I signed a petition that is calling for the removal of Chuck Phelps from the Cooperating Board of Trustees of Bob Jones University. Having done that I’d like to comment on the whole matter and use my feeble influence to garner more signatures (or more aggressive reaction). I’m inspired, in part, to do this because BJU has openly acknowledge the impact of internet chatter on their actions by saying the following:
In the last few weeks, an environment has been created on the internet in which BJU is being criticized by some people unhappy with the University for having Dr. Chuck Phelps on our Cooperating Board of Trustees. Because of the increasing attention the criticism is receiving, we believe an answer is now prudent.
I am also signing and urging others to sign because Bob Jones University specifically chided critics with the admonishment:
We believe that the biblical way to approach this information is to get all the facts before judging Dr. Phelps or his actions, including going directly to him for answers to questions.
Clearly, they did not get all the facts. I asked Tina’s husband personally if the university had contacted them for her perspective. They had not. One would think that if you are going to rebuke critics on the basis of not getting all the facts that they would have gone to Tina for her angle of the story. Furthermore, they give a link to Chuck Phelps’ website which has the nakedly transparent goal of protecting his image, but they do not give links to numerous other sources that show any clear minded person that Phelps’ account is sometimes obviously spin. In righteous indignation I have decided that I would sin against my conscience if I did not speak up. Again. (I’ve spoken to this issue here, and here, and here, and here, and here and here.)
Actually, the posting of
is very encouraging to bloggers and internet activists, something I’m sure was not the intention of the university. This gave me hope that people are actually reading criticisms and so I’m returning to some blog activism. In the following remarks I’d like to explain why I was declining to sign the petition and now why I have decided to add my signature to the growing number of petitioners. Perhaps many of my readers have the same reasons for not signing as I had even though they are unhappy with the posture Bob Jones University has taken and desire to show full support for victims of sexual abuse. Perhaps my line of thinking will encourage them to speak up.
Reasons for NOT Signing
- “I don’t want to band with haters.” Let me be blunt: finding 1000 angry people online is no big feat. This is why I was astounded by the fact that Bob Jones University would advertise the internet activity as they did in their poorly written and unreasonable internet position statement concerning Chuck Phelps a few days ago. Quite honestly, they could have dismissed the resistance as “haters” and be smug about the relatively small number of actual online petitioners. I didn’t want to put my name on a useless list of haters, a number of which I recognize as flagrantly immoral and haters of me as well. However, there is a time for co-belligerency and I do not believe that the founder of the petition is a “hater,” yet it would matter little to me if she was at this point. This particular petition is right. I’ll explain later.
- “If I sign the petition I’d be endorsing factual inaccuracies.” I have not been persuaded by anything that I read that Bob Jones University was aware of the whole Tina Anderson affair prior to reinstating Chuck Phelps back on the board. Many of the “haters” are spinning it to appear as if Bob Jones watched the whole Tina Anderson affair and then appointed Chuck Phelps on the board as a show of solidarity with him in the face of victims of abuse and authoritarian systems. As far as I can tell, Phelps was reinstated immediately after he resigned from Maranatha Baptist Bible College and prior to the breakout of the story about Tina Anderson.
One has every right to question the wisdom of BJU having Phelps on the board after the news of Tina Anderson came out, but no one has the right to spin the story as if there was a calculated effort to thumb the nose at victims and critics in a show of solidarity by appointing Phelps to the board if that was not actually the case. So, I didn’t want to sign what seemed to be a misrepresentation of facts.
Now Bob Jones University has removed all doubt about expressing solidarity with Chuck Phelps despite his tragic mishandling of the Tina Anderson matter. It is a moot point whether that was the case or not at his reappointment. More on that later.
- “I have friends at the institution and on the board itself and I know that they are reasonable and concerned as I am about the whole Phelps issue.” This doesn’t apply to everyone, but it still applies to me. Since I have friends on the board who are getting my texts, emails, and also on the receiving end of a gazillion other emails from disturbed friends and angry haters about the situation, I thought I’d give them a break and let them sort it all out. I had reason to believe that they were going to hash out their position about Phelps and come to a sane decision. I trust my friends to know that they are telling me the truth so I was happy to not complicate my life by sitting back and watching the right thing unfold, knowing that good actions sometimes take time. All that was before BJU published its statement just a week or so ago prior to the upcoming board meeting this coming weekend in which it was my understanding (assumption?) good men believed they would have an opportunity to voice their opposition to Chuck Phelps’ role on the board. It’s clear that the university administration pulled a fast one on the board by not allowing the board to voice itself on this matter in the face of a increasingly vocal opposition to Phelps’ role on the board.
