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EDITORIAL
Alpha and other letters

Jim Coggins

The Jan. 7 “Name withheld” letter raising questions about the Alpha program has been strongly criticized by some readers (both through letters and through personal contact with the editors). The criticism has two aspects.

First, several responders have questioned whether the letter should have been carried anonymously.

Herald policy allows for the names of letter writers to be withheld, at the discretion of the editor. This privilege is rarely asked for. The most common use of this privilege is when letters give very personal information on sensitive matters (accounts of abuse, for instance).

Let me make clear that the Herald does not print truly anonymous letters; in all cases where a “Name withheld” letter has been printed, the editors have the name and address of the letter writer.

There are no “rules” for when a name should be allowed to be withheld. Life is so complex that even if there were rules, there would always be exceptions. The decision is left to the wise and experienced judgement of the editor.

In this case, I am convinced that there was a lapse of judgement on the part of the editor (me), and for that I am sorry. Those who complained were right. In a covenant community, we should talk to each other face to face (for example, see Matthew 18:15) and take responsibility for our words. Discussion of a program such as Alpha does not involve revelation of sensitive personal information. The letter should not have been carried anonymously. Let me make clear, however, that the lapse of judgement is the fault of myself, the editor who allowed the letter to be published as “Name withheld”, not the fault of the letter writer.

I have great sympathy for those who fear speaking or writing publicly. It undoubtedly takes courage to write a letter to the editor because this can lay the writer open to criticism. On the other hand, one should not have the privilege of publicly criticizing a program unless one is prepared to receive public criticism in return.

The other (and less frequent) criticism is that we should not have published a letter criticizing Alpha. In this case, I do not think the criticism is justified.

The Letters column of the Herald is a free forum for the discussion of ideas, programs, business, theology and Bible interpretation. We allow discussion there to go beyond the limits that we impose on feature (teaching) articles in the Herald – just as free discussion on the floor of a Conference convention is allowed. For instance, we would not publish a feature article disagreeing with our Mennonite Brethren Confession of Faith, but we do allow letter writers on occasion to do so. After all, how would we ever hammer out such a Confession in the first place if we did not allow free discussion of the theological issues?

I have no doubt that the Alpha program has done much good and led many people to Christ. Further, I do not think that the discussion of the program in the Herald letters column will hurt the program. In fact, the attention, particularly the many letters endorsing it, may lead to wider use of the program.

On the other hand, the Alpha program is not above criticism any more than any other program is. (People who think the Herald editor should not have published a letter criticizing the Alpha program, don’t seem to have any problem with us publishing their own letters criticizing the Herald.)

The letter which started this discussion raised questions about the theology of the Alpha program. In my view, raising such questions need not lead to the program being discarded. They might instead lead to modifications to the program, or to the way it is used, so that the program is even more useful and effective.

Those who caution us to examine our teaching to make sure it is true to Scripture should be listened to. Even if their criticisms should prove to be invalid, the process of examining our teaching in the light of Scripture will not be a waste. After all, we would not say now that Martin Luther and Menno Simons should not have been allowed to voice their criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church. God is beyond criticism; the rest of us are not.

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Last modified May 4, 2000.

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