Most Hated U.: A visit to Bob Jones

National Review, July 17, 2000 by Jay Nordlinger

'STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS'

This is a far, far cry from your standard American university: outwardly, inwardly. The people-young and old-are almost freakishly polite. They talk openly about God and their Savior, as others might talk about politics, sports, or sex. They say grace before meals. Their campus is dotted with Biblical quotations. They don't have to lock up their belongings. There is no litter, no graffiti, no blaring rock music (or any, for that matter), no cursing, no drinking, no smoking, no shouting. In other words, it is hell for most college students. But for these, it is very heaven. The rules and atmosphere, they insist, are liberating, enabling them to concentrate on what matters: becoming "soldiers for Christ."

BJU kids know full well that they are different; they have no illusions about what others think of them. They can't help wondering, though, why, in a country chock-full of differences-one that prides itself, increasingly, on differences-they are singled out for calumny. They pounce on the fact that Al Gore, also during the primary season, spoke at an Orthodox synagogue in New York. Only men and boys were allowed to hear him; women and girls stood outside. Yet no one tagged him with sexism. The vice president had merely met Americans where they were. No political rival and no journalist pretended that Gore had endorsed the views or practices of his audience.

One of the things that "February" has done is fire up school spirit. An embattled platoon is likely to be a feistier, gutsier one. A high moment occurred on March 3, when President Jones appeared on Larry King's CNN program to explain himself and his campus. People here have tremendous respect for King, and an almost pathetic gratitude to him, for what they see as his fairness. On the big night, the students watched on wide-screen TVs. There were cheers, tears, high-fives. Says Jeremy McMorris, "It was kind of like watching your team win the Super Bowl." David Schwingle allows that "I was so excited, I went out and bought a new [Bob Jones] T-shirt."

If BJU is a mystery to the rest of the world, the rest of the world is, to a degree, a mystery to BJU. Says Adam Lee, "Yes, we dress differently, we act differently. When people come here, they see people who are clean-cut, who have morals and standards, who stand up for something they believe in, who just want to help others and love and spread the Word of the Lord . . . and they balk. Why?" And yet the students don't spend too long fretting over general opinion. "We know that the world will frown on us," says Jeremy McMorris. "We expect that. The time to be worried is when the world smiles on us. We are supposed to be strangers and pilgrims," journeying toward a "strait gate."

No one here seems weary of the fight, or oppressed by societal ridicule, or tempted to draw back. Adam Lee puts it with a fervency rarely witnessed: "Christians are supposed to have a joy when they suffer for Christ. Christ suffered for us. I don't necessarily relish it, but it's just another way of saying, 'Lord, I love you, I want to serve you, I want to stand up for you.' In the early church, people were really persecuted. We face nothing by comparison. People were imprisoned, forced into catacombs, set on fire, fed to lions. They would die for their faith. They believed in something We believe in something. We know we're different from the world, sure-but because of Christ. Because of our love for him."