemented, that include timely reporting of suspected abuse, a recognition that victims should never be blamed for abuse or assault, and an agreement to separate counseling services from the disciplinary process.

BJU President Steve Pettit and others who hold the university dear to their hearts now carry the burden of implementing GRACE report recommendations, trying to salvage the school's reputation, and reaching out to vulnerable people hurt first by their abuser and again by how their confidence was betrayed and their case mismanaged. There's more the school should do, too.

The extraordinarily damaging views about abuse that were uncovered in the GRACE report have hurt more than the victims who participated in this investigation. Those views were shared over the years with young men going into the ministry, with students preparing to be teachers or counselors, and with boys and girls who now have their own children who are venturing into a world that can be unsafe and downright cruel. A step toward redemption should include BJU's heartfelt and comprehensive effort to make its closest allies understand how much horribly wrong information was spread for many years and how critically important it is to change a fundamentally flawed view of sexual abuse.

I really can't add anything to that. I am proud of them for finally saying it.

And for my part, I wanted to rip the BJU administration a new one, but I figure I will save that for the radio tonight. (TUNE INTO WOLI AM/FM, listen live at 8pm!) But more than that... I have had an epiphany. (Kevin Spacey voice: I hate when that happens.)

The people who have given me so much grief over the years? These Bob Jones mavens who have written me up on the job and started fights about Jaysus (credit to Tom Wolfe for spelling) and made pests of themselves at the Black Sabbath concert and at the bookstore where I worked??? I now see that many were suffering. Perhaps, suffering greatly, and directing this pain outward was what they were taught to do, the only way they knew how to cope. And there I was, an available target.

Not unlike the way THEY were an available target.

And so, the pain is passed on.

I have decided not to do that this time. I want to be better than that.

It is my hope that fundamentalists will learn from this, that they have plenty of problems of their own to deal with, and they should probably stop pointing at other people and deal with themselves. I think plenty of people have figured this out in the past week--maybe more than I ever believed possible. And for all of you, I offer an olive branch. (holds up two fingers) PEACE!

Please speak out and share. And organize for change. My love to you all at this difficult time.


~*~

EDIT #1: One person already speaking out, sharing and providing excellent analysis is survivor Dani Kelley, who is doing a series on the GRACE report. Please check out her blog.

EDIT #2: My friend Camille Lewis offers some inside-baseball on the situation, for all of us to peruse: Bob Jones University rewrites recent history to ward off federal investigation, PART ONE and PART TWO. (The timeline featured in PART TWO, is indispensable for those who want the step-by-step of how the investigation came to be.)

It's a Comet!

NOOooo, not that kind. I meant the CAR; the lovely Mercury Comet, produced by Ford.

I took these photos of a beautiful old Comet (seemingly in mint condition) that I unexpectedly encountered in metro Atlanta. I'm gonna guess: 1965?

Any takers?



It's been awhile since I posted some old cars. (((waves at car-photo lurkers!))) As always, you can click to enlarge.

~*~

Its been boring in Blogdonia, except for my periodic political brawls with the kids on Tumblr. Most seem to have been born last Wednesday. They actually think a Walkman is an antique. (NOTE: I still use mine, yall.) They enthusiastically trash unfashionable, old stuff (ewww!) faster than you can say planned obsolescence. They talk a good game, but still seem unaware that Asian sweatshop children are manufacturing all of their gadgetry and clothing for pennies. In short, words like FAIR TRADE are notably missing from their vocabularies. And any discussion of Palestinian rights sends them into the proverbial tailspin.

They think they are radical, but when you ask them what they do in their communities? (((crickets)))

That probably shouldn't bother me so much, but see, I think the Tea Partiers and the Right Wingers and the conservatives ARE doing something in their communities. In fact, they are doing A LOT. And at breakneck pace. That is how we ended up with Nikki Haley. (More about which in due course, as William F Buckley liked to say.) This is how Eric Cantor lost the Senate. The Left is busily contemplating its collective navel as the Right Wing happily skips along, winning elections.

For example, the Men's Rights fellas are organizing. They had a real conference, which is more than feminists seem to be able to do these days.

(sigh)

~*~

Speaking of Men's Rights, I am linking the blog Toy Soldier, which I think might be classified as a Men's Rights blog? (Not sure how he categorizes himself.) In any event, TS deserves to be linked for this.

Marion Zimmer Bradley was a child molester. Holy shit, is all you can say. Holy. Shit.

I am relieved I was never a big fan and was never emotionally invested in her work... but it still pains me as a feminist, to learn of a famous feminist pedophile. And no, lets not start nonsense claiming "if she was a pedophile, she wasn't really a feminist" as if to say no feminist can EVER be one, just because. Bullshit. If priests who have sworn an oath to God Almighty can be pedophiles, so can feminists. So can anyone. In fact, that's the point: no demographic is immune.

Didn't feminists preach that, once upon a time?

And have you heard this story, of Marion Zimmer Bradley, defending her husband the NAMBLA member, even molesting her own three-year-old daughter? Nightmarish in the extreme. I came across the Guardian story almost by accident. Are any feminists discussing this? (Yes, some are.) On Tumblr, the legion of "radfems" certainly has downplayed this, hardly mentioning it at all. Bradley was a very influential and award-winning author, even the co-founder of The Society for Creative Anachronism, the named coined by her. Her work has directly influenced much of modern-day fantasy writing, both by men and women.

And she was a child molester.

Is this "bent" obvious (or implicit) in her work? I didn't follow it much, so I don't know. But I expect critics to tell me; I expect a full-on SEXUAL POLITICS-type of academic criticism, informing us if this trait is evident in her work, as we know misogyny is evident in Norman Mailer's work. Will it be up to men to do this? (THIS is the kind of thing the men's rights guys could be doing, not studying Miley Cyrus' selfies. See TIME article above.)

I am greatly disappointed at the resounding silence I see from so many feminists on the subject of Bradley's disgusting activities...it is certainly no match for the excited hubbub when The Mists of Avalon finally made it to TV.

(sigh)

~*~

Also--

Remember I told you Governor Nikki Haley was putting off ROAD REPAIR until the election, so us hapless South Carolina residents have been consigned to driving on horrible concrete ruts all the time? (Woodruff Road is a particular upstate blight, as is Highway 291, where I dodged potholes yesterday.)

Haley recently talked about a mythical "money tree" to pay for the roads--which has brought endless mirth to the Deadhead household, as my spouse and I promise to pay for various things with the MONEY TREE we are going to plant on the patio.

I think we need to call her GOVERNOR POTHOLE, which I hope to name a post soon.

~*~

Our local fundie-U, awful Bob Jones University, has a brand new president, Stephen D. Pettit. Appointed right before the summer break, he is the first president of BJU who is not a member of the Jones family, so its pretty amazing.

