Three months after the release of GRACE's report on Bob Jones University, BJU's president, Steve Pettit, has made an official response. The transcript can be read here:
http://www.bju.edu/grace/transcript.pdfIf you are interested in this subject, many articles and reactions can be found online, through Google and Facebook.
The summary of these reactions, I would say, is that those most deeply affected by abuse -- and BJU's response to abuse -- are deeply disappointed in BJU's failure to follow GRACE's recommendations.
My own personal feeling, in my limited understanding of the entire scope of this situation is simply this: the fundamentalist organizations, schools and churches will continue to respond the same way to our appeals for transparency, humility and repentance regarding the children and young people who have been so deeply wounded in their midst.
Survival of the institution is always going to take precedence over the needs of victims/survivors. They will continue to be sacrificed for the "greater good". The tears of a few people will not move the hearts of the leaders who are focused on what they think is the bigger picture.
I admit I have extreme bias in this regard, but I do not apologize. My earliest understanding of the heart of Jesus had so much to do with the fact that he cared about and loved the least of these. The smallest child. The most isolated tribal person. The neediest, most battered human being, regardless of age, sex or race. The lost sheep. The man beaten and robbed on the road to Jericho. The blind, the lame, the rejected.
I feel a sense of despair over the proof, once again, that the leaders of conservative Christian groups are apparently incapable of the kind of compassion that Jesus demonstrated. If this grieves my heart this deeply, I can't help but think it must grieve the heart of my Gentle Shepherd as well.
Will they ever wake up? Will they ever figure out how far they have wandered off the path of mercy and truth?
Today, I am afraid my answer would be, "No, I don't think so."
The tears I shed over this are not my tears alone. I think some of the tears mixing with mine are falling from Heaven.