John M. Dunaway,
French and Interdisciplinary Studies,
Mercer University
[Sept. 24,2012]
“And the Lord’s bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26 (NASV)
About 20 years ago, I embarked on the adventure of teaching for the first time an interdisciplinary capstone course on ethical choice for undergraduate seniors here at Mercer. I decided to organize my class around three compelling contemporary issues of life and death: abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia.
I was eagerly looking forward to teaching this course. Yet as one who has spent his career teaching and researching French language and literature, I was woefully unprepared to deal with the heated disagreements that emerged.
Handling Controversy
I soon found myself in a maelstrom of controversy, first among my students, and then among the guest speakers whom I invited to present both sides of the issues. Two of my speakers got embroiled in a dispute that left them with hurt feelings, and the atmosphere of the class suffered from the confrontation.
One day as I strolled across campus, Joe, a well-known and wise elder statesman on our faculty approached me in his gentle, avuncular way. He told me he had heard about my class and wanted to caution me against preaching too passionately on any side of an issue. He reminded me that my role was not to indoctrinate students, but to lead them to confront the issues honestly and fairly. Since Joe certainly had the most outstanding reputation on the faculty for ethical and intellectual integrity, I was duly chastened.
Encouragement
Shortly thereafter, Debbie, one of my students in the capstone class whom I knew to be a devout believer, slipped me a little piece of paper torn from her legal pad. On it, she had written the above-cited verses from the second epistle of Timothy. Along with that gesture she gave me a warm, encouraging smile. I was deeply touched and my spirits were lifted.
I still have that little yellow slip of paper and have kept it in my Bible. It reminds me of the sacred trust we have as faculty to speak the truth in love but always to be patient with those who disagree.
(c) 2012 John M. Dunaway
