Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (30 page)
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Authors: Donald B. Kraybill,Steven M. Nolt,David L. Weaver-Zercher
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45
“I hope they [Roberts’s widow and children]”:
Michael Rubinkam, “Amish Community Prepares to Bury Victims, Urges Forgiveness,” Associated Press, October 5, 2006.
“I hope they [Roberts’s widow and children]”:
Michael Rubinkam, “Amish Community Prepares to Bury Victims, Urges Forgiveness,” Associated Press, October 5, 2006.
47
“Your compassion has reached”:
“Statement from the Roberts Family,”
Lancaster Sunday News,
October 15, 2006.
“Your compassion has reached”:
“Statement from the Roberts Family,”
Lancaster Sunday News,
October 15, 2006.
51
“It is only through our faith”:
Mr. and Mrs. Amos K. Ebersol, letter to the editor,
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal,
October 18, 2006.
“It is only through our faith”:
Mr. and Mrs. Amos K. Ebersol, letter to the editor,
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal,
October 18, 2006.
54
Perhaps too the media hoped:
Carolyn Kitch, “Who Speaks for the Dead? Authority and Authenticity in News Coverage of the Amish School Shooting,” in Carolyn Kitch and Janice Hume,
Journalism in a Culture of Grief
(New York: Routledge, 2007).
Perhaps too the media hoped:
Carolyn Kitch, “Who Speaks for the Dead? Authority and Authenticity in News Coverage of the Amish School Shooting,” in Carolyn Kitch and Janice Hume,
Journalism in a Culture of Grief
(New York: Routledge, 2007).
55
“I am profoundly moved”:
Joan Uda, “At the Water’s Edge,”
Helena
(MT)
Independent Record,
October 7, 2006.
“I am profoundly moved”:
Joan Uda, “At the Water’s Edge,”
Helena
(MT)
Independent Record,
October 7, 2006.
55
“What wonderful people they are”:
Joan Eshleman, letter to the editor,
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal,
October 10, 2006.
“What wonderful people they are”:
Joan Eshleman, letter to the editor,
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal,
October 10, 2006.
55
A writer in Philadelphia concurred:
Daniel B. Lee, letter to the editor,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
October 9, 2006.
A writer in Philadelphia concurred:
Daniel B. Lee, letter to the editor,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
October 9, 2006.
55
In the
Sacramento Bee: Anita Creamer, “In Wake of Tragedy, Some Can Still Forgive,”
Sacramento
(CA)
Bee,
October 15, 2006.
In the
Sacramento Bee: Anita Creamer, “In Wake of Tragedy, Some Can Still Forgive,”
Sacramento
(CA)
Bee,
October 15, 2006.
55
“We should all be that odd”:
Marvin Reed, “Believers Who Lead by Example: Nice,”
Pueblo
(CO)
Chieftain,
October 14, 2006.
“We should all be that odd”:
Marvin Reed, “Believers Who Lead by Example: Nice,”
Pueblo
(CO)
Chieftain,
October 14, 2006.
55
“The Amish have shown the rest of the world”:
Dean Frantz, “Amish Forgiveness Teaches Us a Lesson,”
Fort Wayne
(IN)
News-Sentinel,
October 9, 2006.
“The Amish have shown the rest of the world”:
Dean Frantz, “Amish Forgiveness Teaches Us a Lesson,”
Fort Wayne
(IN)
News-Sentinel,
October 9, 2006.
55
“This is not about being Amish”:
Bob Koehler, “Naked and Afraid,”
OpEdNews.com
, October 12, 2006,
www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_koeh_061012_naked_and_afraid.html
.
“This is not about being Amish”:
Bob Koehler, “Naked and Afraid,”
OpEdNews.com
, October 12, 2006,
www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_bob_koeh_061012_naked_and_afraid.html
.
55
Numerous observers lamented:
E. Ralph Hostetter, “Shoot Me First,” Free Congress Foundation, October 12, 2006,
www.freecongress.org/commentaries/2006/061012.aspx
.
Numerous observers lamented:
E. Ralph Hostetter, “Shoot Me First,” Free Congress Foundation, October 12, 2006,
www.freecongress.org/commentaries/2006/061012.aspx
.
