BJU faces scrutiny for their counseling methods
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2014/…
Interviews with several Bob Jones University graduates describing how the University counseled them when they sought help for sexual assault. May we read with a humble heart and seek to make our churches and religious communities a safe place for survivors of all types of abuse. Sadly, we are losing many precious souls in our churches by failing to show them the grace and compassion that is so desperately needed.
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I would be interested to know if this story has been corroborated anywhere beside Aljazeera America.
Why is it that my voice always seems to be loudest when I am saying the dumbest things?
Did you read the piece and/or watch the videos? Multiple victims shared their stories along with supporting documentation. Al-Jazeera America is considered a reputable news agency. Let the facts in the piece speak for itself. I was actually surprised by how even keeled and unbiased this piece was.
Well, its also being reported by “The American Conservative”….it must be true….
(because we only believe news sources that share our worldview [very tongue in cheek] )
But honestly, I’ve seen this topic on a few websites….and the consistent response is ” I doubt that its true because its from Al-Jazeera.”
May Christ Be Magnified - Philippians 1:20 Todd Bowditch
Whenever I read a report like this about BJU and the way they are accused of handling rape allegations by students, I am speechless, and honestly confused. In no particular order let me list a few thoughts and concerns:
1- First, rape does happen all too often, even outside of church and faith-based communities. Its not like BJU or fundamentalism is the only place these terrible things happen.
2- That being said, I am shocked that 2 of the victims claimed that at age 18 or older they DID NOT KNOW what rape was, only adultery…
a. I consider myself a Fundamental Baptist, and I am not afraid of that term mind you! But…reading this gives me pause. Am I really surrounded by people who so isolate their family that they don’t know what rape is????
b. Do people really teach their children NOTHING about sexual relations in the year 2014? Do people really teach their children NOTHING about crime in the year 2014?
3- Even if you discount this entire piece, the scanned page from “Becoming an Effective Christian Counselor” (apparently published by BJU Press) should make you cry and outraged at the same time! Let me state this emphatically. I specifically address solution #4. Any sexual attraction that a father might feel to a daughter is NEVER the fault of the girl (well, almost never except in a few perverse possible cases). The father should teach his daughter modesty, and the truth and facts about sexual relations. Let me go further, any man thinking sexually of his daughter showering HAS A MAJOR PROBLEM, and I am shocked that it is cavalierly brought up in a counseling book as if it is the girl’s fault! A girl is not sinning by showering! I am completely lost at what to say here, and it gives me serious pause about the judgment and motives of some of the people for decades at BJU and similar institutions and churches.
4- I still have heard no explanation why BJU was apparently not assisting students who came to them reporting past rape to report it FULLY, THOROUGHLY and PROPERLY to the police officials in whatever jurisdiction the person came from. This goes to the same problem in the Chuck Phelps case where he technically met the letter of the law, but didn’t thoroughly follow up reporting the crime. The MAIN REACTION instead of dealing with the CRIMINAL FIRST in reporting the crime, is to turn to the victim and start working on them, looking for any sin that might have “caused” the rape. It genuinely disturbs me and makes me doubt the sincerity, integrity, and forthrightness of officials at BJU.
a. Let me throw in the caveat that perhaps the GRACE investigation will find that BJU has been working to deal with the rape allegations that students have brought up and this is just bad journalism…we will see by no later than August 31, when the new president Steve Pettit claims that the investigation will be released.
[Todd Bowditch]Though I would agree it’s stupid to only trust news sources that share our worldview (or are at least close), I think news is definitely more credible when confirmed by more than one source. Generally, I need to read a lot of sites across the spectrum to get a reasonably non-slanted view of the news these days, as I rarely trust a single source any more (and it doesn’t need to be Al-Jazeera for me to be that skeptical). The days you could hear one newscaster read a report on one channel and absolutely believe it are long gone (if they ever existed at all).Well, its also being reported by “The American Conservative”….it must be true….
