Madison TV station does hatchet job on Maranatha Baptist Bible College

Hatchet job? I don’t think so. Sure, the article wasn’t favorable and intended to make the school look silly, but it wasn’t devastating (which, I think, is the outcome of a ‘hatchet job’). Specific rules of the school were mentioned, the school was given an opportunity to respond and there were a number of lengthy quotes from the school, and the students were given an opportunity to respond. Though the intent was to make fun of the school, the article was balanced in giving the school an opportunity to respond. I think the way the school and the students handled this, more good than harm will result from it.

Couldn’t agree more, Jonathan. The article was well-balanced and offered the community a glimpse into an institution they probably didn’t know much about, other than from rumors that float around. As an MBBC grad, I was not at all offended. There is worse information that gets passed around the area about MBBC; believe me, I had to address some of that at my job while I was a student there. As someone who worked as a reporter for four years, I know good reporting when I read it, and this was a good example of an article that could have been offensive or insulting, but instead was anything but. I don’t know Mr. Lomax, but he did a good job defusing what could have been an incendiary article by responding in a matter-of-fact, straightforward way. Too many times people go on the defensive when they are interviewed by the media and end up harming themselves or their organization needlessly.

Two comments about the “fun” of the secular university:

1. I live near Penn State’s main campus. The average weekend at Penn State involves excessive drinking and tons of immorality.

2. My brother graduated from Clemson. For the most part, the school doesn’t have Friday classes because the students don’t attend, the partying has already started. When he left, attendance at Thursday classes had dropped significantly because partying was beginning to start even earlier.

I think a school like MBBC is a refreshing thing and that the article will encourage many that colleges still exist where students are there to learn Monday-Friday, where the school doesn’t need an abortion clinic nearby nor a student clinic to deal primarily with STD’s.

I think that the article is rather benign. I mean, if an average civilian went and reported on West Point or Army boot camp, it would seem rather foreign. For that matter, if the average MBBC student reported on the atmosphere of a typical public university, it would probably seem rather “look how strange they are” to the person who was acclimated to that culture. I do think that the environment in schools like MBBC is foreign to many people in our culture today- but that doesn’t necessarily mean people are “hating on them.” Perhaps they are doin their best to respond to something they find foreign. In fact, maybe the reporter is actually an advance scout for a TV reality show… ;-)

I personally believe that they should look at Christians and not understand us. We have Christ and they do not. It is only through God’s Grace that our eyes have been opened while theirs have not. If the world doesn’t see a difference in us, then we are not doing a very a good job of showing Christ to them. They will also be the 1st to condemn us as hypocrites when we fail. We need to be careful though, to guard ourselves in our “rulemaking” so that our “rules” are Biblical and not extra-Biblical. We think our rules are protecting our children (and maybe they are successful in protecting them from committing egregious sin, but I believe that it’s more by God’s Grace if that happens) but sometimes it’s only an outward compliance. When we rely on our rules too much and not on Christ changing the heart, we can indirectly produce pharisaical attitudes in ourselves and our children.

Jim - Calling this news report a hatchet job is the kind of provocative, paranoid and histrionic twisting of the facts that we just don’t need in Bible-believing circles. Not one thing that I read in the article was not true about MBBC - and I praise God those things are true! They gave both students who were favorable toward MBBC plus the MBBC spokesman plenty of space to speak their piece. There are probably thousands of secular parents with their students in the publicly funded devil-dens known as our secular colleges and universities who may be thinking, from the television report, that maybe we fundamental and separated Christians are on to something!

They did not search out former student malcontents to smear MBBC. Maybe many in our ranks need a thicker skin and not be so defensive. ;)

What was written that was not accurate? They were protrayed to be exactly what the are: different. Is there something unfair about that? If you are going to live a sanctfied life, you will be different to a world that has never bought into Christian standards. It was a very balanced and fair article. “Hatchet Job”? Wow.

[Matthew 5] 13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

If this is really the worst thing that’s ever reported about MBBC, I think it pales in comparison to the torments endured by our spiritual brothers and sisters in placed like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and India, where being a Christian could kill you.

[Jonathan Charles] Two comments about the “fun” of the secular university:

1. I live near Penn State’s main campus. The average weekend at Penn State involves excessive drinking and tons of immorality.

2. My brother graduated from Clemson. For the most part, the school doesn’t have Friday classes because the students don’t attend, the partying has already started. When he left, attendance at Thursday classes had dropped significantly because partying was beginning to start even earlier.

I think a school like MBBC is a refreshing thing and that the article will encourage many that colleges still exist where students are there to learn Monday-Friday, where the school doesn’t need an abortion clinic nearby nor a student clinic to deal primarily with STD’s.

Yes, Jonathan I couldnt agree more, I pastor in your area !