56
“Modern society’s sophisticates sneer”:
Mary Pat Hyland, “A Society So Modern It’s Sickening,”
Binghamton
(NY)
Press and Sun-Bulletin,
October 9, 2006.
“Modern society’s sophisticates sneer”:
Mary Pat Hyland, “A Society So Modern It’s Sickening,”
Binghamton
(NY)
Press and Sun-Bulletin,
October 9, 2006.
56
An early and stinging critique:
Jeff Jacoby, “Undeserved Forgiveness,”
Boston Globe,
October 8, 2006.
An early and stinging critique:
Jeff Jacoby, “Undeserved Forgiveness,”
Boston Globe,
October 8, 2006.
57
“They have responded to the massacre”:
Cristina Odone, “Why Do the Amish Ignore Reality?”
Observer,
October 8, 2006,
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1890309,00.html
.
“They have responded to the massacre”:
Cristina Odone, “Why Do the Amish Ignore Reality?”
Observer,
October 8, 2006,
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1890309,00.html
.
58
“My Amish neighbors / forgive”:
Denise Duhamel, “June.” Used with permission of the author.
“My Amish neighbors / forgive”:
Denise Duhamel, “June.” Used with permission of the author.
58
“This extreme event needs time”:
Mary Lou Vegh,
USA Today
blog, October 9, 2006,
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2006/10/amish_know_how_.html
.
“This extreme event needs time”:
Mary Lou Vegh,
USA Today
blog, October 9, 2006,
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2006/10/amish_know_how_.html
.
58
For instance, legal scholar Jeffrie G. Murphy:
Jeffrie G. Murphy, preface to
Before Forgiving: Cautionary Views of Forgiveness in Psychotherapy,
ed. Sharon Lamb and Jeffrie G. Murphy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), ix.
For instance, legal scholar Jeffrie G. Murphy:
Jeffrie G. Murphy, preface to
Before Forgiving: Cautionary Views of Forgiveness in Psychotherapy,
ed. Sharon Lamb and Jeffrie G. Murphy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), ix.
58
In Murphy’s view:
Murphy, preface to
Before Forgiving,
x.
In Murphy’s view:
Murphy, preface to
Before Forgiving,
x.
59
In most situations of abuse:
Sharon Lamb, “Women, Abuse, and Forgiveness: A Special Case,” in Lamb and Murphy,
Before Forgiving,
156.
In most situations of abuse:
Sharon Lamb, “Women, Abuse, and Forgiveness: A Special Case,” in Lamb and Murphy,
Before Forgiving,
156.
59
“I have longed to talk about”:
Quoted in Simon Wiesenthal,
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness,
rev. ed. (New York: Schocken Books, 1997), 54.
“I have longed to talk about”:
Quoted in Simon Wiesenthal,
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness,
rev. ed. (New York: Schocken Books, 1997), 54.
60
“If asked to forgive, by anyone”:
Wiesenthal,
The Sunflower,
169 (Hesburgh), 129 (Dalai Lama), 226 (Prager), 243 (Shachnow).
“If asked to forgive, by anyone”:
Wiesenthal,
The Sunflower,
169 (Hesburgh), 129 (Dalai Lama), 226 (Prager), 243 (Shachnow).
61
“Her story paints a very different picture”:
Emily Smith, “Why I Fled from the Amish Sect,”
Sun,
October 7, 2006,
http://www.thesun.co.uk/printFriendly/0,11000-2006460644,00.html
. See also Samuel Beiler, letter to the editor,
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal,
October 20, 2006.
“Her story paints a very different picture”:
Emily Smith, “Why I Fled from the Amish Sect,”
Sun,
October 7, 2006,
http://www.thesun.co.uk/printFriendly/0,11000-2006460644,00.html
. See also Samuel Beiler, letter to the editor,
Lancaster Intelligencer Journal,
October 20, 2006.
61
“Why does a tormented, suicidal adult”:
“Dealing with School Violence,”
Scripps News,
October 20, 2006,
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/14966
.
“Why does a tormented, suicidal adult”:
“Dealing with School Violence,”
Scripps News,
October 20, 2006,
http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/14966
.
61
“This shooting . . . and every school shooting”:
“Rendell Admits Gun Laws Could Not Prevent School Shooting,” news release from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, October 3, 2006,
http://www.ccrkba.org/pub/rkba/press-releases/CC-RELEASE_Pennsylvania.html
.
