Ever met Clarence Sexton? He believes he is above criticism - and you better sing his praises to begin the conversation or there won't be one (my personal experience).
I would assume you have met a small sampling of HAC alumni. This forum has many HACkers who happily joke about the flaws of the system, but are still loyal to the principles. We recognize that mistakes were made during his life, but also recognize the accomplishments and help he was to so many.
As far as your list:
- Praying to the deceased - c'mon, really? Many people will visit a grave side and talk as if to their loved one. It is a common practice. The Hyles haters vehemently criticized JH for talking to the picture of his deceased mother in the waiting room. It is not praying, it is simply a coping mechanism that many people find therapeutic. Have you ever had a hard day at the church, looked at a picture of your wife and whispered something like: "It would be so nice to just be with you right now." You aren't praying to her, just speaking out loud.
- Only books from HAC - pretty common. Others include perversions of Scripture, don't you know. This group really feels the only correct answers in life are found through HAC and their writers. They use it as a filter to screen out writers who have bad doctrine. It is a lazy approach which does not require them to determine if a book is helpful or if it has bad doctrine.
- Only HACkers preaching - I would not want anyone preaching in my church with whom I was not familiar. If someone is an alumni from your school, you pretty well know what they believe. Part of the isolationism that is the result of quadrary separation. Again, I think you have a small sampling of HAC alumni.
- Fourth member... - Just as you stated, it is a joke. Maybe a poor joke, but a joke. Ever told a joke about someone meeting Peter at the gates of heaven? All of those have bad doctrine also. Relax. It is a joke.
- Only go to HAC - For a long time, there were only a few other schools, and they had problems also. Today, there are many more available and these are recommended by HAC alumni. Most HAC alumni today will tell their teens that they should go to at least one year of Bible college and then offer 3 or 4 for them to choose from. Some people still think their alma mater is the best, which really isn't all that odd. Most alumni from secular colleges will suggest only their alma mater to their children.
- Don't wash the hand - Again, it is a joke. duh. Ever get an autograph and someone tell you how lucky you are? I really don't think that constitutes worship.
Another thought to consider:
When an attack takes place, two things happen. One: Some people will flee from the one attacked. Two: Some people defend the one attacked. For those who attended HAC during "The Battle," they became a close-knit group of people, defending their leader, institution, principles, practices and even doctrine from an outside group that could not easily be identified. They circled the wagons and began to shoot at anything that remotely resembled an enemy. Sometimes, they would shoot at innocents just passing by and sometimes they would shoot into the wind. What happens is that they are in a small group that are being attacked and they therefore only welcome others that were in their group and had a similar experience.
One day, in your ministry, you and your church will come under attack. When it does, some will leave your church and the others will become intensely loyal. You will have to actually fight your own members who are supporting you to not defend you, their church or themselves. Otherwise, the exact same blind loyalty will become common to you as it was given to JH and the leadership of HAC, FBCH.
Bro. Hyles did not choose to fight against this rallying, but rather appreciated and even relished it. Once he realized it had gotten out of control (and he did realize it - he asked people to stop wearing the 100% buttons), it was to late - the system was corrupted.
This is actually a fairly common happening.
