Disobedience

While perusing the employment application for a local religious school to which I am not applying, I found that applicants are required to write “I agree”–or a short explanation for why they don’t agree–beside each of a couple dozen items from the church group’s statement of faith, including:

We place our hope in the reign of God and its fulfillment in the day when Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. He will gather his church, which is already living under the reign of God. We await God’s final victory, the end of this present age of struggle, the resurrection of the dead, and a new heaven and a new earth. There the people of God will reign with Christ in justice, righteousness, and peace for ever and ever.

and:

We believe that Jesus Christ calls us to discipleship, to take up our cross and follow him. Through the gift of God’s saving grace, we are empowered to be disciples of Jesus, filled with his Spirit, following his teachings and his path through suffering to new life. As we are faithful to his way, we become conformed to Christ and separated from the evil in the world.

Taking the cake, though, is the proclamation We commit ourselves to tell the truth, to give a simple yes or no, and to avoid the swearing of oaths… particularly since at the end of the form is a signature line following this:

If employed by ___, do you promise to give this work priority, to labor faithfully, to exemplify and promote the principles and standards held by this institution, and furthermore, would you agree that at any time you should find yourself out of harmony with the guiding principles and philosophy, you would frankly acknowledge the same and relinquish your position without prejudice….?

Promise? Couldn’t someone of conscience just say, “Sure”?

I’m not quite as concerned about the working doctrines of the public school system, which have been state standards and No Child Left Behind requirements. These I am glad to see changing; they are, apparently, flexible with the times, not quite as hell or heaven bent.

And I’m glad that my disregard for some current habits doesn’t have negatively eternal ramifications. Recently two parents of two of my most stellar students stopped by at different times during a parent conference day, curious:

“Could you explain, please,” they each asked me nicely, “the benchmark test score that ___ received the other week?”

“Oh yes,” I said cheerfully. “All of my students did poorly on that test, and it’s my fault. I thought it more important to spend more time on some other things rather than what was on the test.”

This was extremely true, in fact–I actually hadn’t even looked at the test ahead of time.

“You mean you didn’t teach to the test?”

“No, I guess not,” I said. “But don’t worry; those scores had little impact on grades.”

They both seemed relieved; one of them joked, “Someone’s going to report you.”

I wasn’t too concerned, especially since even being reported for following my conscience would be far better than having a private-school God scowling over my shoulder for not agreeing quite rightly.