“This shooting . . . and every school shooting”:
“Rendell Admits Gun Laws Could Not Prevent School Shooting,” news release from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, October 3, 2006,
http://www.ccrkba.org/pub/rkba/press-releases/CC-RELEASE_Pennsylvania.html
.
62
The Amish response to Charles Roberts:
Doug Soderstrom, “If Only George Bush Had Been Amish,” Axis of Logic, October 15, 2006,
http://www.axisoflogic.com/cgi-bin/exec/view.pl?archive=148&num=23236
.
The Amish response to Charles Roberts:
Doug Soderstrom, “If Only George Bush Had Been Amish,” Axis of Logic, October 15, 2006,
http://www.axisoflogic.com/cgi-bin/exec/view.pl?archive=148&num=23236
.
62
“What if the Amish were in charge”:
Diana Butler Bass, “What If the Amish Were in Charge of the War on Terror?” Faithful America blog, October 11, 2006,
http://faithfulamerica.blogspot.com/search?q=diana+butler+bass
.
“What if the Amish were in charge”:
Diana Butler Bass, “What If the Amish Were in Charge of the War on Terror?” Faithful America blog, October 11, 2006,
http://faithfulamerica.blogspot.com/search?q=diana+butler+bass
.
62
“You respect people who are true to their words”:
George Diaz, “Lessons from Lancaster County,”
Orlando
(FL)
Sentinel,
October 8, 2006.
“You respect people who are true to their words”:
George Diaz, “Lessons from Lancaster County,”
Orlando
(FL)
Sentinel,
October 8, 2006.
63
“The so-called Christian Right”:
Stephen Crockett, “Personal Reflections on the Amish and the So-Called Christian Right,” Democratic Talk Radio, October 10, 2006,
http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com
.
“The so-called Christian Right”:
Stephen Crockett, “Personal Reflections on the Amish and the So-Called Christian Right,” Democratic Talk Radio, October 10, 2006,
http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com
.
63
Recalling the bravery of the Amish schoolgirls:
David W. Virtue, “Lancaster Murders, Mayhem, and Guns,”
VirtueOnline.org
, October 9, 2006,
www.virtueonline.org
.
Recalling the bravery of the Amish schoolgirls:
David W. Virtue, “Lancaster Murders, Mayhem, and Guns,”
VirtueOnline.org
, October 9, 2006,
www.virtueonline.org
.
63
Sister Joan Chittister:
Joan Chittister, “What Kind of People Are These?”
National Catholic Reporter,
October 9, 2006.
Sister Joan Chittister:
Joan Chittister, “What Kind of People Are These?”
National Catholic Reporter,
October 9, 2006.
70
Although the Anabaptist movement was never large:
James Stayer, “Numbers in Anabaptist Research,” in
Commoners and Community: Essays in Honour of Werner O. Packull,
ed. C. Arnold Snyder (Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press, 2002), 58-59.
Although the Anabaptist movement was never large:
James Stayer, “Numbers in Anabaptist Research,” in
Commoners and Community: Essays in Honour of Werner O. Packull,
ed. C. Arnold Snyder (Kitchener, ON: Pandora Press, 2002), 58-59.
72
Still, three years later:
Esther F. Smucker,
Good Night, My Son: A Treasure in Heaven
(Elverson, PA: Olde Springfield Shoppe, 1995), 84. The quotations are from the police officer’s recollection of events, which was included as an appendix in this memoir.
Still, three years later:
Esther F. Smucker,
Good Night, My Son: A Treasure in Heaven
(Elverson, PA: Olde Springfield Shoppe, 1995), 84. The quotations are from the police officer’s recollection of events, which was included as an appendix in this memoir.
72
Another story that highlights the speed:
Joel A. Kime, “The Freedom of Forgiveness Received,” handout (Elizabethtown, PA: Center for Parent/ Youth Understanding, 2003).
Another story that highlights the speed:
Joel A. Kime, “The Freedom of Forgiveness Received,” handout (Elizabethtown, PA: Center for Parent/ Youth Understanding, 2003).
74
The case even appeared as a feature:
Hal White, “Terror at the Amish Farmhouse,”
True Detective,
November 1957, 16-21, 83.
The case even appeared as a feature:
Hal White, “Terror at the Amish Farmhouse,”
True Detective,
November 1957, 16-21, 83.