After the honeymoon and quick pick-me-up from this charismatic new prez and his flashy Colgate smile, the BJU-cult will inevitably reassert its primacy. Will New Prez leave when the Jones boys start bossing him around? Or are they paying him a lot to put up with it? I guess we'll be finding out.

And that should be fun!

Welcome, Reverend Steve. You will be hearing about ME soon enough. :)

BJU Reengages GRACE To Complete Independent Sexual Abuse Review

From the official Bob Jones University website:

Greenville, S.C. (February 25, 2014) – Bob Jones University today announced that it has reached agreement with GRACE to complete the independent review of the University’s response to sexual and other abuse. The independent review was initiated by the University in response to a series of national news stories about abuse at other institutions. The purpose of the review was to assess past responses by the University in support of victims and identify policies and procedures that could be enhanced.

Bob Jones University suspended the review on January 27, 2014. Bob Jones University met with GRACE on February 18-19, 2014, to discuss any issues that might stand in the way of GRACE’s completion of thorough, transparent and objective review. GRACE satisfactorily addressed the University’s concerns and Bob Jones University is confident the review can be completed in a timely and professional manner. To be clear, GRACE and BJU are united in their commitment to a review that is thorough, transparent and objective. As the process moves forward, regular updates will be provided.

I like to think I had a small part in that decision.

More here, here, here and here (full disclosure/beware the source: that last link is to WORLD, an evangelical website).

Question: Have they ever caved before? On ANYthing? This may be a first!

Stay tuned, sports fans.

As Matt Drudge would say, developing...

Photo: Racist celebration at Bob Jones University

A photo of the 2012 Election-Day celebration at Bob Jones University. This photo was belatedly discovered on BJU-owned WBJU's website and has been making the rounds on Facebook today. The photo was not hidden or private at all.

They don't even care if people see them acting like ... well, like what they are.

In the photo (below), as we see, a dark monkey-appearing doll (?) has been elected president, wearing a red, white and blue lei (after all, he IS from Hawaii) and overalls. Not sure I get the overalls reference, but I'm sure they had a reason.

This is what we've been talking about. This was 2012, not back in the 20s.

They have no shame at all.

Bob Jones University cancels sexual abuse investigation--why?

As we reported on Friday's radio show, Bob Jones University has canceled the sexual abuse investigation being conducted by the organization GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment). According to our radio show-guest Christopher Peterman, there have been over 80 interviews conducted by GRACE, and their final report was due next month. BJU decided to cancel at the very last minute, maybe hoping no one would notice?


My deepest apologies for not posting this sooner.... I have been too angry at the ultra-careful, kid-gloves treatment of BJU, to settle down and post properly. (I initially wrote two other posts that degenerated into rather mindless cussing/fussing, so I decided to start over.) I got so upset on Friday, I heard myself YELLING (what? me?!?) on the air... and I didn't even realize I was doing it.

Although Peterman was very supportive and respectful of GRACE (and I am sure they are nice folks and all that), some of us thought this should be a matter for law enforcement, from the git-go.

But of course, BJU-tentacles reach everywhere in upstate South Carolina (actually, all over the state), and I have heard that this includes law enforcement.

So, what next? Do they get a free pass to ignore multiple-sexual-assaults on their campus and at their institution? Apparently, they are counting on just that. There is no other follow-up pending. Like the Catholic Church before 2000, BJU is permitted to do whatever they please and destroying the lives of the youngest, most vulnerable faithful? No biggie. Around here, they ARE as powerful as the Catholic Church is in Boston... and you remember how many years THAT took.

Perhaps it's time for lawsuits. Money talks, bullshit walks.

That's probably the only thing they will truly understand, being hit in the pocketbook.

From their website:

Greenville, S.C. (February 6, 2014) – In the fall of 2011, the national news was filled with a steady stream of heart-breaking revelations of sexual abuse on college campuses. These events prompted Bob Jones University to evaluate its processes and procedures for responding to reports of sexual abuse and specifically to ensure the University maintained best practices for a legally compliant and loving, scripturally based response to such reports.

Let's translate.

In these parts, these 'heartbreaking revelations' came PRIMARILY from BJU, who had the highest number of sexual assaults of any school in the area. As battle-weary Catholics can tell you, this makes sense: these freaks go where they know they can get by with it. THEY HAVE A NETWORK. The more there are, the more there are. They are ATTRACTED to cloistered, safe environments where nobody talks about sex, since it is much easier to get away with.

Obviously, there is even a track record proving it.

Either deal with the freaks, BJU, or accept that you will attract MORE AND MORE of them. You simply can't ignore this now.

But hey, watch em try:

To accomplish this, the Board of Trustees appointed a committee external to BJU to review our policies and procedures. The committee recommended some policy revisions and also that the University appoint an independent ombudsman to review past instances in which it was alleged that the University may have underserved a student who reported they had been abused at some point in their lives.

Sounds like just ONE student, doesn't it? Nice spin. In fact, as stated above, there were over 80 interviews conducted by GRACE.

And finally:

Over the last several months, we grew concerned about how GRACE was pursuing our objectives, and on Jan. 27, 2014, BJU terminated its contract with GRACE. It is BJU’s intention to resolve its differences with GRACE, and we are disappointed a resolution could not be reached before our differences were made public. Both BJU and GRACE desire to raise sexual abuse awareness and minister to victims whose lives have been ravaged by abuse. GRACE has been helpful in assisting us in focusing our efforts in this area.

Did GRACE threaten to go to law enforcement or what? WHAT are these "differences" they are describing here? Hm?

GRACE gives their version HERE (pdf). The investigation started 13 months ago, and GRACE was given no notice or indication of any kind, that BJU was getting ready to terminate their investigation-agreement. They claim not to know why the investigation was terminated, but I bet they do.

Who was named? How far up the organizational-ladder do the perps go? Were personnel shuffled around, school to school, department to department, Catholic church-style, rather than outright fired, defrocked and/or dealt with?

And why?

Does the name CARDINAL LAW mean anything to you?

This story is so hot, even Wonkette and the mainstream big blogs are getting in on the act. AND I AM SO PLEASED that our little corner of the Bible Belt is at last getting some much-needed national attention. (Now, if we can successfully shame Senator Tim Scott for planning to speak at Bob Jones University in April, that will be excellent.)

Please folks, keep the heat on.

~*~

EDIT 2/12/2014: THE NEW YORK TIMES! The freaking NEW. YORK. TIMES. has covered this story. Woo hooo! (high-fives to every lefty in the upstate) And my friend, BJU-survivor and former faculty member Camille Lewis got her photo in the Times!

