Biblical morality? A South Carolina Bible College lured foreign students into their academic program only to exploit the students as forced labor by threatening their legal status.

Reginald Wayne Miller, the president of Cathedral Bible College, was arrested late last week on accusations that he forced foreign students to work long hours for low wages by threatening to revoke their student visas if they complained or failed to comply with his demands.

In essence, the Bible College treated foreign students as slaves by forcing them to perform work for little or no pay.

Raw Story reports an affidavit included with a complaint filed by federal prosecutors said that students described

“a pervasive climate of fear in which their legal status as non-immigrant students was in constant jeopardy, at the sole discretion of Dr. Miller, who threatened expulsion and therefore termination of their legal presence in the United States for noncompliance with his demands.”

Students told investigators that the classes offered at the college “were not real” and the main focus of the school is having students work full-time hours at the school and at Miller’s home.

Federal law limits those on student visas to a maximum of 20 hours of work per week and that work must be an integral part of the student’s educational program.

Students also complained about expired food and “long periods of time without any hot water, heat or air conditioning.”

Terry Firma, writing for the Friendly Atheist, points out that the Bible condones slavery and exploitation. Thus, in an important sense, the practice of using students as slaves in forced labor camps is perfectly Biblical, and by exploiting students as forced labor, the Cathedral Bible College was only staying true to its Biblical heritage and values.