Troy and Jessica Thompson

This is a very typical response upon first hearing of the rules at Bob Jones University:

I did a wikipedia (sometimes not them most reliable source) on BJU and they gave me an extensive list of their rules for students..I also googled BJU Rules and came across your website..found it very interesting..for I too went to a conservative (BGC) school in MN (Bethel University) which actually appears liberal compared to BJU...but i know we could not dance on campus, etc.

However, I'm wondering if BJU doesn't take it a bit to the extreme with "no DVD's can be watched on your laptop, no males can wear sandals, etc. etc. Don't you find this extreme?

It depends on what you define as "extreme". The purpose of Bob Jones University rules are two-fold--and this distinction is mentioned in the actual handbook. There are morality -based rules which are founded on Biblical principles, and which are likely to never change; and there are rules which are in place simply to provide some structure, decency, class, and appearance standards. Most of the rules which garner complaints are actually the latter.

Ironically, complaining about the "structure" rules creates moral issues. For a parallel, see "the nation of Israel whining against God and Moses for pretty much their ENTIRE wilderness journey!" They were the most ungrateful, frustrating people to lead I'd imagine. Glad I wasn't Moses. Ugh! (For more on this, see "Glad I Wasn't Moses" in response to a web site visitor who was concerned about anti-Semitic attitudes portrayed by many Christians.)

It's rather telling that the majority of the complaints about BJU rules are not well-formed, Bible-backed, tactful, respectful discussion which seek real change and reconciliation, but rather vitriolic attacks which seek only to "cut down" the school. Where is the loving spirit which endeavors to bring wayward BJU back to God, if their rules are detrimental to the cause of Christ?

Let me be frank here. The entertainment industry in general--Hollywood, et al--is no friend to Christianity, and is if anything "Christo-phobic". The vast majority--not all of course--of entertainment provided by the movie industry is, shall we say, less than edifying. It is far easier to simply make a blanket rule of "no movies while you're a student here" rather than having a vast, complex rule set which defines precisely what movies are acceptable or not acceptable. The same types of blanket rules apply to music, Internet, and all other forms of entertainment.

While a student at BJU, I found the academic standards are sufficiently high that if you have time to really "rebel" against the entertainment-oriented rules, you're probably not spending enough time studying.