I hope this means the place is down for the count... but of course, I have believed that many times before. (eternal optimist) Again, we just have to keep the heat on. If you have a blog, consider linking to one of these stories. Spread the word and kill the enrollment.

BJUnity on Occupy the Microphone

Yesterday's Occupy the Microphone radio show was especially awesome, as we interviewed Jeffrey Hoffman of BJUnity, the 'unofficial' organization for LGBT folks at Bob Jones University, past and present; including students, alumni, faculty and staff.

It was a great show, and you must go listen immediately.

Below: 1) Jeffrey talks about the cultish environment of Bob Jones University; 2) me interviewing Jeffrey; 3) Daisy, Jeffrey and fabulous co-host Double A, the rock and roll diehard.

Broadcasting every weekday from WOLI studios, McAlister Square, LIVE AT FIVE. (You can livestream us daily at 5pm HERE. Friday's show can be found here, here and here.)

Another one bites the dust

My always-vigilant, intrepid spies tell me the fundamentalist Christian world has been rocked by still another scandal. In addition to the hoopla brought about by Stephen Jones resigning the presidency of Bob Jones University, we learn that Vision Forum Ministries will be permanently shutting down.

And the hits just keep on comin.

Christian Post reports that misogynist nuisance Doug Phillips resigned from heading up Vision Forum, because (nah, go on!) he couldn't keep his hands to himself. As a response, Vision Forum is calling it a day. Good riddance!

But hey, that's a lotta dough:

According to Vision Forum Ministry's 2011 tax returns, the nonprofit wing of the organization, its total revenue was $3,345,150, while its total expenses were $1,734,985.

Phillips announced his resignation at the end of October, describing it as "inappropriately romantic and affectionate," though he denied any sexual relationship between him and the woman, asserting that he had not known her in a "biblical sense."

Yes, we all know what this means... another powerful man who doesn't know what the meaning of IS, is. ;)

(For more, check out Jen's blog; she properly clocks his worthless ass and has been for some time now.)

Phillips is well-known in fundie circles for his infamous "Tenets of Biblical Patriarchy" a guide popular among Quiverfull households. (Phillips and his spouse Beall have 8 children.)

Religion News reports:

Phillips is a leader among conservative Christians who reject birth control and believe that large families are a sign of God’s blessings, as seen in his friends Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s family on TLC’s “19 Kids and Counting.” He preaches a message of “biblical patriarchy,” in which a man is called to “rule over his household” and “the God-ordained and proper sphere of dominion for a wife is the household.”

Phillips also takes a dim view of women in the public sphere, saying it is not “the ordinary and fitting role of women to work alongside men as their functional equals” outside the home in business, government and the military.

The damage done by these oppressive, repressive charlatans is hard to quantify, but here is one such example, from Spiritual Sounding Board:

I don’t know where to begin…as I have read through so many of the posts about the [Doug Phillips] mess, I have been forced to reevaluate my own life. Let me state from the beginning that we are not a part of any Integrated Church, and not a part of the “patriarch movement”…but we did, long ago, embrace some of their teachings….like having a large family, homeschooling, courtship, and such.

We have ten children. Six of them are out on their own, five of those are married. Not a single one married with our blessing/agreement….three lived with their spouse before marriage. One son is involved with drugs…one daughter is tattooed like crazy….two remain active in “church work” ……but none “honor” their mother and father…and this is where I find myself…in a time of really re-evaluating what I believe. I feel that for our older six to be who they are must be connected to our wrong beliefs….at least to an extent.

As painful as it is to admit, I am beginning to see that we fostered some pretty difficult beliefs upon our older children all in the name of “protecting” their futures.
We are a divided family now, and my hope that there will ever be a time that we can be all at peace with one another wanes with every passing day.

This Thanksgiving…the children are celebrating without mom and dad…as I just couldn’t host another holiday with all this underlying pain/issues.

My request is to pray for us…as we face this holiday season, as I work through this season of looking at myself and what I believe squarely in the eye…that I will find real answers….maybe for the first time in a long, long time. Thanks for a safe place to express these rather painful admissions.

When I get mad at the Bob Jones people for messing up this town for so long, I try to focus on what I know must be the internal damage that is not readily apparent to the rest of us. This passage, from this mother in pain, reminds me to be compassionate and remember that there is so much more going on than meets the eye. The seemingly-united front and moral superiority that they unfailingly present to non-fundamentalists can be shattered in an instant... because much of it is based on the egos of these selfish, hypocritical religious shysters, who created their empires for themselves, not for God.

And humans are fallible. There is not one righteous. No, not one.

Stephen Jones resigns as Bob Jones University president

Stephen Jones is resigning as president of Bob Jones University, according to our ever-worshipful Greenville News.



Jones, son of Bob Jones III and empty suit, supposedly suffers from bad health (and yet has no trouble sneaking up to North Carolina to see popular movies that BJU-students-and-affiliates are not permitted to watch locally). And so he must depart.

The rapidly-sinking popularity of Bob Jones University might have something to do with his exit, although of course this fact isn't mentioned in the story. That wouldn't be NICE, and the Greenville News is always always always extremely NICE when it comes to our local cult, to the point of refusing to investigate scandals. (see last link)

From the Greenville News:

Bob Jones University President Stephen Jones plans to resign, the school said Friday, citing health issues.

The university said in a statement Jones submitted his resignation at the regular meeting of the BJU Board of Trustees.

“The persistence of my health issues over the last three years is preventing me from providing the leadership the University needs at this time and prompted my personal decision to resign,” Jones, 43, said in a statement.

“The BJU mission is more important than I. Serving the BJU family for over eight years has been one of the great gifts of God to my wife and me, and I am looking forward to serving here in whatever new role God has for me.”

A university spokesman said Jones declined to be interviewed.

Larry Jackson, chairman of the university trustees, said the board accepted his resignation as president effective at the end of commencement, May 9, 2014.

“The Board fully understands the effects of Dr. Jones’ continuing health issues as they relate to the demands of the position,” Jackson said, “and we appreciate his leadership in giving priority to the mission of the University. The Board is grateful for his significant contributions to the ministry of BJU, his dedication to its mission and his love for the faculty, staff and students during his tenure as president.”

In a statement, school officials said trustees will immediately establish a search committee to identify candidates for president and “will prayerfully fill the position as soon as God leads us to a qualified person.”

“The Board of Trustees is completely committed to the historic position and mission of Bob Jones University and to maintaining the University’s firm stand on the absolute authority of Scripture,” Jackson said. “The board will seek a new president equally committed to our mission and biblical position.”

And as we know, Bob Jones IV, who was next in line before Stephen, was mysteriously passed over. Nobody will ever tell us why. (I figure its the same reason older brother Fredo was passed over, in favor of Michael Corleone: "Fredo has a good heart, but he's weak and he's stupid.")

