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A Little Ocean Ambiance
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Believing in Something
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By Dr. Richard Flanders
Juniata Baptist Church
Vassar, Michigan
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A place called Bob Jones University has been in the news over and over
again in recent weeks, and the publicity has not been good for the South
Carolina religious school. They have been labeled racial and religious
bigots by Republican presidential candidates and by every branch of the
media. These charges are false, but Bob Jones is guilty of a crime
considered by many far more sinister than even racism. It is the sin of
believing in something.
Let me say that my children have attended the slandered school. Let me
also say that racial and religious hatred are not part of their
education. It would be easier to find a racist on the campus of the
University of Michigan than at Bob Jones University. The rule against
interracial dating (recently rescinded) must be understood in the light
of the school's highly-regulated student life. People enroll at Bob Jones
knowing that they are committing themselves to a campus experience
thoroughly ordered according to fundamentalist standards. Dating is
supervised and controlled in all its aspects. Couples cannot kiss, hold
hands, or leave campus unchaperoned. The stipulation that dates may only
be arranged with members of one's own race is not an unexpected aspect of
the whole program. As the University president, Bob Jones III, said on
television, the policy was of minor importance to the school. That's why
it was dropped when Senator McCain and his media friends made it look
like racism. That despised label was too much of a price to pay for this
misunderstood rule. Any fair observer should look into this matter and
find that the senator was just using this misrepresentation to smear
Governor Bush.
Bob Jones University is anti-Catholic only in that it is Protestant. By
definition, Protestants reject the Roman Catholic Church and much of its
doctrine. Protestant creeds denounce the Pope in language identical to
that supposedly used by officials at Bob Jones. The school is not anti-
Catholic in the sense of advocating the persecution of Catholics. If it
were, why would the administration invite Dr. Alan Keyes, a black
Catholic running for President, to speak to the student body, as it did
this year? Some Lutheran seminaries still speak to their students of the
Catholic Church in traditional Protestant terms. Must politicians avoid
Lutherans now because they are anti-Catholic? The problem we have in
understanding this is the difficulty we have these days in finding real
Protestants any more. Few spokesmen for mainline Protestant denominations
still believe in Protestantism enough to disagree with Catholicism.
Genuine conviction is rare today. It is hard to find anybody who believes
in anything enough to disagree with anybody else. As a matter of fact,
the Republican primaries were energized by excitement over a candidate
that didn't disagree very much with the Democrats! The only "sin" left in
our morally degenerate culture seems to be the sin of believing in
something.
If you believe in something, then you will disagree with its opposite. If
you disagree with anybody strongly, you may be called a bigot. And this
attitude is called tolerance! Where is the tolerance of people who really
believe? They are vilified, condemned, labeled, and shunned. Real
tolerance will allow for differing opinions, conflicting religions, and
unpopular beliefs. As long as true belief remains politically
unacceptable, true believers of every kind can expect the worst treatment
again and again. Wouldn't it be better to respect the right of Catholics,
Protestants, Muslims and Mormons, Amish and Adventists, and everybody
else to believe in something?
Monthly Article
Sat, 18 Mar 2000
by Dr. Rick Flanders
currently Pastor of
Juniata Baptist Church
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Juniata Baptist Church
5656 Washburn Road
Vassar, MI 48768
juniatabaptist@juno.com
(517) 823-7848
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Dr. Rick Flanders Biographical Data
Converted in 1963 through a radio ministry.
Earned B.A. and M.A. degrees from Bob Jones University.
Honorary D.D. from Pensacola Christian College.
Pastor at Juniata Baptist Church since 1973.
On BCPM Board, (Baptist Church Planting Ministry)
and also MACS. (Michigan Association of Christian School)
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- Articles published in the;
- Sword of the Lord
- Baptist Preacher,
- Frontline,
- Christian View of the News,
- Pulpit Helps,
- Maranatha Watchman
- Church Bus News,
- and other national periodicals.
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His Majesty's Service
In His Service,
Teaching the Word
To Glorify Our Lord
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