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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Bob Jones U. Drops Anti-Mormon Statements From Website
(Bob Jones Site Drops Reference to Religions as Cults)
Los Angeles Times (AP) 15Mar00 N1
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA -- Bob Jones University, the evangelical
Christian university criticized recently for its statements calling
Mormons and Catholics 'cults,' has dropped those comments from its
website. In place of the comments, a new message from University
President Bob Jones III recounts how he contemplated on Christmas Eve
"the growing worldwide hostility toward the evangelizing efforts of
Bible-believing Christians."
As recently as March 2nd, Jones' "President's Corner" message stated
"The diminution of evangelistic enterprise to cults which call
themselves Christian, including Catholicism and Mormonism, is
frightening." This position, long a part of the statements of the
University, led to public criticism of the University and Texas Gov.
George W. Bush, who spoke on campus February 2nd following a loss in
the Republican presidential campaign in New Hampshire. Bush was
criticized for speaking at the University and failing to criticize
its policies, including a school ban against interracial dating.
The school's statements the became a campaign issue, as Arizona
Senator John McCain, the presidential contender who beat Bush in the
New Hampshire primary, criticized Bush for not challenging the
school's policies. Jones lifted the ban on interracial dating on
March 3rd.
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