Does This Christianist Principal Condone Victim Blaming?

Dan Nelson (image from Nelson's Facebook)
Dan Nelson (image from Nelson’s Facebook)

Last month, I was stunned to learn that two girls graduating with my girlfriend’s son are on their way to Bob Jones University in the fall. The principal reason for my concern? Even though an investigation revealed in scathing detail that BJU engaged in victim blaming and victim shaming of the worst type for years, the ultrafundamentalist school in Greenville, South Carolina has shown that it either cannot or will not get its head out of the sand on this issue.

It initially appeared that things had finally changed when BJU expelled senior Micah Pretlove within hours of his arrest for two sexual assaults that took place while he was a student at BJU’s affiliated private Christian school, Bob Jones Academy. But I recently learned something that suggests the rot still runs very deep. It turns out that BJA’s principal is a close friend of the man responsible for introducing most of the nation to the culture of victim blaming that has long run rampant in the ultrafundamentalist world.

Not long after I told you about Pretlove, I was contacted by Karen Lee, the younger sister of BJA’s administrator/principal, Dan Nelson. She told me that before arriving in Greenville in 2011, her brother was the principal of a Christian school in Indianapolis attached to a church pastored by Chuck Phelps.

For those who don’t recall, Phelps is the central figure in one of the most outrageous cases of victim blaming ever uncovered. Back in 1997, Tina Anderson, one of his parishoners at Trinity Baptist Church in Concord, New Hampshire; told Phelps that she had been raped by fellow church member Ernie Willis. Phelps forced Anderson to write a letter apologizing for “getting into a compromising situation,” and then forced her to stand in front of the entire congregation while he read it.

She was then sent to Colorado, and kept quiet about her ordeal because she remembered how members of her church told her to keep quiet about being molested by another family member. There the matter stood until a former member of her church spoke up about it on Facebook in 2010. When Concord police learned about it, they got in touch with Anderson. By this time, she was no longer afraid of her former church, and agreed to press charges. Willis was convicted in 2011, and sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison. Phelps’ successor, Brian Fuller, stated soon after Anderson came forward that rape victims should never be forced to stand before the congregation in this manner.

Hearing this from Lee made me do a double take. But a peek at Nelson’s LinkedIn profile confirmed it.

Screenshot from Dan Nelson's LinkedIn profile
Screenshot from Dan Nelson’s LinkedIn profile

Before coming to BJA, Nelson was the principal/administrator of Colonial Christian School, an outreach of Colonial Hills Baptist Church in Indianapolis. Phelps has pastored that church since 2009. Lee told me that her brother and Phelps go back longer than that; their families have been friends for over four decades.

When Nelson moved to Greenville, Lee told him on Facebook Messenger that if any “any kind of a coverup” took place in Indianapolis, he needed to call the police right away. Nelson adamantly denied being part of any cover-up. He said that if anything did happen, he would respond to it in the same manner that he does to any situation–“consistently, biblically, and legally.”

From the looks of it, Nelson didn’t live up to his own standard. It is inconceivable that he didn’t know about this story when it broke in 2010. What principal would even think about staying on the payroll of a pastor who not only shamed victims, but fostered an environment in which victims were told to keep quiet? I was even more outraged when Lee told me that her brother has four kids of his own–all girls. Would he condone one of them being treated this way? I would have liked to get Nelson’s side of this when I emailed him to find out how he responded when Pretlove molested a girl in 2013. However, he never responded.

As if this wasn’t unnerving enough, I learned something else from Cathy Harris, a former BJU student who tried to tell administrators about being abused as a child–only to be told that she would be “damaging the cause of Christ” if she spoke up. Harris started a blog, Chuckles Travels, to turn the hot lights on Phelps after his involvement in this travesty came to light. Among other things, Harris discovered that Phelps was the speaker at BJA’s daily chapel on October 9, 2012.

Bear in mind, folks–this was after Willis’ trial and conviction. Given that BJA’s students were almost certainly aware of the trial and the events leading up to it, Nelson’s decision to let Phelps speak was inexcusable. He was effectively telling BJA’s students that victim blaming and victim shaming are acceptable. Imagine if Dan Turner, Brock Turner’s father, had been allowed to speak at a school assembly.

Nelson and Phelps are still close friends on Facebook, per this screenshot of Nelson’s friends list.

Screenshot of Dan Nelson's friends list--"Charles R Phelps" is Chuck Phelps
Screenshot of Dan Nelson’s friends list–“Charles R Phelps” is Chuck Phelps.

That sends a chill down my spine. You would think that Nelson would be doing everything he could to get BJU’s head out of the sand, seeing that BJA is the largest pipeline to BJU. But apparently he isn’t willing to let the best interests of his students come ahead of a decades-long friendship.

I’d wondered what kind of parent would send their child to BJU. Well, now I have at least part of my answer–parents who are willing to condone a victim-blaming lump of dung speaking to their children.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.