[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 38 (Thursday, March 30, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E455-E456]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                CORRESPONDENCE FROM BOB JONES UNIVERSITY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH CROWLEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 29, 2000

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, today I am somewhat bewildered by 
correspondence I received yesterday from Bob Jones University. As you 
are aware, I am the sponsor of H. Con. Res. 261, which condemns the 
racial and religious intolerance at Bob Jones University. Additionally, 
on Friday, three of my colleagues, Representatives Peter King, Richard 
Neal, and Sam Gejdenson, and I sent a letter to Bob Jones III 
expressing our concerns about the participation of Ian Paisley in a 
Bible Conference at the University. Reverend Paisley is an opponent of 
the peace process in Northern Ireland and an outspoken anti-Catholic 
bigot. Since coming to Congress, I have been a vocal supporter of the 
Irish Peace process and the Good Friday peace process. Additionally, I 
have always promoted religious tolerance. In fact, I am an active 
participant in Project Children; a program designed to eradicate the 
hatred between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland by working 
with children.
  Yesterday I received a response from Bob Jones III to my letter. I 
was bewildered by his venomous response. At this time, I would like to 
ask unanimous consent to submit to the Record a copy of my original 
letter to Bob Jones III, as well as his response.
  I am disappointed that the leader of an institution of higher 
learning could not respectfully respond to concerns of four Americans 
who happen to be Members of Congress. His labeling of the extreme 
religious views of Rev. Paisley as, and I quote, ``leftist, radical 
IRA/Sinn Fein loving imaginations,'' is totally offensive to the 
Catholic minority in Northern Ireland.
  I was horrified at being called a bigot and intolerant by Bob Jones 
the III. I have spent my life espousing peace and tolerance for Ireland 
and for all religious differences. I work actively with many religious 
groups, including Protestants, Jews, and Muslims.
  Additionally, I recently marched in a St. Patrick's Day parade in 
Queens that was the first inclusive St. Patrick's Day parade in New 
York City. I believe Mr. Jones' letter reflects that he is the bigot 
and validates the concerns of myself and many of my colleagues.
  Mr. Jones believes that I do not have the right to maker demands of 
him. He is correct, we do have free speech. However, I believe that as 
an American, who happens to be a Member of Congress, I have a duty to 
request that the University does not invite someone whom I consider a 
proponent of hate to participate in any religious conference. Our 
country is founded on free speech, but it is also founded on religious 
freedom and tolerance. No institution, especially one of higher 
learning, should promote religious intolerance.


                                    Congress of the United States,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                   Washington, DC, March 27, 2000.
     Mr. Bob Jones III,
     President, Bob Jones University, Greenville, SC.
       Dear President Jones: Reports have come to our attention 
     that over the weekend the Reverend Ian Paisley participated 
     once again in a Bible conference at your university. We are 
     writing to ask that you sever all professional contacts with 
     Reverend Paisley immediately, including terminating his 
     membership on your Board of Trustees. No American University 
     should have a relationship with such an anti-Catholic bigot 
     and opponent of peace in Northern Ireland.
       Reverend Paisley has called the Catholic Church an 
     instrument of the devil and ``the mother of all harlots.'' He 
     has described the Pope as the ``Antichrist'' and the ``Great 
     Fornicator.'' ``Popery is contrary to Christ's gospel,'' 
     Paisley said in one sermon. A recent biographer chronicled 
     his lifetime commitment of ``total resistance to every 
     attempt to accept that [Catholic] system as a Christian 
     church.''
       As leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, 
     Paisley has done his utmost to stir up sectarian violence 
     between Protestants and Catholics. After serving time in 
     prison for inciting to riot, he helped form the Ulster 
     Protestant Volunteers paramilitary group. He has led 
     contentious marches through Catholic neighborhoods, which are 
     lightning rods for sectarian tension. Paisley's response to 
     the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) statement on disarmament in 
     1994 was to denounce it as ``a clever Jesuit expression.''
       In typical fashion, Paisley boycotted the peace talks led 
     by Senator George Mitchell which produced the historic Good 
     Friday Accord in 1998. Thankfully, his last minute attempts 
     to sabotage the agreement failed. The comfort your university 
     provides him jeopardizes the fragile peace in Northern 
     Ireland that has stopped a conflict which claimed the lives 
     of over 3,000.
       Press reports indicate that Paisley has made more than 50 
     trips over the past 30 years to speak at your University. He 
     should make no more.

