Bob Jones III wants wants to shed fundamentalist label

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- The president of Bob Jones University says he wants to shed the school's fundamentalist label because the term has been equated with terrorist in the minds of many people since Sept. 11.

Bob Jones III has suggested using the word preservationist to describe Christians with a fierce belief in the Bible's literal, inerrant truth.

"Instead of 'fundamentalism' defining us as steadfast Bible believers, the term now carries overtones of radicalism and terrorism," writes Bob Jones III in his "President's Corner" on the university Web site.

University spokesman Jonathan Pait said the university remains "unashamedly fundamentalist."

He accused the media of lumping Christian fundamentalists with Islamic fundamentalists.

The word "fundamentalist" won't be immediately purged from the school's literature, Pait said, but "biblical preservationist" may be eased into brochures and materials as they are replaced.

http://www.bju.edu/index.asp