August 27, 2004

Checked in at BJU

Well, I'm back. I "checked in" tonight at BJU, which basically means I let them know I'm coming and I picked up a bunch of materials (schedule of classes, traffic regulations, calendar of events, the works). Now, before Sept. 13th, I'm required to read the student handbook. Like any set of regulations, this one has its amusing moments:

Separated Living

Loyalty to Christ results in separated living. Dishonesty, lewdness, sensual behavior, adultery, homosexuality, sexual perversion of any kind, pornography, illegal use of drugs, and drunkenness--all are clearly condemned by God's Word and prohibited here. Further, we believe that biblical principles preclude gambling, card playing,...

I wonder if that means I should delete Solitaire off of my laptop.

dancing, and the beverage use of alcohol....

No more using brandy as an anesthetic in Barge Hospital either.

Students may not practice or promote speaking in tongues.

Doesn't that preclude the entire foreign language program? (just kidding, I know what they mean)

The founder stressed that a "gripy," critical, or cynical attitude grieves the Holy Spirit and destroys Christian growth and fellowship. We welcome constructive suggestions, but griping will not be tolerated.

(My emphasis.) If you read the book of Exodus, you can certainly sympathize with this rule.

At any time we may request the withdrawl of a student who in the opinion of the administration does not fit into the spirit of the University, regardless of whether or not he conforms the specific rules.

Why bother with the all these rules then? People who "fit into the spirit of the University" already follow the majority of the rules anyways. You could condense the rulebook into just the rules that make things run smoothly and leave off the rules already required by Biblical morality, which won't be followed by the people who don't "fit in" whether they're in the rulebook or not. ::shrug::

Folks, all the above came from a single two-page spread from the Day Student handbook. (Pages 10 and 11 if you want to follow along.) I'm sure there'll be more later.

UPDATE: About two of you saw a previous edition of the above. My mom asked me to take it down because it conveyed a "'gripy,' critical, or cynical attitude," which wasn't what I was trying to convey at all. I like making fun of stuff, and lists of rules, whether employee manuals or school handbooks, often supply lots of material to work with. I'm not trying to complain about the rules; I follow most of them already. (Sorry about that, Mom!)

Posted by Blog Jones at August 27, 2004 10:33 PM | Category: BJU Stuff

Comments

I graduated from BJU in '97. Town student as well. I was always embarassed to tell people anything from the student handbook - you'd just get the oddest looks. Good to see some traditions stay intact... :-)
I had a blog (never got far with it--I think two posts), and I was always nervous to put something up there I'd be embarassed for my mom to see. Never did have that problem since I never posted much...

Posted by: Jonathan at September 2, 2004 11:15 PM
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