Have you read An Unbearable Yoke?
A Word of Explanation
Since I released my treatise An Unbearable
Yoke on March 30th, I have had numerous inquiries regarding
the intentions behind my method of delivery. What follows is as open explanation
to help move the recent attention from the incident of March 30th
to a congenial discussion of the actual content of my paper.
Purpose
My purpose for nailing up the paper was very
personal. After laboring over the treatise for more than a year, pouring
countless hours into the work, it had become quite close to me. The act
was no more or less than a poetic gesture. It was a presentation of the
work to NWC as an institution and community as well as an act of
closure for myself. I addressed that copy to President Willis and the Board
of Trustees because the President's is the highest office in the institution
and thereby represents the school at the highest level. It was not intended
to place the resolution of the issue upon him. For any confusion this act
may have caused, I apologize.
While my action was bold, I feel it was appropriate
and meaningful conduct. In some cases, we today often neglect to act with
fortitude and feeling in situations where we should. My act of nailing
the paper up was undoubtably motivated, to a certain degree, by what some
have called idealistic and "youthful" passion. However, it was balanced
by truly thoughtful intention and was done for its virtue and to avoid
its corresponding vice of elderly complacency.
Tone
While it was my original intention to discuss
my paper personally with various administrators and staff members, I delayed
too long in initiating these meetings and thereby caused unfortunate mis-communication.
This has been a valuable experience for me in learning to take the proper
initiative. The title An Unbearable Yoke does not mean that agreeing
to the Lifestyle Guidelines is unbearable, but rather it alludes to Acts
15:10 wherein Peter is condemning Jewish Christians who were attempting
to impose their concept of a godly lifestyle upon Gentile Christians. By
classifying my work as a "polemical" treatise, I use the word in its original
sense rather than in an emotional or antagonistic one. This definition
simply means "an argument . . . that supports one opinion or body of ideas
in opposition to another" (New Scholastic Dictionary).
Desire
As the April 16th Column article reported,
my desire all along has not been to solve the issue, but rather to call
for discourse among all community members at a scholarly and thoughtful
level of how NWC might better convey a true image of Christianity's essence.
I disapprove of any community member who champions my treatise in order
to justify immoral conduct. I encourage individuals to read the treatise
before they condone or condemn it. I have had meetings with President Wesley
Willis, Dr. David Erickson, Student Development, and NWSA, all of which
have born fruitful understanding. I encourage all others interested in
the discussion to seek the same.
Please remember NWC and myself in your prayers.
Non nobis, Domine (Psa. 115),
James W. Roland
Avalon Hall
April 24, 1999
P.S. Read Mere Christianity p. 76.