(because we only believe news sources that share our worldview [very tongue in cheek] )
But honestly, I’ve seen this topic on a few websites….and the consistent response is ” I doubt that its true because its from Al-Jazeera.”
Dave Barnhart
I read the following beautiful post on Do Right BJU in regards to the statement by BJU. May we read and consider how our words and actions could be used to bring healing, not pain.
“In regards to this recent news article, what we here at DRBJU would love is to see Bob Jones University give a response like this:
“We are deeply sorry for how we have failed survivors both as an institution and individually. Our hearts are grieved for the added pain that we have caused these precious souls. We acknowledge that we have failed and we are deeply saddened for that. We recognize that we have much to learn in this area and our desire is to do everything we can to make Bob Jones University a safe place for survivors of all types of abuse.”
Sadly, that is not the response that we have seen. Please BJU, consider how your actions have harmed others. Be willing to offer a humble genuine apology, not a half-hearted ramble purely focused on protecting your institution. Your list of changes and supposed steps to make things right means nothing, when you refuse to humble yourself and take the first step towards admitting you were wrong. A true genuine heart-felt apology could do so much to heal the wounds that have shattered their soul.”
I would submit that just about anything linked to or endorsed by “Do Right BJU” is to be taken with a grain of salt. Last I checked, a significant portion of the DJBJU group was composed of just about anyone else with a reason to hate Christianity (feminists, atheists) or that school in particular .
I know that this is going to reopen an old conversation, but I think that DR is a group that largely exists to attack and tear down, not to edify or encourage. Yes, I’m an alumnus, but that doesn’t mean that I support them 10,000% either. DR seems to exist as an attack dog and nothing more.
"Our task today is to tell people — who no longer know what sin is...no longer see themselves as sinners, and no longer have room for these categories — that Christ died for sins of which they do not think they’re guilty." - David Wells
Jay,
I realize your concern, but if you read what I quoted, I think it was fair and actually insightful.
Forget Do Right BJU, because that is just a dodge. Just look at the book “Becoming an Effective Christian Counselor” mentioned in the linked article, and with the scanned page provided. Answer this: Do you consider it a sin for a teenage daughter to bathe or shower with the bath room door unlocked at home, thus tempting her father? Apparently Walter Fremont (who I really know very little about) did. To be frank, THAT IS JUST WEIRD! And most likely perverted in itself! Can you explain the “culture” that this book represents?
Mark Smith
This author is one of three secular “journalists” that have interviewed me in recent days so I am sure this is just the beginning. Evidently someone has told them that BJU teaches and practices “nouthetic” counseling and since I am the nouthetic guy and I live in Greenville I must know something about all this. All tried to get me to bite on a caricature of Nouthetic counseling they had constructed and seemed to be disappointed when I disavowed their straw man. When I informed them that BJU does not practice nor teach “Nouthetic” counseling anyway (nor do they claim to), and that while Jim Berg is an acquaintance, I have no way of knowing what did or did not happen in any given counseling situation, they gave up and moved on.
The Fremont book is troubling indeed. The counseling faculty members I know pled with BJU press not to publish it as it is Freudian through and through and, as noted in the article, is even stranger than Freud himself. They were overruled as Fremont was a beloved faculty member who was dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease and, one influential administrator especially, believed BJU Press owed it to the Fremonts to publish his book.
Donn R Arms
Mark is right. There is no way to excuse Dr. Freemont’s example. It is disgusting and sinful. I respected the author - he was my professor, and I loved his class, but there is no way to excuse this. And I think we need to be honest. I have met men in fundamentalism who seem to share these kinds of views. If you are reading this, and you have a hint of this belief system, PLEASE REPENT OF IT. It is sinful and makes a victim hurt worse and does nothing to help the criminal.
Grace has a good point. Even though Do RIght said it, it was a better statement.
Roger Carlson, Pastor Berean Baptist Church
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