#wutbju

TL;DR: Jan Marlene Bellis Schenk, BJU Class of 1984, is not a fan of WutBJU's project, and she wants everyone to know that.

Until she doesn't.

Bless her.

Mrs. Schenk got mad about my coverage of Myron Chorbajian. Which is fine. It was the #ProofIsInTheProduct hashtag that got her, however. BJU could not be blamed, she insisted, for criminal behavior of graduates. All BJU grads would then be evil.

I tried to explain that it was a phrase that Gary Weier used in advertising BJU in 2013 arguing that BJU is "safe for families." I explained that BJU's Aura of Goodness™ makes it impervious to criticism. And that, of course, I'm not saying that all graduates are evil, but BJU does protect unsafe people. The GRACE Report proves that.

I didn't bring up the fact that white supremacists often argue that when a white guy commits a crime it's a one-off but when Black and Brown folks commit a crime it's part of their DNA.

She's essentially repeating that trope.

Whatevs.

So she combed through the WutBJU post looking for things to comment on. She commented that Dick Stratton's mom was a great person. And then she got really mad about my coverage of Ellen Weaver's f/s kid status. Really mad.

I goofed on FB and said that she lived on Stadium View Drive on campus. That was a mistake -- a three year old mistake, but a mistake. The Weavers lived at 5 Stadium Drive. It's a simple mistake, and I did make that mistake.

Jan Bellis Schenk flipped. And then she flipped again and deleted her post and the subsequent comments.

I can never understand what it is that cheezes people off so clearly. Is it that I found out when she graduated from BJU? Is that it?

So, ftr, here's the entire thread.

WutBJU gets a lot of weird opinions. This one:

I think your commentary on BJU is more hurtful than helpful. The fact that you do not allow response speaks volumes.

Remember DoRightBJU?

It's been ten years this week. Ten years!

It's nice to know that Friend of the Archive, Ron Bean, remembers our protest. He incorrectly assigns the entire effort to this archivist. That's absolutely incorrect.

But thanks, Ron. I always knew you were my biggest fan. I will always remember you too.

It’s a huge part of why I refuse to formally debate fascists. It is staggeringly clear that formal debate is failing to stop white supremacy. This is not an abstract philosophical issue. White supremacy is here, at the heart of world governments. The discussion about whether free speech can stop fascism is not actually about free speech; it’s a proxy for a rolling identity crisis among the political mainstream. About whether the mechanisms of state power can withstand fascist takeover. About whether good people with good ideas can stop bad people with worse ones.

It's positively delightful when BJU loyalists talk to WutBJU about the infamous Camille Lewis.

Everyone we disagree with has to be Camille. Camille is the Great Witch of Greenville. And someone like Rick Patton -- who has a long-running Facebook account himself and is clearly NOT me -- has to be me.

This is a standard tactic for fundamentalists. Make all your opponents into one person and then fictionalize that one person into being the Devil Incarnate. Evidence is not necessary. Just lay all the blame at her feet.

This maintains the boundaries of your group. Remember the Village? It's the same thing here. Be scared of the fictionalized monster so that everyone stays inside.

And Eric, calling in the admins when you are an admin is some weird kind of mind game. Rick is not me. Geez. I'm not even IN the group, Eric! At all. In any form.

Aw, Sam. You shouldn’t have. No really. You really, really shouldn’t have done that for WutBJU’s fifth birthday.

Really.