[[Page E456]]

       Because of recent events in Washington and across the 
     country, Catholics in America understandably have grown 
     concerned about a retreat in tolerance toward all religions. 
     Your continuing relationship with such a world renowned anti-
     Catholic such as Reverend Paisley only adds to that fear. The 
     recent public uproar over your institution's restriction on 
     inter-racial dating convinced you to alter that policy. The 
     sense of outrage in the Irish and Catholic American 
     communities over your continued relationship with Reverend 
     Paisley requires you to take action on this issue as well.
           Sincerely,
     Sam Gejdenson,
     Richard E. Neal,
     Peter T. King,
     Joseph Crowley,
       Members of Congress.

                                  ____
                                  

                                         Bob Jones University,

                                   Greenville, SC, March 28, 2000.
     Hon. Joseph Crowley,
     Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC.
       Dear Congressman Crowley: It is no business of yours whom 
     Bob Jones University invites to speak at its Bible 
     Conferences. This is a free country. We're just as entitled 
     to our religious beliefs as you are to yours. The fact that 
     we have speakers whom you personally differ with does not 
     make us bigots.
       Your bigotry and intolerance, however, have been amply 
     displayed in your March 27 letter, which makes unwarranted 
     and intrusive demands of us.
       The fact that Dr. Paisley's religious perspective differs 
     from yours does not make him a bigot. He feels strongly about 
     what he believes, and so do you. Is he not just as entitled 
     to the expression of his beliefs as you are to yours?
       With regard to Dr. Paisley's religious views, he is in the 
     line of the Protestant reformers and says nothing more or 
     less about the system of Roman Catholicism than the Bible 
     maintains. Revelation Chapter 17 and the historic doctrinal 
     documents of Protestantism all state clearly the views which 
     Dr. Paisley enunciates. He preaches no new thing. The 
     Presbyterian Confession of Faith and the Baptist Confession 
     of Faith confirm this. He does not hate any individual Roman 
     Catholic, as his works and writings testify. But he does 
     reject the papacy which has the audacity to claim that all 
     men must submit for salvation to the Church of Rome, outside 
     of which, they maintain, there is no salvation. Surely, such 
     teaching needs to be condemned. He has no apology for what 
     the Bible says about Rome in Revelation Chapter 17.
       Have you lost all sense of reason and fairness? You are the 
     elected representative to your constituents. Thankfully, I am 
     not one of them. And thankfully, this is America, where no 
     congressman has authority to make any demands upon the 
     religious beliefs and choice of speakers of any church or 
     religious instruction. This is free America, not Nazi 
     Germany.
       Have you forgotten that there is a Constitution which 
     forbids Congress from doing the kind of thing your letter 
     presumes to do? Have you forgotten that you swore allegiance 
     to uphold that Constitution?
       I'm appalled by your audacity. I'm frightened for the 
     future of religious freedom in America when I see four 
     tyrannical congressmen abuse their authority as you have 
     done. Your contempt for religious freedom makes you a menace 
     to America.
       The Ian Paisley your letter depicts exists only in your 
     leftist, radical IRA/Sinn Fein-loving imaginations. To know 
     the real Ian Paisley matters not to you, and would probably 
     spoil your fun. Even if Ian Paisley were the man you 
     described, we would still have the perfect right to invite 
     him here, if we were so inclined. We are not, however, the 
     sort of place that would invite a terrorist/madman such as 
     you have conjured up. Let me tell you something about the Ian 
     Paisley I know, and the one you don't want to admit exists.
       Ian Paisley has the largest vote of all politicians in 
     Northern Ireland. In the election last year, he trounced by a 
     massive 80,000 vote majority the IRA/Sinn Fein candidate whom 
     your friend Congressman Peter King supported. How dare you 
     say he is not a representative of the people. His vote 
     includes many Roman Catholics. Many priests and other Roman 
