WASHINGTON -- There's a wonderful passage in Anne Lamott's book, "Traveling Mercies," where she speaks of being confronted on an airplane by a man reading a Christian apocalyptic novel who asks her, "Are you born again?"

"Yes," Lamott says, "I am." She then proceeds to describe herself as a "bad born-again Christian" who is capable of denying it and of presenting herself as "a vaguely Jesusy bon vivant."

Rest assured, Lamott would never pass muster at Bob Jones University, but she'd probably never brush the school off as bigoted because it demands something more than "Jesusy bon vivant" as an expression of faith.

The worst is probably over for now, but the flap between Gov. George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain over Bush's visit to the Fundamentalist university in South Carolina has demonstrated an incredible naivete if not ignorance on the candidates' part concerning Fundamentalist religion in America.

It has resulted in an almost comic exchange of outrageous charges, meek apologies and countercharges, all of which reveal that neither candidate truly knows much about the religion of those who call themselves Fundamentalists or the church-related institutions he is condemning or defending.

Worse, the clash between the candidates clearly indicates they are getting bad advice and direction from their staffs on the issue of religion largely, I suspect, because nobody on either staff has an informed handle on what the Christian Right is all about religiously or because those who ought to know better have a religious or ideological axe to grind.

Bush may have lit up the scoreboard at BJU when he told a reporter the philosopher he has gotten the most political insight from is Jesus Christ, but if someone at the school were to go one-on-one with the governor regarding what that implies, Bush would be hard-pressed to describe his involvement in the secular world of governing.

Many in the media have not helped the situation by repeating the litany of journalistic dogma concerning the evils of BJU. That litany typically goes like this: "Bob Jones University, a South Carolina school that prohibits interracial dating and back in the '80s was taken to federal court by the IRS because of its discriminatory policies."

The word most frequently thrown about concerning BJU is bigotry, but anyone with hard-core religious convictions is easily categorized as a bigot by those who don't hold the same convictions. The word might be applied to Bush in his handling of capital punishment in Texas; in fact, several cartoonists have thrown his admiration of Jesus -- the Prince of Peace and life-giver -- in the governor's face on this issue.

On the other side, some might argue McCain has demonstrated his own bigotry by falling into ad hominem attacks on Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, categorizing their lives and beliefs as "evil," an attack he later apologized for as a poor-taste attempt at humor.

Let me make clear from the start that I'm not comfortable coming to the defense of an institution such as Bob Jones University, a rigid, Fundamentalist, evangelistic school that treats outsiders as "souls to be won for Christ" and insiders as minds and bodies to be shaped and disciplined to be "separate from the world." But like a "friend of the court" I have to sharpen this issue of bigotry.

In an age not particularly characterized by firm convictions, political, religious or social, Bob Jones University wears charges of bigotry as a badge of courage and brings cogent and reasoned arguments to defend its policies. As the Los Angeles Times reported, the university in recent days has added "no interviews" to its list of prohibitions (which, as the Times noted, includes not only no interracial dating, but no dancing, no drinking, no smoking, no kissing, no hand-holding, and no griping).

There is a fine line between bigotry and firmly held convictions. BJU argues it is on the side of the latter. Consider these arguments, made by the school's president and posted on its Web site in lieu of interviews with the press:

Discussing interracial marriage, Jones says: "Is there a Bible verse or passage that teaches against interracial marriage? No."

I can't count the number of reports I've read on the campaign flap that have characterized the school as espousing that the Bible condemns interracial marriage.

Jones goes on: "Is there a Bible principle upon which the University's interracial dating stance is founded? Yes."

Jones elaborates by explaining that the school is opposed to "the one-world principle." He writes: "Bob Jones University opposes one world, one church, one economy, one military, one race, and unisex." It is diversity that is God-ordained, he argues.

Mustering evidence to counter the racial bigotry charge, Jones writes: "Are you aware that our 1998 Alumnus Appreciation Award recipient was a black BJU graduate?

"Are you aware that our current student body president is an Asian-American? Would that happen at a racist school?"

Regarding the school's alleged anti-Catholic stance, Jones says: "Does Bob Jones University's stand upon the doctrines of Scripture, which places it at odds with papal edict, justly qualify it to be described as 'haters of Catholics'? Absolutely not.

"We do not hate Catholics," Jones adds, noting that he and the school plead guilty to opposing the doctrines and theology of the Catholic Church -- most notably, any doctrine that teaches salvation is earned by good works.

Make no mistake about it, BJU is clearly in the conservative camp politically, and has given a de facto endorsement to Bush in this election.

To those marginally acquainted with Fundamentalist Christianity in the U.S., the school and its policies may appear bigoted, but before such a conclusion is drawn one is obliged to explore and understand hard-core convictions and where they are coming from.

The McCain camp clearly did not do this in instigating its "warning to Catholics" after Bush visited the BJU campus, and Bush clearly misunderstood his surroundings when he treated the BJU visit as just another stump stop in the campaign.

Confronted with someone who is "vaguely Jesusy bon vivant," I think BJU would require something more solid in the area of faith expression. McCain and Bush have now made clear they believe such a demand for firm convictions qualifies as bigotry. They need some traveling advice from Anne Lamott.

Copyright 2000 Joe Shea The American Reporter. All Rights Reserved.