Of course, we're all ready to hear the reason BJIV has been excluded from Apostolic Succession by his father, Bob Jones III (known as "triple-sticks" by some of the former-faithful). But take my word for it, we won't be getting any reasons, which means we can go ahead and fill in our own. I think one possible reason is that BJIV went to Notre Dame (that is to say, a REAL college, not a fake one, like BJU). After preaching against the Catholic Church for decades, Bob Jones III actually paid for his oldest son to attend Notre Dame! The money of the anti-Catholic faithful going straight to "the flagship Catholic University of North America" -- is that some nerve or what? Years ago, I discovered when the fundamentalist zealots periodically invaded the Catholic bookstore (where I used to work), all cranked up on Jonathan Edwards and ready to rumble, all I had to do was ask how they felt about their money going to Notre Dame so that Bob Jones IV could have a REAL education? Why didn't he just go to BJU? Notre Dame MUST be a better school, I protested, or Bob Jones wouldn't want his progeny attending, now would he?!?

I loved how the BJU-fundies would turn almost crimson whenever I brought up this forbidden topic. (Of course, they are not allowed to criticize The Founder or anyone related to him.) But I also noticed that they seemed to be holding back. There was obviously MORE to the story, and (unfortunately for us dedicated scandal-mongers) they didn't want to share it. In the above-linked story, they claim BJIV is working for WORLD magazine, although my spies tell me he has not been on the staff for many years.

So keep in mind, you're only getting a partial version of the truth, and uncomfortable facts are routinely dropped down the memory hole. Every story about BJU is only partial. We will only learn the whole truth after the place totally implodes. The obedient Greenville News takes its marching orders from BJU, even more than they do from the local Republican Party, and yes, there is a predictably heavy, heavy overlap.

The Greenville News has never, ever done any investigative journalism on the many abuses that have taken place at BJU over the years. ZIP. For example, in the above-linked account, we get this:

Last year, after several former and current BJU students and faculty protested the way the school had handled sex abuse allegations on campus, university officials said they contracted with GRACE, or Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment, for “an open and objective analysis.”

A final report should be issued early next year, according to officials from Lynchburg, Va.-based GRACE and BJU.

Note that none of this was initially covered by our local newspaper of record. We finally get this defanged, tepid account A YEAR LATER. (more details here and here)

Chances are, we are only getting a small fraction of the story and the real reasons for 1) Stephen Jones being installed as president of BJU in the first place (as the article makes clear, he didn't want the job) and 2) his upcoming departure.

And I wonder who the first non-related president of Bob Jones University will be? Can anyone be as perfect as blood relatives of The Founder? This is obviously a crisis in the House of Jones.

Let's hope it is one more chapter in the slo-mo disintegration of the cult.

Comments welcome. Bob Jones University-apologists will be harshly dealt with, so no whining that you weren't warned.

Bob Jones University's MACBETH witches wear dreadlocks

Above, the three witches of MACBETH, sporting dreadlocks.

Today on Occupy the Microphone, we discussed Bob Jones University's newest production of MACBETH, which got a gushing (and what other kind is there?) endorsement from Sunday's worshipful GREENVILLE NEWS. As I have complained before (about a half-million times), the GREENVILLE NEWS has never ever criticized Bob Jones University, even when they appoint professional rape-apologists to their board, or suspend students for watching GLEE. As I have also said, they don't even print Letters to the Editors critical of BJU; segregation, racism, sexism, homophobia, students not being able to face their accusers, long-time faculty railroaded out of jobs because they state on internet forums that they don't like corporal punishment, etc... it's all peachy keen and wholesome as the dickens.

My all-time favorite GREENVILLE NEWS editorial (re: the aforementioned BJU scandal about the rape-excuser on the board) actually stated, "Whatever account is most accurate" (!)--which completely sums up the hands-off approach always applied to Bob Jones University, in which the words "investigative journalism" have absolutely no meaning.

What makes no sense is how the GREENVILLE NEWS obviously wants the big movers and shakers to relocate here; they want the international money-men to colonize Greenville even more than they have already. Do they understand that championing such an awful, embarrassing, oppressive institution is NOT the way to do this? Why not cut to the chase and simply print a banner headline advertising: GREENVILLE UNRESERVEDLY LOVES FUNDAMENTALIST WACKOS? I mean, if you are going to continue to rave about the wonderfulness of BJU without alluding to its repressive history (as well as its repressive present), that IS how it reads.

To name only the most recent example, the goofy, incorrect, thoroughly unscientific craziness in Bob Jones University's homeschool textbooks recently made the media rounds, singled out as an example of redneck stupidity and an occasion of extended hilarity on all the major networks. This craziness included rehabbing the kkk, who really were just misunderstood doncha know:

“[The Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross. Klan targets were bootleggers, wife-beaters, and immoral movies. In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians.”—United States History for Christian Schools, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2001

And making sure students understand that slavery wasn't all bad:

“A few slave holders were undeniably cruel. Examples of slaves beaten to death were not common, neither were they unknown. The majority of slave holders treated their slaves well.”—United States History for Christian Schools, 2nd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 1991

And you probably didn't know that dinosaurs and humans lived side by side?:

“Bible-believing Christians cannot accept any evolutionary interpretation. Dinosaurs and humans were definitely on the earth at the same time and may have even lived side by side within the past few thousand years.”—Life Science, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2007

In addition, fire-breathing dragons might be real, just like on GAME OF THRONES!:

“[Is] it possible that a fire-breathing animal really existed? Today some scientists are saying yes. They have found large chambers in certain dinosaur skulls…The large skull chambers could have contained special chemical-producing glands. When the animal forced the chemicals out of its mouth or nose, these substances may have combined and produced fire and smoke.”—Life Science, 3rd ed., Bob Jones University Press, 2007

And yes, unfortunately, I could go on. Further, Bob Jones University is one of the major suppliers of homeschooling textbooks worldwide ... and they make a lot of their money from this crackpot stuff.

But don't expect any criticism of this goofiness from our local newspaper of record. Not. One. Peep.

Maybe that's the worst part of it: The GREENVILLE NEWS is still pretending the place is a real school, instead of a fundamentalist cult. And this has the overall effect of making us all look like yahoos, every time we pick up their newspaper.

~*~

And so, the MACBETH production, like everything else at BJU, was deemed an unqualified success in the Sunday GREENVILLE NEWS account. But when I saw the photos of the three actresses playing the famous three witches in MACBETH, I was somewhat alarmed (but never surprised, considering who we are talking about) that their hair is all in dreadlocks.

What? (double-take)

Dreadlocks. DREAD. LOCKS.

