
The Amish:
The massacre of six innocents: 2006-OCT-03

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The horrific events:
Ten
girls were shot in an Amish school at Nickel Mines, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania on 2006-OCT-03 by a lone gunman.
Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, a
milk delivery person from Bart Township, PA, entered a Old Order
Amish one-room school at about 10 AM, carrying a 9 mm handgun, a 12 gauge shotgun,
a rifle, a
bag of black powder, two knives, tools, a stun gun, 600 rounds of
ammunition, KY sexual lubricant, wire, and plastic ties. Perhaps anticipating a
long siege, he also brought a change of clothing. He ushered 15 boys, one pregnant woman, and three other
women with infants from the school. He bound 11 students who remained -- all girls, aged 6 to 15
-- with
plastic flex ties, and prepared to shoot them. Student Marian Fisher, 13,
stepped forward and asked that he "shoot me first." in an apparent effort
to buy time for the remaining students. Her younger sister, Barbie, allegedly
asked Roberts to "shoot me second." He shot ten young girls. Three died immediately; two
others died in hospital by the next
morning. As of 2006-OCT-05, the remaining five are still alive in hospital,
although one is expected to be taken off of life support. Roberts committed suicide when the police stormed the
school.
Police believe that he did not have a grudge against the
Amish community itself. Rather, he selected the school because of its
lack of security and easy availability to young female students. 1

Roberts' motivation:
According to Pennsylvania police, Roberts phoned his wife from within the
school house before he murdered the children. Ironically, his wife was leading a
prayer group at the time that was organized to pray for school children in their
community. He said that he had molested two female relatives who were 3 to 5 years of age circa 1986.
He would have been 11 or 12 years of age at the time.
A suicide note that Roberts left behind allegedly said that he was
fanaticizing about molesting children again. It also expressed anger at God
because his newborn baby, Elise, had died nine years ago -- only 20 minutes
after having been born prematurely.

Exhibition of compassion:
"Yesterday on NBC News, I saw an Amish midwife who had helped birth
several of the girls murdered by the killer say that they were planning
to take food over to his family's house. She said – and I paraphrase
closely – 'This is possible if you have Christ in your heart'."
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Journalist Tom Shachtman, author of the book "Rumspringa: To Be or
Not to Be Amish," said: |
"This is imitation of Christ at its most naked. If anybody is going
to turn the other cheek in our society, it's going to be the Amish. ...
I don’t want to denigrate anybody else who says they're imitating
Christ, but the Amish walk the walk as much as they talk the talk."
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Gertrude Huntington, a specialist on Amish children, said: |
"They know their children are going to heaven. They know their
children are innocent ... and they know that they will join them in
death. The hurt is very great ... But they don't balance the hurt with
hate."

Fundraising for the community:
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Members of the community have established two funds:
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Nickel Mines Children's Fund for the
families of the victims, and |
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Roberts Family Fund for the surviving
members of Roberts' family -- his wife and two young children. |
Both are being administered through the Coatesville
Savings Bank. 4 It is worth noting that the Amish do
not have health insurance. The Amish community fund their own health care
needs. However, with the magnitude of the needs of the five wounded girls
who survived this tragedy, their fund may well be depleted.
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The Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) and Mennonite Central Committee
(MCC) are accepting financial contributions to assist the Amish community. They
have created the Amish School Recovery Fund. Tax-deductible donations can be
made by calling MCC at (717) 859-1151, or MDS at (717) 859-2210. To donate
online, go to the MDS or
MCC web site. To
donate by mail, send checks to MCC or MDS at the following addresses with the
words "Amish School Recovery Fund" in the memo line.
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Mennonite Disaster Service,
1018 Main Street,
Akron , PA 17501, or |
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Mennonite Central Committee,
21 S. 12th St., P.O. Box 500,
Akron , PA 17501 |
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Prayer Vigil:
More than 1,000 mourners
attended a prayer vigil at The Worship Center in Lancaster PA on the
evening of OCT-03. An overflow crowd watched the service on closed-circuit
TV. Rev. Duane Britton, pastor of Dove Christian Fellowship
— Westgate in Ephrata, PA joined other clergypersons in the county to
deliver the service. Lancaster Online reports:
"During the service, which lasted just over an hour, heads were
bowed and tears flowed for the loss of schoolgirls’ tender lives and for
their killer, a man described as a loving husband and father of three
young children."
" 'We come here tonight as a grieving community,' said Sam Smucker, a
pastor and founder of The Worship Center and himself a former
Amish man."
" 'We’ve come here to pray and proclaim the lordship of Christ and to
put our arms around each other and the community ... God hears our
prayers,' he assured his listeners." 5


