"A faith unshaken"
This is important enough to cross-post with Nasty Little Man and The Central Pennsylvania Abolitionist.Here's a commentary from Wisconsin on the Amish school shooting tragedy that I found particularly inspiring:
But the Amish will not respond with anger or hatred. This tragedy will strengthen their faith and their resolve in maintaining their way of life. It may make them more wary of the "English" world, but that caution will not manifest itself in resentment or revenge. Those words are not even in their vocabulary.
The Amish are people who put their faith into action, even in the most horrific of circumstances. The very foundation of their church (and mine) is pacifism and withstanding persecution for their beliefs. There is no doubt in my mind that if the gunman had lived, the families of his Amish victims would have asked the court to spare him the death penalty.
And the AP is reporting that about half of the mourners at the funeral of the shooter, Charles Roberts, were Amish:
His wife, Marie, and their three small children looked on as Roberts was buried beside the pink, heart-shaped grave of the infant daughter whose death nine years ago apparently haunted him, said Bruce Porter, a fire department chaplain from Colorado who attended the service.
About half of perhaps 75 mourners on hand were Amish.
"It's the love, the forgiveness, the heartfelt forgiveness they have toward the family. I broke down and cried seeing it displayed," said Porter, who had come to Pennsylvania to offer what help he could. He said Marie Roberts was also touched.
"She was absolutely deeply moved, by just the love shown," Porter said.
posted by Kinder Gentler Little Man @ 10:54 PM
1 Comments:
My mother said they held vigils all over Lancaster County Last night (Fri). The news showed a clip of a Catholic Church in Quarryville where people gathered. My mother was espcially suprised to see the many Amish people in the pews.
Having grown up Catholic (in Lancaster) I cannot tell you the millions of times another Christian assured me we were idol worhsipers and unsaved (still hear lots of anti-Catholic talk).
It is wonderful to see the Amish setting a nationwide example of love, forgiveness & acceptance- of murderers, the "English" and of other faiths- even in a time of gross anguish and despair.
How easy it would be for them to hate all of us, of every faith, every color, etc. Yet they embrace the love of others, others grieving for them, even those who have caused their anguish, and they seem to know that we have all lost some sort of innocence along with their little ones.
It's is easy to claim pacifism. How many of us would actually respond as a pacifist under these circumstances?
It's is so refreshing to see people who talk the talk and walk the walk.
They don't care who is having an abortion or drinking, they follow thier own values without ever intruding on mine. I respect them greatly for that.
I hope we can all remember the lessons of these past two weeks.
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