     Catholic leaders have publicly paid tribute to his diligent 
     and totally fair representation of all his Roman Catholic 
     constituents. In five successive European elections he has 
     consistently topped the poll with a higher number of votes 
     than any other member of the European Parliament. He has 
     served in the European Parliament for twenty years. He is 
     also a thirty-year member of the British Parliament and the 
     leader of the third largest party in the new Northern Ireland 
     Assembly.
       Your letter states that he was imprisoned for ``inciting to 
     riot.'' This is utterly false. Never in all his career has he 
     been charged with this offense, let alone been convicted and 
     imprisoned for it. In the same paragraph, you accuse him of 
     leading marches through Catholic neighborhoods. This is 
     untrue.
       The truth is when Mr. King attacked Dr. Paisley's party 
     some time ago on the radio in Northern Ireland, the radio 
     company had to pay thousands of pounds worth of damages for 
     the lying slanders which he broadcast. Being the coward Mr. 
     Peter King is, he escaped from appearing in court by hiding 
     in America. Has he no shame to publicly welcome the 
     godfathers of the bloodthirsty IRA terrorism to America, and 
     then to launch an attack on Ian Paisley, a law-abiding, God-
     fearing man of noble character? This is perverse!
       Bob Jones University is just as entitled to its place in 
     the educational life of America as any other university. We 
     stand upon the Bible, we love Jesus Christ, and we train 
     graduates to be men and women of biblically governed 
     character with high moral ideals and loyal to the flag. If 
     you despise us, you despise the founding purpose and early 
     history of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and many others.
       I find your fascist demands arrogant, frightening, 
     overreaching, and abusive. I believe the average, decent, and 
     God-fearing American will feel the same way. I do not believe 
     that you speak for ``Irish and Catholic American 
     communities.''
       Most Catholic Americans I know are fair, decent, and 
     respectable people. They understand that Protestants and 
     Catholics differ in theology, and they value their right to 
     differ with us. They do not voice the kind of hatred that you 
     voice against those of us who differ with them. They are good 
     neighbors, good citizens, and unlike you, are freedom-loving 
     people. They would respect our rights to have preachers of 
     the Gospel here in line with our Christian perspective just 
     as we respect their rights to have the pope, the cardinal, 
     the bishop, the priest, or anybody else address them. You 
     speak for yourselves, not for them. They would not like what 
     you speak any more than I do.
           Very truly yours,
                                                    Bob Jones III,
                                                        President.

       P.S. Your statement, ``The recent public uproar over your 
     institution's restriction on interracial dating convinced you 
     to alter that policy,'' is untrue, and I want you to be 
     assured of that.
       It is untrue for two reasons. There was no ``public 
     uproar.'' There was only a media flap. The vast majority of 
     the American public values religious freedom and would uphold 
     the University's right to its own policies that govern no one 
     but its own students who choose of their own free will to 
     come here.
       Secondly, the policy was not altered because of public 
     pressure. It was altered because it was such an insignificant 
     and immaterial thing to us that it was never discussed or 
     taught here. Many generations had come and gone and didn't 
     even know what it was. The University's greater mission and 
     contributions were being obscured by the media's hysterical 
     focus upon this policy. The policy was changed to show how 
     wrong they were about its importance to us and how wrong they 
     were about it being a symbol of racism. We're not at all like 
     they caricatured us. Because the rule gave them a wrong 
     impression of this school, it was incumbent upon the 
     institution to take the initiative to give a right 
     perspective of what it is. We're people motivated by 
     principle, not by pressure.

     

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