Groups exploiting the tragedy:
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The Westboro Baptist
Church (WBC) is an unaffiliated Baptist congregation who base much of
their belief system on the principle that God hates homosexuals. They sponsor the
GodHatesFags.com web site, and
teach that most of the world's ills are caused by the increased acceptance
and tolerance of gays, lesbians and bisexuals. They advocate the
re-criminalization of same-sex sexual behavior, and advocate the
death penalty as the appropriate,
Bible-based punishment. According to Wikipedia,
there are strong suggestions in the church teachings of racial bigotry, and
religious hatred directed against Roman Catholics,
Mormons, liberal
Christians, Muslims, and Jews. In recent months, the WBC has regularly
disturbed mourners by picketing funerals of service persons killed in Iraq. They believe that the
deaths are God's judgment on America. 6
The WBC had planned to picket the funerals of the Amish children. They said
that they were planning to take this action "... in punishment for
Gov. Ed. Rendell's blasphemous sins against the WBC. ... [He] slandered and
mocked and ridiculed and condemned Westboro Baptist Church on national Fox
TV." However, OCT-04, they cancelled the picketing because they were
able to arrange to have a WBC spokesperson featured on the Mike Gallagher
Show on OCT-05. 7
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The Family Research Council's (FRC)
Washington Update newsletter for OCT-04 discussed the reaction of Janice
Ballenger to the school tragedy. As deputy coroner, she had shown extreme
distress before TV cameras after having spent hours at the school analyzing the
scene of the suicide and quintuple murder. She later went to a church in
Paradise, PA and sat at the gap in the alter rail with her head buried in her
arms. The FRC stated:
"How long will it take the American Civil Liberties Union
and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State
to file suit against Ballenger for breaching the 'high wall of
separation' they claim (wrongly) that the Constitution requires. Yet
no matter what they say, nothing will deter Americans--even
government employees--from leaning on their faith in God as a
principal source of comfort in times of tragedy. On this point, most
Americans have more in common with the Amish than with the ACLU.
We are aware of numerous lawsuits by both the ACLU and Americans
United to protect freedom of religious expression -- for example the
right of students to pray on the school bus, at the flagpole, in the
corridors, in the classroom before or after classes, in the cafeteria,
in Bible clubs, etc. It is inconceivable that the ACLU or Americans
United would attempt to prevent a government employee from taking a few
minutes medical leave. They would certainly support anyone's right to seek peace
in a church sanctuary. |

Impact on students elsewhere in North America:
Teaching Tolerance, a program of the Southern Poverty Law Center in
Montgomery, AL, interviewed Tamika Payne, about recent school shootings, gender and
violence. She is the executive director of the Colorado
Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Reports of shootings in Bailey, CO, and Nickel Mines, PA indicate that
the gunmen isolated female students as victims.
Tamika Payne said, in part:
"The tactic reinforces the message young girls in our society receive,
which is that they need to fear men, especially men who are strangers. As
for male students, the incidents will likely generate a sense of
protectiveness and guilt. It is important that educators and parents
validate students' feelings and normalize other feelings they may be having
regarding the assaults."
She suggested that teachers and parents should discuss sexual violence with
all children, both male and female. It should be done realistically, stressing
that a person's greatest risk is from someone we know. She said:
"... the reduction of sexual violence will occur only when we change the
beliefs and attitudes of a society that sees women as unequal and sexual
objects."
The full interview is well worth reading. 8

A book about the tragedy:
Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L.
Weaver-Zercher have co-authored a book, "Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy."
Jossey-Bass, (2007-SEP)
Some reviews:
 |
The authors ... analyze the complexities of mainstream America's
response and the extent to which the Amish example can be applied elsewhere.
This intelligent, compassionate and hopeful book is a welcome addition to
the growing literature on forgiveness. Publishers Weekly |
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"A story our polarized country needs to hear: It is still grace that
saves."--Bill Moyers, Public Affairs Television |
 |
"A story of forgiveness informed by deep faith, rooted in a rich
history, and practiced in real life. Amish Grace is a powerful
example of the better way taught by Jesus."--Jim Wallis, author, God’s
Politics and president of Sojourners/Call to Renewal. |
 |
"In a world where repaying evil with evil is almost second nature, the
Amish remind us there's a better way. In plain and beautiful prose,
Amish Grace recounts the Amish witness and connects it to the heart
of their spirituality."--Sister Helen Prejean, author, Dead Man Walking
|
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"An inside look at a series of events that showed the world what
Christ-like forgiveness is all about … a story of the love of God lived out
in the face of tragedy."--Tony Campolo, Eastern University |
 |
"A casebook on forgiveness valuable for ALL Christians. It drills
beneath the theory to their practice and even deeper to the instructions of
Jesus." —Dr. Julia Upton, provost, St. John's University |
Read
reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store 
Sponsored links:

References used:The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above
essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
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Tim Harper, "Amish school murders," Toronto Star, 2006-OCT-03.
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"Police: School killer told wife he molested family members," CNn.com,
2006-OCT-03, at:
http://www.cnn.com/
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"Quote of the week," SojoMail, 2006-OCT-04.
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"Coatesville Savings Bank," at:
http://www.coatesvillesavings.com/
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Joan Kern, "A community cries," Lancaster Online, 2006-OCT-04, at:
http://local.lancasteronline.com/
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"Westboro Baptist Church," Wikipedia, as at: 2006-OCT-04
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"News Release (OCT. 3)" Westboro Baptist Church, at:
http://www.godhatesfags.com/
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"Girls as targets: Recent school shootings," Teaching Tolerance,
2006-OCT-06, at:
http://www.tolerance.org/



Copyright © 1996 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance Latest update: 2006-OCT-13 Author: B.A. Robinson 
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