Keep in mind that witches, to BJU, are real enough that they do not even allow their students to read the Harry Potter novels. Witches are unambiguously regarded as evil, satanic, bad. Thus, we must wonder why they consider dreadlocks specifically something that witches would wear? Why would they think that? I doubt anyone in Scotland in 1057 AD wore dreadlocks, know what I mean? But here in Greenville in 2013, who DOES wear them?

Think about that.

African Americans and white hippie pagan weirdos. You know, the evil people. In fact, it is African drumming that makes rock music uniquely evil and satanic, in case you didn't know. Things from AFRICA are automatically suspect in BJU-circles. (Interracial dating was prohibited on campus until 2000.)

And so, we have to ask, what do the dreadlocks on witches mean in this context? Was this an openly-racist decision by the wardrobe department, or as Sheila Jackson, my caller on today's radio show, said, is this "subliminal"? Are they aware of the implications of singling out a hairstyle associated with African-Americans and Afrocentric religion (the Rastafarians) and assigning this iconic hairstyle to the most famous trio of spell-casting witches in literary history?

Either way, it stinks... and it illustrates how backward and embarrassing they are, besides.

I am reminded of the many 70s productions of "Jesus Christ Superstar" that cast King Herod as a flaming gay man surrounded by an interracial group of gender-benders. Um, what was THAT supposed to mean? (And I think we can easily see that now, can't we?)

The difference, of course, would be that these productions of "Jesus Christ Superstar" are from about four decades ago... and BJU's dreadlocked MACBETH witches are from RIGHT NOW.

Yes, four decades behind. That's about right.

Another Bob Jones University sex scandal

From WSPA--Bob Jones Administrator Suspended For Soliciting A Prostitute In 1991

Greenville, SC - An administrator with Bob Jones University has been indefinitely suspended from his position for having a prior criminal background.

University spokesman Randy Page issued a statement saying that Dr. Joseph Bartosch was suspended from his position as Chief Brand Officer on Friday, March 15 by school officials. Page states that school officials learned on the same day that Bartosch had been charged with soliciting a prostitute in another state two decades ago and prior to his employment with Bob Jones University.

Bartosch confirmed the allegations to school officials and put himself at their disposal, Page stated. School officials will gather facts about the incident and reach an appropriate decision as soon as possible about Bartosch's employment status.

According to online records obtained from the Superior Court of California, Bartosch was arrested and charged with misdemeanor solicitation of a prostitute in 1991. The records indicate he served three days in jail and was later sentenced to three years of probation.

Bartosch's biography indicates that he graduated from Bob Jones University in 1982 and joined the Administration in 2012. He finished with a Master of Counseling degree in 2006 and an EdD in Curriculum and Instruction in 2007. He lived in Sacramento from 1990-2004 and was Head Master at Sacramento Preparatory Academy.

The official statement from BJU can be read HERE. If you wanna listen to edifying sermons by the fascinating Dr Bartosch, they are HERE.

This new sex-scandal comes directly on the heels of multiple scandals plaguing the school since the 2011-12 academic year, during which rape-apologist Reverend Charles Phelps resigned from the BJU board, amid protests, outrage and general disgust. Accompanying this media-foofaraw, student Christopher Peterman organized a demonstration in support of sexual abuse survivors, and was summarily tossed out of BJU, just a few days before his graduation... supposedly for watching "GLEE" on his laptop. This incident made it to CNN and beyond.

After that blew over, more or less, there were alarming accounts of sexual assaults at Bob Jones University, made public and demanding immediate follow-up. On January 10th of this year, BJU called on a non-profit Christian outfit called GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) to do an independent, third-party investigation. This investigation/inquiry will continue until April 30th. However, it seems to be proceeding in the usual BJU-half-assed manner; although the school dutifully posted this info on their website, it is benignly-labeled a review rather than an investigation. In addition, they haven't alerted students and former students, nor parents, faculty, staff or alumni, that there is a survey being actively conducted. [*see edit below]

According to multiple accounts, the BJU-admin was asked to publicly announce that there was a survey and investigation underway, but they have declined to do so. (sigh) Well, of course they have.

~*~



Minding my own business in a shopping mall, when ... YOW! Accosted by Bob Jones University yet AGAIN!

As I have said here many times, they virtually RUN the upstate.

~*~

Bob Jones University, bane of our existence here in upstate South Carolina, has reacted to recent, multiple sleazy scandals (and persistent rumors) by feverishly gussying up their image. They suddenly have billboards everywhere, featuring fresh-faced, happy kids who could be students anywhere... and these groups of laughing students/poster kids invariably include ONE STUDENT OF COLOR. ((shock)) If anything shows how hard the unrelenting criticism of the past decade has hit BJU, that might be it.

When I moved to Greenville 25 yrs ago, there were NO billboards (and what kind of worldly nonsense is THAT?) and absolutely no advertising for BJU. The overriding sentiment was, they didn't want just ANYbody attending their exclusive fundamentalist enclave. If you called the place to ask admission questions, they would not answer you. You had to be recommended by godly personages and go through specific channels. They kept the majority of people out, and they were proud of it.

When BJU finally produced some cursory mainstream ads, websites and the occasional billboard--the all-white student line-up was blinding. Embarrassing, too, since Greenville is only 62% white. Apparently, BJU didn't notice the discrepancy. It was a joke all over town. People joked that you could tell whose billboards they were from a half-mile down the road: the kids are all white, must be BJU.

They have changed that, at long last. They got the memo. (At least, in the billboards and advertising; I am doubtful the school itself has integrated in any real way.)

Next up, they sold their weird radio station (that once specialized in a strange fundie-android mix of 50s-muzak and KJV-only scripture). BJU also decided to get some SPORTS going on, which they hope will draw more students and sports fans:

[Bob Jones University] plans to become part of the National Christian College Athletic Association and have intercollegiate sports in place by the 2012-2013 school year.

"We really look at intercollegiate sports as rounding out the educational opportunities here for our students here at Bob Jones University," Brian Scoles, spokesman for the university, told WYFF. "Not only will it help them for developing Christ-like spirit on the athletic field, but it's also an opportunity for the community to come to campus to view one more program that we have here."

By next school year, Bob Jones plans to have men's and women's soccer and basketball programs. The athletic opportunities are expected to grow from there, starting in the fall of 2013.

So, they are tarting themselves up! They are getting their act together and taking it on the road.

Specifically, they are trying to pump up enrollment, which is currently dropping like a rock. Various reports (all fiercely disputed by BJU officials) claim that the school now has only a third of the enrollment it had during its pre-internet heyday.

And the fact that they can't even provide decent background-checks on their own employees, isn't going to help. Apparently, the students and food-service employees are subjected to stricter background checks than Bartosch was.

Stay tuned, sports fans.

