Friday, January 16, 2009

Not Impressive


The controversy over at Northwestern College continues to flourish, and I am continually surprised at the school's lack of response to the allegations leveled against it. The latest series of questions come in the form of a letter from alumni, parents, financial backers, former board members, etc. to the current board of trustees and the president of the school. I read the letter, and I find myself agreeing with its author(s) - there are serious questions regarding "theological drift" and moral integrity that need to be answered.

And you would think it would behoove the college and the school's president to address these concerns in a timely way, and in a spirit that is seeking after the truth. But from what I can tell, neither of those things have happened. The college's "response" to the letter isn't really much of a response at all. It's just a restatement of their position, that there has never been issues of theological drift or moral integrity at the school (note: this position is one of the things they are accused of in the original letter: simply restating that there is no problem. While this may or may not be the case, it certainly doesn't resolve the matter in the minds of those who have raised the questions).

I'm really confounded by the fact that Northwestern doesn't speak out about these things. There's only one of two possibilities: either the allegations raised by several individuals from all areas (staff, alumni, financial backers, students, etc>0 are completely unfounded or they aren't. If they are unfounded, I would think the school and the president would want to stand up for their reputation, not to mention cling to what is true. If the allegations are true, then I would think the school would want to distance itself from those members of the board and the president in the effort of pursuing righteousness.

But alas, the school has done neither. The ball is in their court. Everybody wants them to respond, but it seems as though they won't. It's not helping their case at all - at least not with me.

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