October 29, 2004 ©Homer Kizer
An Open Letter to Dixon Cartwright
Dear Mr. Cartwright:
It was recently brought to my attention that The Journal has published a piece about the Sabbatarian Educational Environment (SEE) at Port Austin, Michigan. I was listed among the instructors. Although I gave up a position for the 2004-05 academic year with Potomac State College in Keyser, West Virginia, to relocate to the Port Austin area to teach for SEE, what I found after I arrived was an educational hoax, the fanciful invention of a fruitful but deceitful mind.
A persistent but incorrect perception exists that I didn’t follow the biblical instructions addressed in Matthew 18 for the offensives of one individual concerning this educational hoax, that I took the matter public through two commentaries, one of which was about spiritual betrayal, and the other about inviting public scrutiny of the activities here at Port Austin. The facts are that in one private e-mail correspondence, I pointedly stated that the concerned individual, due to his untreated hyperactivity, was unable to educate students, that this individual lacked the concentration necessary to discipline himself. This private correspondence was forwarded to a busybody, and from that person, this correspondence was widely circulated by friends of the named individual. It caused offense which was addressed through the initial procedure outlined in Matthew 18. In this meeting, I told the individual that he was deceitful. He asked how, and I used antidotes he had relayed as examples. He agreed that if he had to do his first ministry over again, he would do things differently. I also told this individual that he was showing another woman attention that rightfully belonged to his wife, and that this individual needed medical intervention for his hyperactivity. He seemed repentant when he left. And that initial meeting produced no additional meetings with witnesses. So my assumption was that the matter of the e-mail correspondence and me stating that he was unable to perform in the role he had placed himself was satisfactorily concluded.
But a person with a deceitful mind practices deceit. The matter of SEE being an educational hoax continues—soliciting financial support from disciples for this sham ministry seems to be the individual’s sole source of income.
Therefore, I am herewith formally writing to advise you and your readers that even though I am named as an instructor for SEE, I am not an instructor, and have not been one. I remain in the Port Austin area. I have obtained from Phil Frankford adequate shop facilities from which I will do business through the winter.
As an aside, concerning teaching, I have a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), with post graduate work in English and in Art completed at Idaho State University, Pocatello. I have taught English Composition for UAF; for Lewis-Clark State University, Lewiston, Idaho; for Southeastern Illinois College, Harrisburg; and for Paducah Community College, Paducah, KY. I have also taught Formline woodcarving in UAF’s Native Arts Studio. I believe my experience and credentials are adequate to label an educational hoax as such.
Respectfully,
Homer Kizer