- “My expressions online are to no effect and only causing me the further pain of being misrepresented as a ‘hater.’ Honestly, I’m losing friends over this. Siding with Tina (even though I don’t know her) has cost me some good friendship that I thought were solid. And the “haters” of Bob Jones University are not my friends either. Believe me, they’ve dropped me like an old pair of culottes because I don’t salivate over all their angry pontifications and sloppy handling of the facts. In other words, they are like the fundamentalists they hate: if you don’t kiss their butts and worship their ideology you’re a ‘hater’ to them. So, I don’t think I want to associate with either side. But my own writing on the subject only seems to be fodder to the “haters.” People that could actually make a difference would rather ignore a critic that actually has the ear of non-haters even though my little blog has had upwards of 2,500 hits in a single day when it comes to discussing issues like these. I was losing hope that anyone who could make a difference was actually paying attention.
However, as already noted, BJU acknowledged in its official statement that they are, in fact, hearing the internet chatter and it made me regret that I haven’t been mixing it up a little bit more. I have several articles on abuse, sex abuse, etc. and I plan to re-enter the blogosphere. Somebody is listening. I’ll try to have an influence no matter what the consequences.
- “I’m just one person. What difference does it make?” This is related to the above reason, but it’s more general. With all of the cares that each of us has we truly wonder if one person can make a difference. This is actually a humble thought because the truth of the matter is that one person makes little difference. But we need to be humble and active because a little difference multiplied makes a huge difference.
- “I’m unaffiliated with the school. Wouldn’t this be like me signing a petition to remove the mayor of some small village in northern Uzbekistan?” I am only distantly affiliated. Heres’ the reality for me: I was born on that campus. I have relatives that have drunk the koolaid and love it. I have other relatives that are haters. I have relatives that are appalled that anything about BJU is questioned. I have other relatives that are on the list of 1000+ signees on the petition. I’m reasonably confident that some from both sides will read this post and both sides will be unhappy with my reasoning. But here’s the point: I’m not signing because of my affiliation with Bob Jones University. What the university chooses to do affects me little. I’m signing because I believe in acting upon the principle of ownership. If you’re fascinated by this story, you own it. Involve yourself.
Reasons for Signing the Petition
- I believe that it is time to demand that institutions take the issue of the sexual abuse of minors so seriously that even the innocent mishandling of the sexual abuse of a minor should be severely censured.
I cannot be made to believe that Chuck Phelps had sinister intentions toward Tina Anderson and I’m repulsed by the demonization of him. I do not think he consciously wanted to harm her, but thought he was helping her as he understood it at the time. I am persuaded that he’d do things differently now. This is not because I like him or have had positive experiences with him. To the contrary on both accounts. I’m simply giving him the benefit of the doubt because I cannot read his heart or his motives now or at that time.
However, Chuck Phelps clearly did not take the travesty of the sexual abuse of a minor as seriously as he should have and still to this day seems to dismiss the reality of the long term pain that such abuse inflicts on the victim. The most charitable analysis of his own blog and the public statements he made in 2011 at the trial of the rapist show this indisputable and charitably stated fact: He mishandled it. Period.
I argued
here that Chuck Phelps is not a martyr. The scrutiny he is getting is not because he did good, but because he flubbed up and his goof-up resulted in the longterm wounding of a child. He screwed up royally and it is imperative that he pay a price for the sake of instilling in the minds of leaders everywhere who have observed this tragedy that we must be
proactive in the protection of children from sexual predators even beyond the minimal expectations of the law. It does not take a genius to realize that Phelps dropped the ball here and Bob Jones University is clearly not looking at the facts when they issue a public defense of the man, implying that we would all probably make the same mistake if we were in his shoes.
- Bob Jones University is an educational institution that assumes the responsibility of protecting children and therefore it should desire to send a strong message that it will not tolerate the mishandling of sexual abuse. This is NOT what they are saying by belligerently defending Chuck Phelps with more vehemence and outrage than sympathizing with the victims of sexual abuse and, in this case (and in their own words), rape.
