Down Among the Fundamentalists (Part 4)

The Good
Bob Jones University was a closed community. On campus, protected by a fence, there was a post office, a hospital, a movie studio, the faculty residence, a high school, a grade school and a world class art museum (along with, of course, the university.) That's right, they had a world class "art museum," featuring religious art through the ages. That would be serious religious art. This was no simple hall showing pictures and sculptures, but a well designed display of simply amazing art.

I loved the art museum, the science center, the gymnasium (and pool), the bookstore and the library. Reading a magazine at the library was a somewhat jarring experience. Imagine leafing through a Time or Newsweek Magazine and finding whole pages missing. Winston Smith, call your office. The article and/or the accompanying pictures had been deemed by the resident persnickety librarian to be an affront to common decency and a danger to Christians of all ages.

BJU was also a cultural experience. Because of its conservative standards, avant garde art was simply not part of campus life. What was left, however, were the classics. Shakespeare was all the rage. I saw productions of both The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo and Juliet. Excellent. True, I had to endure Bob Jones III prancing about the stage as Romeo, but in a strange way the part suited him. Much like the title character, B3 was brash, impulsive and over flowing with tragic possibilities.

The central character in the play is Juliet, who was played by B3's wife. She was wonderful.

The Bad
One of the worst aspects of BJU, outside of racism, was the in your face judgementalism of the administration. I'm sure they thought of it as being uncompromising, taking a stand, or pulling a Luther, if you will. From the pulpit you would hear that Billy Graham was a modernist, C.S. Lewis was a false teacher, Methodists were hopelessly compromised.

And don't even bother bringing up the Pope.

They tossed these invectives around the way a french chef might toss a salad. With style and without thinking. Then they patted themselves on the back for being loyal to the Word of God.

However, demeaning a religion is a double edged sword. And that is especially true when the institution doing the demeaning is at the epicenter of American Fundamentalism.

The Not So Hot
I took a job, working in the college dining hall. The school insisted on having an evening meal together, all two thousand of us. That meant someone had to pick up the two thousand or so plates. And that someone was me. There were eight guys on the crew and throughout the meal we would run around the cavernous hall collecting plates, cups, glasses and dinnerware. By the end of the meal I was covered with splotches of gravy, pudding and whatever the heck the main course was.

I hated busing tables.
But I discovered I loved being part of a crew.

And that's all I have to write about Bob Jones University. Like everything else in life, it was a mixed bag. I met some truly Christian people there, learned discipline, made friends and did some growing up.

It was an experience.