CNN: Amish grandfather: ‘We must not think evil of this man’
PARADISE, Pennsylvania (CNN) — A grieving grandfather told young relatives not to hate the gunman who killed five girls in an Amish schoolhouse massacre, a pastor said on Wednesday.
“As we were standing next to the body of this 13-year-old girl, the grandfather was tutoring the young boys, he was making a point, just saying to the family, ‘We must not think evil of this man,'” the Rev. Robert Schenck told CNN.
“It was one of the most touching things I have seen in 25 years of Christian ministry.”
. . . Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, said local people were trying to follow Jesus’ teachings in dealing with the “terrible hurt.”
“I don’t think there’s anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts,” he told CNN.
Sam Stoltzfus, 63, an Amish woodworker who lives a few miles away from the shooting scene, told The Associated Press that the victims’ families will be sustained by their faith.
“We think it was God’s plan, and we’re going to have to pick up the pieces and keep going,” he told AP. “A funeral to us is a much more important thing than the day of birth because we believe in the hereafter. The children are better off than their survivors.”
In comparison, I just got an email about the news that Fred Phelps’s hate church is planning on protesting at the funerals of those killed. I just can’t fathom that kind of hate and it honestly makes no sense. (here’s the PDF of his announcement flyer — WARNING this link is to horrible material from a hate website)
But in another way it does. These two responses to tragedy are telling. The Amish have chosen to live with love and forgiveness. Fred Phelps and his folks are chosing to live out of hate and blind anger. Rarely do we see this kind of contrast, but I must say that the Amish way sure looks better.
As to Fred Phelps, the best thing to do is to pray for him, that he would be set free from the shackles of hatred and instead discover the love that Jesus had for everyone. I know Fred is convinced that God is vengeful, angry and hateful (and to some extent the Old Testament has that vibe at some points), but that god is not the God that Jesus taught about.
From: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15120230/page/2/
. . . I had heard that some people from the Amish community were perhaps going to meet with Marie Roberts, the gunman’s wife. John assured me that would happen soon, if it hadn’t already.
“They need support, they need help,” he said. “We will send them flowers.” He expressed concern about how difficult it would be for the three Roberts children when they return to school.
Finally he asked me to promise to include this message in my story. “We appreciate the help and support of the police and firefighters and our neighbors. God’s blessing to everyone. God has a reason for this. We don’t know yet and we may not find out in our lives.”
Clarification…Do you mean the old testament God is not the one Jesus talked about? Or Phelps’s God is not the one Jesus talked about? Or both?
Sorry, that wasn’t very clear on my part.
I meant to say, that while I think a person could believe that God is “vengeful, angry and hateful” based on selected OT passages, the fuller picture in the OT also has images of God’s grace and mercy for his chosen people, and that by the time of the NT, Jesus I think paints a better evolved picture of who God really is.
http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/26432
LancasterOnline.com: Protesters drop plans to picket Pa. Amish funerals
Very good news. Fred Phelps has changed his mind about the protests. The way it all went down is pretty nuts (Phelps agrees to not protest in exchange for one hour of air time a on talk radio network), but who knows, the Lord works in mysterious ways so it certainly looks like a good thing to get him away from those funerals.
Also, here’s the website of the talk show host who is putting Phelps on the air…
http://www.mikeonline.com/