#BJUnity

[wutbju]

Cathy Salina Harris wanted a "vigil" in front of BJU in the Spring of 2015, after the GRACE Report.

Her goal was ultimately to have as successful an event as BJUnity had had at the Greenville Library in March 2015. She desperately wanted the same attention that they garnered. Frankly, she was jealous of BJUnity.

But it wasn't going to happen. Cathy could not get that kind of support.

She was telling people that the vigil was my idea. It was never my idea. It made no sense. There was nothing to protest. If we had an arrest or something, but we really had nothing. The GRACE Report was kind of a dud.

I didn't want to have anything to do with Cathy's plan. So many of us were flat-out tired of her manipulation.

She wanted me to reserve the downtown library for her -- the same space that BJUnity had reserved. That was important in her mind. She needed a Greenville County resident who had a library card to make the reservation. I wasn't going to do it. Not after all the yelling and commanding.

She claimed she had made the reservation herself. I knew she hadn't because she couldn't. She didn't live in Greenville County.

She had invited Barb Dorris of SNAP to come for the protest. She wanted us to raise money for her flight. It wasn't going to happen. People didn't know Barb or SNAP, and they didn't trust Cathy. And we didn't know what the vigil/protest was for!

Cathy tried something like, "You mean to tell me that Barb is going to have to pay for her own flight on her fixed income."

Whatever, Cathy.

I was so done with the yelling on the phone, the lying about everything. And in the middle of church one Sunday morning in April, I knew exactly what I was going to tell her. And you know I have it documented. If you've read this far, you know that I save the receipts. Everything in this statement was based on something she had yelled into my ear over the phone.

Here's the text:

Cathy — I am your friend. I am not your employee. I am not your servant. I am not your “right hand.” I am your friend, your ally, your team mate, your peer. I will continue to be your friend. I have been in the trenches with you especially over this last year. I will continue to be in the trenches with you. I have said this previously, and I’m saying it again here in front of these few people with us in the trenches so that my words cannot be misunderstood: I will have nothing to do with the candlelight vigil on May 7th. I will not write press releases. I will not field questions. I will not contribute one nickel to this or to Barb Dorris’s transportation. I will not sit across the street and video-tape it. I will not hinder your efforts at all, but I will not promote it in any way. And I will not attend. If someone asks me a question about my attending, I promise you that my words will be as follows: "Cathy is planning this event. If you have any questions, she can answer them." Do not attempt to give me a “job.” I have done my job — I reserved an appropriate venue for you in your name for the Barb Dorris meet-up. Do not attempt to convince me to attend the vigil. Do not tell me who is coming. Do not ask me my opinion about the details. I will say again: the vigil is a bad idea. This is not the time, and you are not the person. It is a poor decision for your health, your finances, and your public credibility. This is why I will not support anything to do with the effort. I have been helping alongside you in this terrible year, and this event is setting yourself up for failure. You will not hear me when I say that, and that is why I cannot support it anyway. I will see you on May 6th from 5-7:30pm. We will have a nice dinner and conversation, and I am looking forward to that. And I will continue to be your friend after that as I have been for years. I love you. My friendship and my affection for you will not change. Camille

And Cathy erupted. She raged. It was impossible to keep up with the fury. Four days later, I had to set more boundaries:

As you could guess, I shut down all the private groups because Cathy could not stop herself from raging and manipulating.

And clearly, Catherine Salina "Cathy" Smith Canby Harris Fallon Harris is not stable.

[wutbju]

Interesting, Paul . . . .

[wutbju]

Bob Jones University’s “Core Conference” this year is directed at “Gender, Sexuality, and the Church” -- an issue BJU has no business talking about as is proven in Pettit’s sermon on women this week. 

But this takes the cake. This is something no school which receives federal tax dollars and which is regionally accredited should do.

BJU alum and former employee and BJU press author, Sharon Hambrick registered to attend next week’s conference. She registered weeks ago. And today -- the Friday afternoon before the conference -- Neal Cushman, the associate dean of the Seminary, emails Ms. Hambrick:

Dear Sharon,

I am Neal Cushman, associate dean of BJU Seminary and host of the 2019 CoRE Conference. I have noted that you and your husband, Brian, are registered for the conference.

I have tried calling you this afternoon at the phone number on the registration and learned that phone number is no longer in service. Therefore, I am sending this message by email.