Note carefully what I have said: “mishandling.” I’m still giving Phelps the benefit of the doubt as much as I can without sacrificing my integrity. And I’m doing this to make two points to you folks who love the school and are actively involved with it:
- If you cannot see that he mishandled it, you have serious problems and do not deserve any responsibility. You did not listen to the current pastor of the church. They are not “haters” of Phelps or BJU and yet they think it was mishandled. We all heard Pastor Fuller (the current pastor of Phelps’ former church who has had to deal with the repercussions of Phelps’ mismanagement of the rape) indicate that he believes it was mishandled.
- If it was mishandled then there are appropriate reactions to this mishandling. I’m ignoring the discrepancies between Phelps’ website and indisputable facts, his statements under oath, the fact that his own former church seems to disagree with him about how it was handled, etc. Right now I’m focusing simply on the history of the event itself. That mishandling must be given consequences by people who wish to retain the public’s trust.
If the university wishes to protect Chuck Phelps as a much-loved brother and stand by his over-all integrity, fine. If they are not willing to throw their friend under the bus because of the body of work Chuck has offered to the Body of Christ, fine. If they are convinced he acted in good faith, so be it. Only haters are going to judge Bob Jones for not spewing venomous vitriol toward his long-time friend. However, most of us only want the school to recognize the gravity of mishandling –mishandling– such a situation and exact an institutional penalty that declares to the larger public that they are
- not only loyal to friends but
- loyal to the principle of righteous grief over the painful consequences that bungled leadership inflicts on weak people, thereby actually victimizing them even more whether or not the motives of the leaders are pure.
Issues of friendship and loyalty and record are all moot points. Let me explain:
If I were the president of a School of Medicine I would not have on my Board of Trustees a surgeon that became nationally known for botching a delicate surgery that left a patient maimed for the rest of her life even if he was my closest friend.
We’d go skiing together. We’d share holidays. We’d worship together in church. I would cry with him over the pain of dealing with the consequences of his failure. I’d defend his right to get a job, etc. We’d still be friends. But I would not have him on the Board of Trustees of the School of Medicine because I want the students to know that mistakes like the one he committed are horrific.
I could not reasonably expect people to take my School of Medicine seriously if I blew off the concerns of maimed patients who limped through life at the expense of bad surgeons by keeping my friend who was nationally known for failure in a a delicate surgery on the board. In the same way I think Bob Jones University is delusional to think that pastors and parents are going to take it seriously when they claim to be a place that not only trains educators and teachers, but pastors. All of whom are in the business of doing delicate surgery on minors. And certainly the host of victims in our society are going to know that BJU is not a place to go if they are hoping for an institution that will listen to the voice of the weak.
Worse, far worse, is the sad plight of the silent victims within the system who have heard the message loud and clear: don’t bring up anything that may besmirch the image of one of our good old boys. We care not if you were raped. As a child.
Bob Jones University with its latest position statement seems to be putting all its effort into defending a friend while paying an obligatory lip service to the victim of rape. Despite the numerous scandals in educational institutions, particularly the recent Joe Paterno scandal, the university doesn’t even have the good public relations sense to proportion their public letter in a way that even pretends to care about the victim. Even had I been a devoted fan of Bob Jones University and Chuck Phelps I think I would have had the sense to tell them that this was a disastrous PR move. Many have commented on the amount of space given to the defense of Chuck Phelps versus the space allotted to outrage on behalf of — and sympathy for — the helpless victim of rape. Furthermore, there is no indication anywhere in the letter that they asked the victim about her experience. Of course, I know for a fact that the did not.
Furthermore, Chuck Phelps advertises his insouciance about the gravity of child molestation by foisting himself upon the university without handing in his resignation. The university would have never been in a position to have to defend Phelps if Phelps had demonstrated a tinge of humble awareness. He should have realized that he is a lightening rod and if he really loved Bob Jones University more than himself he should have removed himself from the board. I can hardly fathom how people think this kind of leader is someone worth following although
one fellow board member referred to him as “one of the most respected pastors in America outside this event.”
Seriously? Besides the typical fundamentalist inflation of importance (most of the pastors I know don’t even know who Chuck Phelps is), the character we are seeing inside this event is one of self-preservation, prevarication, lawyering up, and the inability to see one’s self as a potential lightening rod. Mike Harding, you certainly did not look at all the facts. And I challenge you and the other board members who are going to meet this week to call the administration to accountability even if it means losing your esteemed positions on that board. It is past time that the Board start acting like a board and rescue Bob Jones University from its own self destruction. Of the few board members I know, few have the blunt, in-your-face fearlessness to say what needs to be said like you do, Mike Harding. Reconsider all the facts, quit doing public damage control, and go in there and shake it up. I urge you. While I am certain that others are speaking behind the scenes to this matter you have publicly identified with the situation. And we know you’re on the board.
