If you’ve ever been a very naughty boy or girl on the campus of Bob Jones University you may have received something like this… It’s funny how this sort of thing never made it into their promotional materials. Update: Since a lot of folks are asking how one accumulates 100 demerits, here’s a handy chart [...]

This notion of a Biblical mandate for Christian school is hardly unique to fundamentalists but the idea of the necessity of alternative Christian education is so inseparable from the fundy culture that it’s worth noting here anyway. To demonstrate the point here’s an excerpt from Dr. Charles Walker in a pamphlet entitled “Is Christian Education [...]

Whenever I happen to reminisce with people about days gone by at fundy schools, one common theme almost inevitably emerges: there were some teachers who were pretty awesome people. It is a paradox that in the midst of such oppressive rules and sloppy scholarship that there are a handful of teachers who are both decent [...]

Fundamentalists will tell you that where you go to college will be one of the most important decisions you make in your life. Of course, other people outside of fundyland may say the same sort of thing but what they mean by it is rarely the same. For in fundamentalism your choice of a college [...]

By the time a young fundamentalist has reached high school the focus of their spiritual instruction has narrowed down to two basic points. 1) Not having sex with anybody and 2) Finding God’s perfect will for their life. The first one is accompanied by tales of terrible tragedy that will befall them if they DO [...]

By the time a fundamentalist child has spent any time in a fundamentalist school they have learned a fair amount of the three R’s (Reading, Writing, and Rhythmless Singing) but mostly they have learned an awful lot about what NOT to do. They’ve learned not to question or express themselves. They’ve learned that it’s not [...]

The mission of any fundamentalist school is clearly to mold and shape young, impressionable minds into being the next generation of fundamentalists. Of course this is expressed in phrases like “building servant-leaders” or “preparing the next generation to win the world” but in reality the motto is always the same: “trying desperately to keep our [...]

Since kids are going back to school and Fundy U’s across the nation are gearing up to start the new semester, I thought it only fitting that we take a few days here on SFL to dig into fundamentalist education and schooling. I’ve already done an entire week specifically on college but this time around [...]

I recently found a Facebook group dedicated to people sharing tales of their memories and exploits at my Fundy U. After spending a few hours reading of hands held, kisses stolen, and beer hidden (yes, hours. people love to tell their stories) I came to the conclusion that apparently my Fundy U is Sodom and [...]