On the basis of your antagonism toward Bob Jones University for a number of years on social media and your presence on the board of BJUnity, the Core Conference planning committee is cancelling your reservations and will immediately issue a credit to your credit card. If you wish to appeal this decision, please notify me by return email. Please provide a phone number and I will call you.

Neal Cushman, PhD

So the first listed problem for Sharon is commenting on social media? Ms. Hambrick is a woman with a brain, a JD, and a set of fingers. This is a problem exactly why, Dr. Cushman?

Oh yes, because she’s not being “receptive” to other men at those moments. Got it.

And one other thing too. Since Sharon is on the BJUnity board, she’s too aligned with them. Can’t have that. Oh no, no, no. Tsk tsk. 

If you want to see Ms. Hambrick’s genius, read her response. 

Dear Neal,

Oh dear. 

I had already written to the Conference to explain that since I was recently in Greenville (toured campus with one of my college-aged sons), I would be unable to come to the Conference and that I wanted to switch my reservation to the online platform.  How much better for everyone if I had simply heard back, "Sure, that's fine."

Now, in the blog piece I have been writing for some time, I have to address the issues you raise. That my status as a board member of BJUnity makes me persona non grata at a conference that addresses the very issues at the heart of our disagreements about human growth and development and the intersectionality of that with biblical truth. That my status as someone who has not always agreed with BJU on various Gospel-tangential issues makes me unwelcome at my alma mater when it is directly and specifically speaking to issues about which we may disagree.  

Indeed, that I might be a threat or offense in my long Lularoe skirt while carrying my KJV is mindblowing.  That I might be a threat or offense because these very issues--gender and sexuality--are important to me as a thoughtful Christian woman who has dear friends and family among those ostracized, outed, and shunned by Fundamentalist rhetoric and practice is concerning to me, as it should concern anyone who thinks about these things. 

In any case, whatever your concerns, oh dear.  I must now speculate that information is going to be shared that the Seminary is uncomfortable sharing with anyone who does not agree with it. Or, perhaps information will be shared that will confirm that BJUnity is correct when it warns students to be so very careful when discussing issues of this kind on or near campus. I don't remember BJU ever being secretive about what they believe, nor hesitant to share such with those who might have come to a differing opinion on various matters, especially those only tangentially related to "Let the little children come unto Me and forbid them not."

I am, of course, a little embarrassed that you will think the blog piece I have been working on all day was written in response to this cancellation.

However, time stamps, etc., if there are any suggestions that this is the case. It is not the case. I have been pondering for a long time how I can best reach out to non-gender-conforming Christian kids and LGBT+ Christian kids who find themselves at BJU and have been working on the piece for some hours, having bolstered myself with listening to Mr. Pettit's gender roles sermons of last week.  Too, you have made my writing harder, because now I have to say "Quiet Christian grandma banned from conference for disagreeing and writing about it." 

I find it fascinating that you waited until this late date to contact me. I live in Sacramento. If I had, as I had planned to, made airplane and hotel and car rental reservations, we would be having a different conversation.

Of course your letter to me will be disseminated. Of course you personally will now be named in my piece. Why ever did you not just say, "Sure, you can switch to the online platform. Have a nice day"? You and I both know so many gay Christian people who simply want to live in the peace Jesus offers when He said, "Come unto me ALL ye who are weary and heavy laden . . . "

Very sincerely,

Sharon Hambrick, JD

Attorney at Law

How can any institution of higher learning that receives federal and state funds and SACS sanction behave like this? Please note -- it’s not that Ms. Hambrick is gay that’s the problem because she’s not. 

It’s that she’s an activist, that’s a problem.

This is Bob Jones University.

[wutbju]

First, my dear friends, spelling is hard. But after you minced your mint and cumin with punctuation earlier, you need to get this much right. 

It’s LGBTQ. Or at least LGBT. Fix it. Learn it. You’re talking about fellow image-bearers here.

We alumni know you want a cookie for saying you don’t want fellow human beings stoned anymore. Being a decent person is tough. But if you’re going to make employees drop the Oxford comma, you need to learn to spell. It hurts your testimony otherwise.

It’s LGBTQ. 

That said . . . what’s this “agenda” BJU is worried about? Here’s the NCAA’s inclusion statement:

As a core value, the NCAA believes in and is committed to diversity, inclusion and gender equity among its student-athletes, coaches and administrators. We seek to establish and maintain an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds. Diversity and inclusion improve the learning environment for all student-athletes and enhance excellence within the Association.

