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The REAL Religion of Peace
Forgiveness, not anger, after Amish school massacreNICKEL MINES, Penn. (Reuters) - This Amish town showed more forgiveness than anger on Tuesday, a day after a 32-year-old dairy truck driver stormed a one-room school and tried to execute all the girls, killing five. imagine what fallout there would be if this had been a muslim school The third deadly U.S. school shooting in a week shattered the calm of an Amish farm community where there is little crime and where the sight of horse-drawn buggies, bearded men in straw hats and suspenders, and women in bonnets conjures up a bygone age. The Amish, descendants of Swiss-German settlers, are a traditionalist Christian denomination who place particular importance on the Gospel message of forgiveness. They believe in non-violence, simple living and little contact with the modern world. Several Amish interviewed by Reuters said they were sad but not angry and emphasized the need for forgiveness of gunman Charles Carl Roberts, who as a non-Amish person was what the locals refer to as "English." "It's just not the way we think. There is no sense in getting angry," said Henry Fisher, 62, a retired farmer with five grown children and 33 grandchildren who has lived all his life in the town some 60 miles (100 km) west of Philadelphia. He said the Amish lifestyle with no cars, television or credit cards, was "a more peaceful life ... to keep the next generation living a more humble life." He also said he did not expect additional security such as locks on schools because this was a "freak accident." There is no police station in town and there were no signs of new security in the rural area on Tuesday. "This community is trusting. They don't expect somebody to just come in the doors and start shooting," said Fran Beiler, 66, of Nickel Mines. Three miles (5 km) away, the one-room Green Tree Parochial School in Bart Township resembled the Nickel Mines school before the shooting. Run by the Amish, it has 24 schoolchildren aged 6 to 13 who were playing in the school yard on Tuesday morning. "We want to forgive," he said. "That's the way we were brought up -- turn good for evil." One parent who declined to be named said the school board on which he sits decided against closing on Tuesday. The parent, who has three of his eight children at the school, said one of his daughters dreamed last night that Monday's attack had taken place at her own school. He said he discussed the attack with his own children and that they were nervous but had walked to school on their own as usual today. A 25-year-old Amish man who declined to be named said his 13-year-old niece died in Monday's shooting and that another niece, 11, was recovering in a Philadelphia hospital. "I think it was going to happen. God has his hand in it," the man said with resignation. Posted by: PlanetDan 2006-10-05 |
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