74
They were particularly puzzled by the fact:
Alma Kaufman, “Murder Violence Leaves Holmes Amish Bewildered but Not Seeking Vengeance,”
Wooster
(OH)
Daily Record,
July 20, 1957.
They were particularly puzzled by the fact:
Alma Kaufman, “Murder Violence Leaves Holmes Amish Bewildered but Not Seeking Vengeance,”
Wooster
(OH)
Daily Record,
July 20, 1957.
75
Mose seemed to express the grief:
“Arguments on State’s Use of Alleged Confession on Monday; Father of Victim Is Witness,”
Wooster
(OH)
Daily Record,
December 6, 1957.
Mose seemed to express the grief:
“Arguments on State’s Use of Alleged Confession on Monday; Father of Victim Is Witness,”
Wooster
(OH)
Daily Record,
December 6, 1957.
75
An Ontario Amish man:
“Aylmer, ON,”
The Budget,
March 20, 1958, 6.
An Ontario Amish man:
“Aylmer, ON,”
The Budget,
March 20, 1958, 6.
76
“The boys were caught soon after”:
“Berne, IN,”
The Budget,
September 12, 1979, 11.
“The boys were caught soon after”:
“Berne, IN,”
The Budget,
September 12, 1979, 11.
76
Levi Schwartz told a journalist:
Barry Siegel, “A Quiet Killing in Adams County,”
Rolling Stone,
February 19, 1981, 62.
Levi Schwartz told a journalist:
Barry Siegel, “A Quiet Killing in Adams County,”
Rolling Stone,
February 19, 1981, 62.
76
“We believe,” began a letter:
Simon M. Schwartz, “Death of an Amish Child,”
Liberty,
March-April 1981, 3.
“We believe,” began a letter:
Simon M. Schwartz, “Death of an Amish Child,”
Liberty,
March-April 1981, 3.
78
The families of sexual assault victims:
Anne Hul, “A Still Life Shattered,”
St. Petersburg
(FL)
Times,
July 7, 1996; Meg Jones, “Attorney Calls Defendant ‘Seriously Disturbed,’”
Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel,
February 20, 1996.
The families of sexual assault victims:
Anne Hul, “A Still Life Shattered,”
St. Petersburg
(FL)
Times,
July 7, 1996; Meg Jones, “Attorney Calls Defendant ‘Seriously Disturbed,’”
Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel,
February 20, 1996.
79
“It shows that he’s not seeking revenge”:
Joe Williams, “Buggy Fatality; Amish Man Won’t Take the Money,”
Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel,
March 9, 1996.
“It shows that he’s not seeking revenge”:
Joe Williams, “Buggy Fatality; Amish Man Won’t Take the Money,”
Milwaukee (WI) Journal Sentinel,
March 9, 1996.
80
Even so, her written account:
Emma King,
Joys, Sorrows, and Shadows, by One Who Experienced the Joys, Sorrows, and Shadows
(Elverson, PA: Olde Springfield Shoppe, 1992), v, 24, 27, 37, 74.
Even so, her written account:
Emma King,
Joys, Sorrows, and Shadows, by One Who Experienced the Joys, Sorrows, and Shadows
(Elverson, PA: Olde Springfield Shoppe, 1992), v, 24, 27, 37, 74.
81
“We don’t believe in pressing charges”:
Doug Johnson, “Amish Reach Out to Trucker Following Death of Mother of 13,” Associated Press, January 19, 2000.
“We don’t believe in pressing charges”:
Doug Johnson, “Amish Reach Out to Trucker Following Death of Mother of 13,” Associated Press, January 19, 2000.
81
Similar sentiments marked responses:
Linda L. Mullen, “Amish Forgiving in Wake of Attempted Assaults,”
South Bend
(IN)
Tribune,
August 28, 1996.
Similar sentiments marked responses:
Linda L. Mullen, “Amish Forgiving in Wake of Attempted Assaults,”
South Bend
(IN)
Tribune,
August 28, 1996.
82
Eight days before the shooting:
Cindy Stauffer and Janet Kelley, “A Boy’s Death, a Family’s Forgiveness,”
Lancaster New Era,
September 25, 2006; “Woman Charged in Boy’s Death in Crash,”
Lancaster New Era,
December 22, 2006.