~*~

*EDIT: 3/24 - Sometime in the last 10 - 14 days, BJU updated the front page of their website's link to the investigation page to read "G.R.A.C.E. Independent Investigation" instead of the completely dismissive and confusing "G.R.A.C.E. Initiates Review" that had been the previous link since January. (thanks to Jeffrey Hoffman for the correction!)

Five of Wands

Five of Wands: Conflict, competition, discord








The Boy Scouts of America were selling some sugared-up substances outside my local grocery store this weekend... and I really really really wanted to walk right up to them and ask, do you let the transgender scouts in? The Girl Scouts do! But I lacked the nerve; the scout-leaders on duty had that hyper-masculine, super-patriotic Toby Keith vibe going on. I could easily see it all escalating into a heated argument, and possibly culminating in a call to Greenville's finest.

Those guys love cops. Some of them ARE cops.

I used to relish that sort of thing, but now I get weary and tired just thinking about it. (sigh) Do we get less radical as we age, or just more sensible? I mean, it would all be a huge waste of time, and could get me locked up besides.

Then again, IS it a waste of time? Could one of those unassuming, plucky little boy scouts be gay or transgender and therefore: silently cheering me on? Could I make a good impression by accident? (I know I have in the past, but I usually only find that out years later.)

Well, I'll never know now. I passed them by and pretended not to hear them when they politely addressed me as ma'am and asked me to buy their sugar-treats. If I had stopped, even for a second, the argumentative questions WOULD have tumbled right out of my mouth. I am old enough now, to Know Thyself well.

Therefore, I know when to keep on walking... unless I have the strength and wherewithal to deal with the various Toby-Keithesque-characters of upstate South Carolina. And at that time and place, I just didn't.

I hope some brave young person, with energy and time to burn, does.

One of those little scouts needs to hear you speak up.

~*~

We watched the whole first season of HOMELAND on DVDs, which was terribly enjoyable but politically disturbing.

Is the CIA really this much of a mess? I shudder to think.

And do we accept this fact without question, just to have some mind-twisting entertainment? Are government-sanctioned, covered-up drone attacks on masses of children now just another plot development?

Saints preserve us.

As when I watched Standard Operating Procedure, I had nightmares after one of the episodes, the one about the drone attacks.

Observations: Nobody plays crazy as well as Claire Danes. Her stream-of-consciousness mania/complaining about not being able to find a green pen (Not blue!) was fantastic. I highly recommend the show for sheer class and talent on display, and yet... I resent the fact of the war, the tortures, the devastation they are dramatizing. But of course, that is all some genuinely high-stakes stuff, isn't it? This makes for some honestly gut-wrenching drama and challenges to the moral sensibility. One's conscience is suddenly thrown into high gear, and how many TV shows can manage to do that?

On the other hand, the danger is that horrifying, harrowing military realities are reduced to the status of a Tom Clancy thriller. I find this disorienting. It leaves a decidedly-unpleasant taste in the mouth. More psychologically sophisticated than John Wayne in Sands of Iwo Jima, to be sure... but still presented as entertainment. And is there any way the CIA does NOT come off as a glamorous occupation, with Claire Danes madly running around risking her life to save the unsuspecting populace? Or, as Peter O'Toole noted in that obscure cult movie, The Stunt Man: "I know a man who made an anti-war movie; a good one. When it was shown in his home town, army enlistment went up six hundred percent."

Is it possible to portray something, anything, in movies and TV without somehow making it interesting and cool?

On the political flip-side, conservatives have often asked this same question about drug abuse. How can one properly dramatize drug abuse and its accompanying devastation, without inadvertently glamorizing drug use as dangerous and edgy?

Because it if weren't, on some level, we wouldn't bother watching.

We don't get the Showtime network, so I will probably not see the second season of HOMELAND in its entirety until it comes out on DVD. (I hope I can resist Googling the spoilers, as I have been known to do.) If the second season can keep up the dramatic tension, it should be excellent. The second season will debut on Showtime at the end of this month.

The nasty snipes at Dick Cheney are obvious, at least. And well-deserved.

~*~

Saturday's radio show podcast is online. Hope you will give us a listen.

Speaking of radio... Bob Jones University has sold their radio station, which had the cutesy call letters of WMUU: World's Most Unusual University. (Nobody ever argued with that.) It will now be converted into still another conservative talk-radio station here in town. Certainly, we know that is a DIRE NEED here in the upstate! (snark)

Swimming upstream, but we are still afloat. One slim hour of lefty-radio in a sea of constant and endless right-wing blather.

It's a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.

Religion, Warthogs and Republicans...

From LOLCATS, this comic reminded me of this hapless incident I wrote about a couple of months ago. (You can click to enlarge.)


~*~

As far as I know, this has not been reported locally. I'm very glad that we have the internet to inform us of the unpopular news stories. From the Freedom From Religion Foundation:

The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a federal lawsuit May 30 in U.S. District Court in Columbia, S.C., against School District 5 of Lexington and Richland Counties over a district policy that sanctions graduation prayer. Matthew “Max” Nielson, 18, who graduated May 30 from Irmo High School, was named as principal plaintiff.

Nielson has received a $1,000 Catherine Fahringer Memorial Student Activist Award from FFRF and will speak at FFRF’s 35th annual convention in Portland, Oregon, October 12-14.

On June 11, FFRF filed an amended complaint adding two new plaintiffs, Jacob Zupon and Dakota McMillan. They will graduate respectively from Irmo High School in 2013 and 2014, keeping the lawsuit ripe. Zupon and McMillan “reasonably anticipate constitutional injury” similar to Nielson’s, due to prayer at their upcoming graduations. All students describe themselves as “religiously unaffiliated,” meaning “they subscribe to no particular organized, institutionalized religion, nor other prescribed set of beliefs.”

A district policy titled “School Ceremonies and Observations” sets guidelines for benedictions and invocations at graduations and athletic events: Use of prayer “will be determined by a majority vote of the graduating senior class with the advice and counsel of the principal.”

Nielson was forced during his senior year to participate in a “vote” by graduating seniors on whether to pray at their 2012 graduation. That vote was organized, distributed and tallied by teachers and other staff. He met with Principal Rob Weinkle and Superintendent Steve Hefner to express his concerns. FFRF formally objected, but the district refused to remove the scheduled prayer. FFRF filed suit on the day of the graduation.

This kind of thing is very common even in public schools here in the Bible belt. Also common: impromptu public prayers given on the spot--usually before standardized tests, sports and field trips. Whoever chooses not to participate in these prayers, is often considered rebellious and/or a troublemaker, simply by fiat.

My daughter also had Bob Jones University students as student teachers in her public high school, believe it or not. (BJU is unaccredited.) In addition, due to budget cuts and lack of space, her school also had instrumental music concerts/recitals in various local churches that were kind enough to volunteer space. Thus, parents and families who wanted to attend their children's recitals were forced to go the churches.

