What can Northland and BJU learn from Penn State?

[P D]

A former defensive coordinator for Penn State has been arrested for sodomy. A graduate assistant saw the assault in 2002. Joe Paterno was told about the incident and reported it to the administration of Penn State. Then nothing happened!

Now the athletic director and a vice president have resigned. The board of trustees is meeting to discuss Joe Paterno's future. The president of Penn State may even be forced to resign.

Compare this to how Bob Jones University has handled the Chuck Phelps situation. Phelps lied under oath, called a forcible rape a covert dating relationship, and shipped an innocent victim to Colorado to his friend Matt Olson.

Did Phelps resign from any boards? No. Did BJU elect him to their board in 2011? Yes. Did Matt Olson resign from Northland Baptist? No. Did the board force him to resign? No.

Phelps and Olson are responsible for a rapist being allowed to remain in good standing in Phelp's church without the church knowing the truth about Willis' crimes. Yet Olson and Phelps remain in power in the church!

It is amazing that Penn State is more ethical than Northland International University, Bob Jones University, and the boards of each.

Shame on Matt Olson. Shame on Chuck Phelps. Shame on NIU. Shame on BJU.

Where is the outcry for justice? Where is the call for separation?

[Elijah Craig]

Let's turn it around. What can Penn State learn from Northland and BJU?

They can learn that no matter the crime, no matter the bad press, if you rationalize the situation as being a matter of doctrine or principle then you will always have a constituency. You might go from having an endowment that is growing by five million a year to one that is being drawn down by five million a year. Sooner or later your institution will exhaust its resources, but as long as you maintain some kind of following that day will not come until you have passed beyond death.

[Tikatu]

It reminds me very much of BJU's stance on reporting sexual abuse, which they had to change because it violated state law (from what I understand, it still violates Federal law). At first, someone who became aware of a case involving a minor was to report it to his/her immediate supervisor, and the University would investigate. Now, the policy says they are to report it to the police.

[drvenkman]

With as many people as it seems to have known about Sandusky (going back to an investigation in 98?), id hardly call Penn State "ethical" either...

[RJW]

Both situations are disgusting. No church should support BJU in any fashion with Phelps on the operating board.

[Scorpio]

(11-09-2011 10:23 AM)drvenkman Wrote:  With as many people as it seems to have known about Sandusky (going back to an investigation in 98?), id hardly call Penn State "ethical" either...

It is getting worse by the hour for Penn State. I think the difference that I am seeing between PSU and the fundy institutions is that PSU is at least doing something now that things have come to light (yes they are a day late and a dollar short) but it is being addressed. The fundy institutions will do everyhing they can to sweep things under the rug and then cry persecution when found out.
I am not hearing a victim mentality yet out of PSU.

[P D]

(11-09-2011 10:23 AM)drvenkman Wrote:  With as many people as it seems to have known about Sandusky (going back to an investigation in 98?), id hardly call Penn State "ethical" either...

You miss the point. The board of trustees at Penn State is taking action!

In fact, because the boards are truly independent of the administration, guilty parties resigned before being fired because they knew what was coming.

The board is acting and holding administrators accountable.

The board at BJU and NIU are doing nothing and keeping no one accountable.

See the difference?

[P D]

(11-09-2011 11:22 AM)RJW Wrote:  Both situations are disgusting. No church should support BJU in any fashion with Phelps on the operating board.

Likewise, no church should support NIU - Northland Baptist Bible College in any fashion with Matt Olson as president.

Phelps and Olson's combined actions resulted in a rapist being allowed to remain in a church where the members were not told that Willis had forced sexual intercourse with a 15 year old girl.

How would you have liked to have been a member of that church and allowed your 15 year old daughter to baby sit Willis' kids?

It is outrageous. But Matt Olson didn't do anything wrong. He just took in a girl who was being shipped from Phelps church for getting pregnant.

[beth]

(11-09-2011 03:45 PM)P D Wrote:  

(11-09-2011 11:22 AM)RJW Wrote:  Both situations are disgusting. No church should support BJU in any fashion with Phelps on the operating board.

Likewise, no church should support NIU - Northland Baptist Bible College in any fashion with Matt Olson as president.

Phelps and Olson's combined actions resulted in a rapist being allowed to remain in a church where the members were not told that Willis had forced sexual intercourse with a 15 year old girl.

How would you have liked to have been a member of that church and allowed your 15 year old daughter to baby sit Willis' kids?

It is outrageous. But Matt Olson didn't do anything wrong. He just took in a girl who was being shipped from Phelps church for getting pregnant.

Perhaps Matt Olsen didn't know the full circumstances then about how Tina got pregnant. However, now that he does know, he hasn't separated from Chuck Phelps, or from those who enable and endorse his lying. Whether he was wrong then is up for grabs. He's wrong now.

[Jenni]

(11-09-2011 03:45 PM)P D Wrote:  It is outrageous. But Matt Olson didn't do anything wrong. He just took in a girl who was being shipped from Phelps church for getting pregnant.

IDK about that. I think that shipping a kid across the country is a bit fishy, and in the state of Indiana every adult is a "mandated reporter;" that is, anyone who knows or suspects that abuse has occurred must report it to the authorities. I don't know about the laws where Phelps/Olson were, but still ...