Eight days before the shooting:
Cindy Stauffer and Janet Kelley, “A Boy’s Death, a Family’s Forgiveness,”
Lancaster New Era,
September 25, 2006; “Woman Charged in Boy’s Death in Crash,”
Lancaster New Era,
December 22, 2006.
86
From their beginning in the sixteenth century:
The centrality of discipleship to the Anabaptist tradition has been noted by many scholars, including Richard T. Hughes,
How Christian Faith Can Sustain the Life of the Mind
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 76-85.
From their beginning in the sixteenth century:
The centrality of discipleship to the Anabaptist tradition has been noted by many scholars, including Richard T. Hughes,
How Christian Faith Can Sustain the Life of the Mind
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001), 76-85.
87
During the first twelve weeks:
John S. Oyer, “Is There an Amish Theology?” in
Les Amish: Origine et Particularismes, 1693-1993
[The Amish: Origin and Characteristics, 1693-1993], ed. Lydie Hege and Christoph Wiebe (Ingersheim, France: Association Française d’Histoire Anabaptiste-Mennonite, 1994), 283-286, 301.
During the first twelve weeks:
John S. Oyer, “Is There an Amish Theology?” in
Les Amish: Origine et Particularismes, 1693-1993
[The Amish: Origin and Characteristics, 1693-1993], ed. Lydie Hege and Christoph Wiebe (Ingersheim, France: Association Française d’Histoire Anabaptiste-Mennonite, 1994), 283-286, 301.
87
“Whoever boasts that he is a Christian”:
Menno Simons, “Foundation of Christian Doctrine,” in
The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, c. 1496-1561
, ed. J. C. Wenger, trans. Leonard Verduin (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1956), 225.
“Whoever boasts that he is a Christian”:
Menno Simons, “Foundation of Christian Doctrine,” in
The Complete Writings of Menno Simons, c. 1496-1561
, ed. J. C. Wenger, trans. Leonard Verduin (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1956), 225.
88
“Who now would follow”:
“Who Now Would Follow Christ,” in
Hymnal: A Worship Book
(Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1992), 535. Revised translation by David Augsburger, 1983, used with permission.
“Who now would follow”:
“Who Now Would Follow Christ,” in
Hymnal: A Worship Book
(Scottdale, PA: Mennonite Publishing House, 1992), 535. Revised translation by David Augsburger, 1983, used with permission.
93
At the same time, some critics complain:
Christopher Lasch,
The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations
(New York: Norton, 1978).
At the same time, some critics complain:
Christopher Lasch,
The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations
(New York: Norton, 1978).
93
In fact, in his book
The Saturated Self: Kenneth J. Gergen,
The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life
(New York: Basic Books, 1991).
In fact, in his book
The Saturated Self: Kenneth J. Gergen,
The Saturated Self: Dilemmas of Identity in Contemporary Life
(New York: Basic Books, 1991).
94
The second prayer is read: Die ernsthafte Christenpflicht
[Prayer Book for Earnest Christians] (Lancaster County, PA: Amischen Gemeinden, 1996). See also Leonard Gross, ed. and trans.,
Prayer Book for Earnest Christians
(Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1997). An old collection of Anabaptist and Pietist prayers dating back to 1708,
Die ernsthafte Christenpflicht
is used by the Amish in their church services and for family prayers.
The second prayer is read: Die ernsthafte Christenpflicht
[Prayer Book for Earnest Christians] (Lancaster County, PA: Amischen Gemeinden, 1996). See also Leonard Gross, ed. and trans.,
Prayer Book for Earnest Christians
(Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1997). An old collection of Anabaptist and Pietist prayers dating back to 1708,
Die ernsthafte Christenpflicht
is used by the Amish in their church services and for family prayers.
95
In response to a flood:
This undated and unsigned letter written by several church leaders was distributed in late October 2006 to outsiders inquiring about Amish forgiveness.
In response to a flood:
This undated and unsigned letter written by several church leaders was distributed in late October 2006 to outsiders inquiring about Amish forgiveness.
96
He had “suffered verbal abuse”:
“Set Your Captive Free,”
Family Life
, February 2003, 8-9.
He had “suffered verbal abuse”:
“Set Your Captive Free,”
Family Life
, February 2003, 8-9.
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