I am only forwarding what another has said on this. I agree.
NO HIDING PLACE
Will the Amish School Shootings Change Anything?
Sam Hine
October 4, 2006
I'm not Amish, but my children attend a small rural school
that until this week seemed safely removed from the violence
plaguing most of our world.
The truth is, we're not safe anywhere. The recent shooting
at an Amish school here in Pennsylvania, only days after
similar crimes in rural Colorado and Wisconsin, makes it
clear that there is nowhere we can hide from the violence,
and no one who can't be touched by it.
We need to pray for the grieving families, for the children
who survived, and for the wife and children of the killer.
And we certainly can and must act to make guns less
available. But in the end, no amount of metal detectors or
school police or other security measures will be enough to
prevent another attack. No federal school violence summit
will save us.
We need to look squarely at the root causes of such
violence, at the evils we tolerate daily in this violent and
sick culture. I could start at the top: The official
justification of torture and sexual humiliation at Abu Graib
and Guantanamo. The clear message from our military in Iraq
("We don't do body counts.") that the lives of people who
believe and dress differently don't count as much. The
congressman preying on teenage boys on Capitol Hill, while
the leaders of the "moral majority" stand by.
Then there are the obvious culprits: The glorification of
violence and sexual predators in film. Violent video games
simulating everything from Columbine to Fallujah. The
unabashed exploitation of women and young girls as sex
objects in advertising, using their bodies to sell
everything from cars to beer. The news media that love
nothing better than a horrible crime--the more sadistic the
better. They wallow for days in the most salacious details,
making criminals into instant celebrities with little
thought to the copycats they might inspire.
Even more importantly, though, we each need to look in the
mirror. What can I do about all this?
The media tell us the killer was angry at life and angry at
God. This illustrates in a horrible way where festering
resentment can lead. We can't do much to make our schools
safer. But we can and must look at any grudges we have in
our own lives and free ourselves from them by forgiving. We
can't prevent the excesses of Hollywood or the Internet. But
we can, though confession, bring to light the secret
darkness in our own hearts, breaking the power of evil
thoughts before they grow into evil deeds.
The Amish, in their quiet way, are showing us the most
fitting response to such a horrible act. They can't find
words to describe their pain, but they won't be seeking
revenge. Instead they will be turning to their faith to
carry them through. The rest of us Americans have a lot to
learn from them. Their conscious choices to eschew
television, to refuse military service, to dress modestly,
and to live simply are among the sanest, most progressive,
and most hopeful responses to an insane culture that I've
seen so far.