Aside: The aformentioned BJU student teacher (a music teacher), addressed the audience of parents at one such local music recital and informed us he was thankful to his Lord and Savior. This aggravated me, since I went to hear the kids perform, not to listen to a sermon. However, at the time, I did not want to make an issue of these things and put my daughter in a precarious social position.

Therefore, I am pleased these students and FFRF are finally challenging this stuff. Maybe this will make them think twice.

The prayer at the graduation, written by the district but delivered by a student “volunteer,” was addressed to “Father.” The prayer asked for the “Lord’s guidance, protection and mercy,” asked students to be “touched” by “the Lord,” to be led “on the path you intend for their lives to lead,” and thanked a deity for “the teachers, parents and administrators that were here through our 12 years of school.”

... and if this is not your faith, well, they really don't care what you think.

~*~

At left: My daughter took this adorable photo of a warthog mama and baby at the San Antonio Zoo. DEAD FROM CUTENESS!!!

Speaking of warthogs (and how many of you caught that segue?), REST IN PEACE Ron Palillo!

~*~



Other links of note:

Lisa Marie Presley Says "So Long" to Scientology (Village Voice)

POLITICO e-book: Obama campaign roiled by conflict (Politico)

The Conservative Psyche: How Ordinary People Come to Embrace Paul Ryan's Cruelty (AlterNet)

Raising the Ritalin Generation (New York Times)

IN CELEBRATION: Thankful for the Life of Phyllis Diller (GendErratic)

The bizarre, unhealthy, blinding media contempt for Julian Assange (UK Guardian)

Americans ignore the war in Afghanistan, despite 2,000 US casualties (RT.com)

Prayers At Republican National Convention Expected From Cardinal Timothy Dolan And Prominent Mormon Friend Of Mitt Romney (Huffington Post)

Limited Convention Broadcasts Shut Out Ann Romney (New York Times)

And on that happy note (tee hee), we wish you a happy Wednesday evening... don't forget, local peeps, "The Feel-good, Fabulous, Four Hour, Fun-Filled, Festival-like thing we refer to as Dead Air!" (namesake of this blog) is on WNCW-FM tonight, as we speak.

Only a dullard could resist!

Pure Gold

Gregory Easton is a homophobic, Religious-Right blogger who graduated from Bob Jones University. His blog was/is the Hidalgo Grain Company. Although he has been critical of BJU (he was expelled once, apparently, and went back... I didn't even know you could do that), he is simultaneously fiercely loyal to the institution, particularly in the face of recent (multiple) controversies. Easton sees the "disaffecteds" as causing all the trouble.

In response, Easton has repeatedly implied that certain of the "disaffecteds" are gay (by name too), has insultingly-photo-shopped pictures stolen from the LGBT-BJU website, has even accused Camille Lewis and her husband of attempting to "take over" BJU from North Greenville College (!), which is an utterly bizarre and outrageous claim. He even posted photos of Camille's children. He is an internet-bully, and has bullied a lot of people. His modus operandi is to take copyrighted material and creatively-photoshop it, apparently unaware that this is illegal and a copyright violation. (There is a notice on my website, lower right corner, instructing readers that my material is copyrighted.) This has been going on a good while now. I had never commented on this bully, and felt delinquent in not doing so. Camille is a friend, and I felt I had not defended her as well as I should have.

Saturday, I posted about BJU, and in passing made this remark:

... as a certain Hidalgo Grain Company person specializes in: endless pissed-off yammerings and then howlings of persecution when those yammerings are taken seriously. This seems to be the general pattern.

I pointedly did not link his blog, as you notice. I did NOT want Easton to come over to my blog, and linking him would have alerted him and sent him over. So I deliberately DID NOT.

Apparently, Easton is the kind of person who continuously Googles himself, and he found the reference within the hour.

This one sentence from me rated a 1000-word blog post from Easton, blasting me as insane, complete with stolen photos, photoshopped to say things I do not agree with, and one making me cross-eyed (although Easton is 51 years old, he appears to have some arrested development, like most bullies). He trashed the radio station I am on, said it only had 500 watts. Etc. When I politely asked him to take down the copyrighted material, he laughed at me and told me I was "pure gold"... Thus, we have the title of this post. (I sure am!)

We went back and forth on his blog, and he threatened me with legal action for something I said, now forgotten. His "legal department" counsels him that blah blah blah (I guess his legal dept thinks stealing photos is A-Okay though). I replied here, instead of there:

I got biker friends in Pensacola. One of them said he would like to pay you a visit. [Here I named the two streets listed for Gregory Easton on the Pensacola White Pages website and asked which one was his.] Well, I guess he can check out both locations. I see you lived at Pebble Creek Apts when you lived here in the Greenville area (Taylors). Small world, I have biker friends there, too! In fact, I have biker friends most everywhere, since I was once married to one.

My biker friend in Pensacola needs some serious witnessing (I think he might be a satanist or something crazy like that, you know how Deadheads are all over the lot! Even Ann Coulter is one!)... so please be nicer to him, than you were to me, okay?

Could you clarify the street address so he doesn't have to go to both places? Get out your Bible, Greg... I think you are going to need it.

Although this was intended as humorous and as a reply to his various threats of lawyers to make me go away (or at least as humorous as Greg threatening to out the gay students), I forgot that the word "biker" causes "the citizens" to freak (shades of Roger Corman's The Wild Angels!)... this was the comment that started the massive Facebook hyperventilating.

Next thing you know, a commenter named "Ex-Calvinist" who came over directly from Greg's site (he is also associated with a GLBT group that I am friends with on Facebook, but I do not know his real name or what the nature of his association with them is) and leaves this message (controversial info redacted):

Daisy, Calvinists don't believe in witnessing. Predestination allows them to be smug in the Gospel. If you don't agree with them, then you're not predestined so they don't have to worry about you. Heresy but much easier for everyone.

Greg is doing this for blog hits and I thought you should know. Don't link him, though. That only encourages a sociopath.

Hi Greg! I'm an ex-old friend. You treated me like shit. Like you do [wife and kids named here, redacted] and everyone else in your life. So now we're ex-friends. {You mostly have ex-friends, which is why you aren't on Facebook. Nobody would friend you.} Daisy needs to know what kind of Bobber freak is harassing her this time.

I was shipped and stayed shipped. I didn't go crawling back to BJU on my belly begging for more abuse, like some masochists with no principles do. Remember now? You ratted me out to save your own ass, scumbag motherfucker.

If I ever get my hands on you, snitch asswipe, you'll wish you met Daisy's biker instead.

