Focus On the Shadow

A few clarifying points to my previous post: First nothing in the previous post should be read to indicate that Atlas is in any way flouting the law. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that I can pick and choose the parts of Scripture that best fit my whims or desires. I whole heartedly submit to all of it, and therefore I also am entirely committed to obeying all of the authorities placed over me. This would include but is not limited to: the city zoning administrator, City Council, and all others in authority in the civil realm. St. Peter says, “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to the governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers and for the praise of those who do good.” (1 Pet. 2:13-14) This means that Atlas School has every intention of obeying every ordinance that the City of Moscow requires of us whether the building code, the zoning code, or any conditions or provisions they may place upon us wherever we end up as long as we are not asked to disregard the clear teaching of Scripture.

The law allows for 30 days to appeal a decision issued by the city, and that appeal has already been filed. An appeal stays the motions of the proceedings until there is a hearing. We have been in contact with city officials, notifying them of our intentions throughout, and we have every intention of continuing to do so.

Secondly, as to an important technicality: New St. Andrews College, as I now understand it, did not actually have a Conditional Use Permit (CUP), although it did have the city’s permission to be downtown. It was thought that NSA complied with the zoning code in the “similar institutions” clause, but recent rulings have indicated otherwise. However the original point still stands: nowhere in Moscow are schools welcomed, that is, allowed by right.