The Office of Inclusion will provide or enable programming and education, which sustains foundations of a diverse and inclusive culture across dimensions of diversity including but not limited to age, race, sex, class, national origin, creed, educational background, religion, gender identity, disability, gender expression, geographical location, income, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation and work experiences.

How can any Bible-Believing, Christ-Following Christian take issue with that statement? 

Are you against equity? You want to push out people with disabilities? You want to discriminate against single people? 

No? 

So it’s just the “gender expression” and “sexual orientation” statement? 

Have you met your founder’s son, BJU?

Are you familiar with his deviation from the heteronormative “gender expression”?

People in glass houses, BJU. People in glass houses.

[wutbju]

Check out episode 19, and hour+ interview with Friend of the Archive, Erin McCauley Burchwell about her time as a faculty kid at Bob Jones University:

Erin Burchwell grew up as a faculty child on the campus of Bob Jones University.  She was a good student, compliant with the many restrictive rules. But after an older classmate assaulted her, and she decided to report the incident, her life was changed.

Erin talks about the varied responses she received from family, friends, faculty, and the university’s administration. We also learn why she decided to go public to the national media, and what she tells young people today.

For 15 years, Erin taught high school and elementary speech, drama, art and theater. She’s a small business owner and the author of two children’s books. These days, she enjoys volunteering in schools, churches, and a women’s’ prison, teaching art and vocational skills. She welcomes any opportunity to tell her story, letting others know they are not alone in the world of survivors from oppressive religious institutions.

[wutbju]

It’s true. Bob Jones University has a comprehensive central database which tracks every employee, student, potential student, and their family members. Birthdays for children, ACT scores, church membership -- it’s all in there.

And for those alumni who identify as LGBT, BJU identifies them as outside “the fold.” Even though administrators have glibly promised to get rid of “the codes,” BJU holds on. 

If you’re reading this, you’re in InfoMan.

This screenshot is from the record of a Bob Jones University graduate who identifies as LGBT. The alum is an accomplished professional and valuable citizen.

But for BJU, all the graduate has accomplished can be reduced to that “standing” code: U for “unfriendly” to Bob Jones University. 

[wutbju]

Since Randy Page has been at the public relations’ helm at Bob Jones University, there’s been no shortage of pinwheels and flags and banners for students to sign. 

That’s why Wut’s project is so important -- so that we can remember the truth instead of the spin. #NeverForget 

Let’s not forget the narratives we use to project guilt on to everybody else. Let’s remember exactly how we wriggle out of blame in order to leave ourselves righteous and pure. 

The tragedy of 9/11 happened just before Chapel on that terrible Tuesday. For those of us on campus, myself included, we processed the events corporately in the FMA. I remember students sobbing as they walked into Chapel, having just heard the news from a classmate. We were all in shock, like the entire nation.

Bob Jones III was preaching that morning. You can hear the whole sermon yourself at sermonaudio.com. I’ve downloaded it in case BJU deletes it from the site. The date on the file is 9/12 because that’s when they broadcast the audio on WMUU, but Bob III clearly makes reference to the “attacks” “this morning.”

If we really want to remember that day, it’s not with make-shift sheet metal memorials and countless flags. We have to remember the narrative we use to explain the attacks to ourselves.

Bob III described the events (necessary), urged us all to seek the truth (good advice), trashed the media (sigh), read Psalm 91 (good choice), prayed (definitely), and ended with our singing “Be Strong in the Lord” (great choice). 

In between the Psalm and the song, we get Bob’s real view. We get the lens through which he sees national tragedy. Yes, there’s Pearl Harbor and Dunkirk, but why is this happening to America now? Hollywood, Jim Beam, and teh gay, of course. 

Lord, Thou wilt not spare America so that the pornographers and the Hollywood people and the liquor distillers and the perverts should be able to have their destructive freedoms, their corruptive freedoms, their death-dealing freedoms. Surely Lord, we do not deserve Your mercy; we deserve Your judgment.

That’s how Bob Jones University processes terrible events -- by projecting the horrific terror onto those who are far away and distant from itself. 

Remember that when you see those flags on Wade Hampton Boulevard. 

[wutbju]

Blair Durkee, a @bjuedu alum, is working to make South Carolina a more accepting place.