Here’s what I say to you and other board members:
Now Bob Jones University is in lose-lose situation thanks to their blind loyalty to one man and that one man’s blind loyalty to himself. At this point it appears that this was an administration job. If nothing happens this week you guys will come away looking like stupidly blind rubber stampers. You know that what I’m saying is fact. Therefore, I’d be willing to wager somebody is going to succeed in getting Phelps off the board, but now there is practically no way for the school to spin any forthcoming action as an action of courage and conviction. Or sympathy. Unless somebody with some stones demands that the school publicly recant and repent of its commitment to oblivious aloofness to the facts, reality, and the feelings of hurting victims.
However, the quandary is this:
If Chuck Phelps resigns (and I predict he will) the school is still on the record as standing in his defense. If he does not resign the school is still on the record as standing in his defense. If Chuck resigns on his own volition (as he should) the school does not get credited with courageous and wise thinking. If the school dismisses him from the board (as it should) it must now issue apologies to a whole host of people, first and foremost Tina Anderson herself. Bob Jones University has publicly and officially inserted itself into the story. They own it. And that leads to my final point.
Remember when I said near the beginning of this long post
I’m signing because I believe in acting upon the principle of ownership. If you’re fascinated by this story, you own it. Involve yourself.
The problem most of us face is that we don’t own stories, we entertain ourselves with them. I personally believe that when I hear something I become a steward of that information. The grad assistant to Coach Paterno didn’t mean to walk into the bathroom when another coach was raping a little boy, but he did. Providentially, he became an owner of information. I believe the record shows that he failed to be a good steward of the information and ultimately there were more victims. Paterno was a poor steward of the information that came his way. They failed to recognize the principle of ownership when it comes to information.
To Board Member Mike Harding (since yours is the only public statement I can find) and all other board members: The administration of Bob Jones University has thrust this story into your laps. You own it. The school has given itself a black eye and it’s legitimate that everyone know who is on the Cooperating Board of Trustees because it is assumed by the rest of us that implies you bear responsibility. I know for a fact you’re meeting soon, this
week actually. I am looking for something to come from this meeting that indicates that somebody down there can see what is so clear to the rest of us.
For simple outsiders like me:
With the Information Age comes more responsibility and more complexity. There is so much information that comes into our minds that it would be hard to know how to steward it. However, we must realize that failing to steward the information correctly may result in the victimization of more helpless people. Therefore, I decided to do a simple little thing and sign the petition. I’m just one lonely likely-to-be-dismissed signee. But if every person that agreed with the notion that Chuck Phelps has no place on the Board of Trustees of a Christian institution of higher education signed, the number would be in the multiple thousands simply because it is common sense. If Bob Jones University was responding to internet activity when there were only 800 or so signatures, perhaps they’ll respond more aggressively if more non-haters start acting with conviction and let themselves be counted among the vocal dissenters. The internet has turned our world into a village. Sadly, too many good people see our community like the village in the movie “
Chocolate” about which the narrator says,
In this village if you saw something you were not supposed to see you looked the other way.
Stop looking the other way. Do something. Sign the
petition. Or not. But do something. This can be done without signing a petition. It can be done by letter, by phone, by blogs, be tweeting. But the more you probe this story the more you’ll realize that Chuck Phelps failed and a girl was victimized even more. Presently, Bob Jones University stands shoulder to shoulder with this man and is perpetuating the old school of cronyism and fear and the stifling of real victims.
What are you going to do about it?
God knows I’ve done what I can.
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I realize that among the “mature”, it’s risky business to say that you prayed for a Tebow victory because of the real likelihood that you will be immediately categorized among the millions of Tebow-maniacs that have practically elevated him to messianic stature. So, to be clear, I don’t think that God needs a winner in the NFL or that saints get a supernatural edge. However, I will be equally clear that I believe (from what I see) that he is being blessed by God in ways almost unexplainable. Imagine, for example, that he is actually making more money this year than Aaron Rodgers, the premier QB of the NFL! Clearly, God is blessing that young man right now.