Daisy, Greg and [spouse] live at [redacted] in Pensacola, Florida. She is a teacher and works at [redacted] school. There are apartment buildings across the street from them, so your friend should be able to park there and observe the house without anyone noticing.

Say howdy to Greg and [wife] for me.

Me:

Ex-C, hope you don't mind that I took out the school name? If it was GREG that taught there, I would leave it in, but I have nothing against the misses. At least, not yet!

Thank you for the info. Looked it up on Google Street view--nice house, close to the ocean! Another rich kid (even if he is 51, he is obviously still a kid), playing games and getting in way over his head. Despite his "free speech" bullshit protestations, he has banned me and even Gregg, my consigliere.

Stalk and then ban, that is the pattern with these perverts.

Ex-Calvinist:

Daisy, not a problem. I'm just providing information.

I want Greg to sweat the way his snitching made others sweat. He has no conscience or loyalty at all. Everything he has or has done is at the expense of someone else. If his wife didn't have a decent job, he couldn't even support himself. He's earned nothing on his own.

Be proud a BJU robot loser attacked you. It means you're doing the right thing.

I thought I was being such a nice girl, politely taking out the name of the school where Mrs Easton teaches, but everyone wanted Easton's address redacted also. As regular readers know, I grew up with a bully and I do not like to be bullied. (After all, this information is easily found on the internet to anyone who does a search of Easton's name and locale, as Ex-Calvinist obviously has.) But here is the punch line.

Greg Easton has REMOVED HIS ENTIRE BLOG.

The. Whole. Thing.

Do you remember what I wrote? How he pick fights and then howls? This is the best example of the BJU-modus operandi I have ever seen. He claims he is now terrified for his innocent family (shades of Tom Laughlin's Born Losers!) All hell has broken loose, as BJU people demand I take down his address. They didn't care about Easton's continuous gay-baiting, which could have cost someone a job (or their life), just like they didn't care what happened to Camille, you understand... they care about GREG EASTON.

I am also being threatened with suspension from my radio show for this incident, since one of them went and (of course) snitched. Snitching is a way of life over there. As I have written here before, it was a BJU-gal picking a fight with me on the job, and then crying and wailing to the boss when I got mad and read her the riot act, that once cost me a job. That is the pattern: start a fight, create anguish, then howl when there are direct consequences to your despicable actions. Over and over and over. And here in upstate SC, they are allowed to continue this, as they would not be allowed in a larger and more diverse city or location.

Adding to the murderous atmosphere for GLBT people here in the south is not a harmless activity. And yet, nobody at BJU thinks there is anything wrong with that. Many participated on Greg Easton's proudly-homophobic blog with aplomb.

Since his blog is gone, so is our subsequent conversation over his nasty photo-shopping of my image... I asked him to "witness" the Gospel to me, and he refused. My biker comments were made in that vein, that I am sending a biker over to his house for him to witness to. Now he is howling that I am "threatening his life". Oh boy. He certainly didn't seem to care when BJU-apologists put up a Facebook page threatening MY life. (Now, I wonder why that is?)

The Borg has now contacted WFIS to get my radio show suspended. They play as dirty as I do... they just don't admit it, and I do.

I might redact Easton's street address, but Greg Easton assures us that his blog is intact, just invisible... so I hate to take down the protective force-field that has made him go away. He will undoubtedly go back to stealing people's photos for more photo-shop fun, as well as the usual hate speech and outings.

What's a mother to do?

Haven't decided. But as I have said to readers over and over: this is the power of Bob Jones University. Their tentacles reach everywhere in upstate SC. I knew I was going to PAY, and PAY DEARLY, when I took them on in the first place. This is the way they play it.

~*~

For the record: My legal name and address, the names of my family, places I have worked, et. al... all of this is right here on this blog, if you know where to find it. Thing is, you don't. All of this information is tucked away in five years of blog-comments. There are the names, addresses and IPs of at least three different trolls I have outed, who have stalked me here. (one includes his work address) There are references to private conversations, sexual activities, personal failings, etc etc etc from people who I wish had not written those things about me. But I left it up. There are criticisms of me, calling me all kinds of names. I left it up.

In sum, there are all manner of brawls in blog comments on this site, not readily available unless you know exactly where to look. (And even I forget where these particular comments are, when I sometimes go to look for them myself!)

And it would have been the same for Greg Easton's info... it would fade away into the overall detritus of the blog. Nobody would be able to find it, unless they knew exactly where to look. (In fact, this was also Easton's excuse when people asked HIM to delete his copious and constant photo-shopping.) I did not even link his blog in my post, he linked mine in his. HE IS THE ONE WHO HAS DRAWN ALL THIS ADDITIONAL ATTENTION TO THIS POST AND IN DOING SO, PUT HIS OWN INFO ON THE MAP. I think this is so he can be all melodramatic and play the victim. I do not for one minute believe that he is afraid for his family or any other fairy tale. I think his wife was contacted and SHE finally put her foot down. (A little birdie told me.) THAT is why the blog is finally gone.

As I said in the original post, and I now repeat: As a certain Hidalgo Grain Company person specializes in: endless pissed-off yammerings and then howlings of persecution when those yammerings are taken seriously. This seems to be the general pattern.

And as we see, I was 100% correct. You do not steal from people, post pictures of their kids and accuse Christian students (who have a lot to lose) of being gay, and then howl in moral indignation when they fight back. Well, you can, but expect people to challenge your double standards.

I realize the cult fully approves of this behavior (since they participated on Easton's blog, as I said), but the world at large DOES NOT.

In the meantime, I am thinking of adding a section to the blog, with approving reviews/quotes. "Interesting."--Noam Chomsky (yes, he really did say that to me) and "Pure Gold"--Greg Easton. Then he will be immortalized here forever.

Whaddaya think?

~*~

EDIT #1, 6/5/12: After much discussion, Ex-Calvinist has given me permission to strike his comment. I decided to do this since Greg Easton has threatened me and WFIS with legal action. I really hate to give into bullies, but sometimes, they have the bigger guns, the deepest pockets and the most artillery.

Thus, the comments at the original post will now link to this post.

EDIT #2, 6/9/12: No radio suspension is imminent, so I have edited this post to remove my various ditherings over the possibility, at the request of several interested parties. The rest of the post is intact.

Stay tuned, sports fans.

EDIT #3, 7/23/12: Greg Easton's blog is back up and intact, as the BJU-watchers assured me it would be. For all his high-pitched hysteria, it seems it was all a huge fake-out; a fundamentalist victim-act, as I knew it was. All the people who got SO angry with me for harming poor wittle Greg, have not apologized to me for defending this two-bit, ridiculous fake/hysteric/liar/charlatan. I am waiting though, and I am keeping a list.

Irish Alzheimers: you forget everything but the grudges.