One Man's Opinion: We can't just sit around waiting for solutions
Every once in a very great while, I am simply amazed by acts attributed to the human spirit. It is so rare that I just must sit back in awe of what has been taking place before my very eyes. I must shake my head and be so very proud that I was able to witness such an occurrence in my lifetime. Yet, the news reporting pundits didn’t seem to catch it or even make a big deal of one of life’s greatest lessons that was unfolding on the American landscape. It was, in its truest form, the ultimate lesson for all of those who consider themselves Christian. The deepest, sincerest, and some would say, unfathomable act of forgiveness.
The incident occurred on Oct. 2, 2006, when five little girls between the ages of 5 and 13 were killed in a schoolhouse in Nickels Mine, Pennsylvania. The news of the shooting instantly hit the wires and it dredged up all the other school shootings as the major networks began their all-day reporting of the story. More shootings in schools and more violence — when is it all going to end? Every mass media source was trying to find their own angle on how to report this tragedy. It was “the story” of those next few days of October as it was plastered over every TV, newspaper and magazine in the country. How could this happen again — especially to those so innocent?
As all major stories, this too would fade into the background as the war in Iraq, the election year scandals, and Madonna adopting an African baby came to the forefront of the news. As the Nickels Mine incident began to lose the attention of the media during that first week in October, the funerals of the children got a 15-second snippet of the news. The children, the Amish, and the truest act of Christianity, were nowhere to be found. It simply wasn’t news worth reporting. It’s sad that violent stories take precedence over non-violent ones.
The Amish reaction to the killings as I said earlier was unfathomable. How could anyone who has lost a child by any means — let alone in such a violent manner — react the way the Amish community did? When speaking of their child’s murderer, their spokesman said, “We must not think evil of this man.” Not think evil! How could anyone not think evil of such a senseless act? The spokesman went on to say that the Amish were going to set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter. Later, as the funeral took place, the Amish showed up in force not to protest, but of all things to console the family and forgive. Their spokesman again said, “I don’t think there is anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive, and only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way, but to reach out to the family of the man who has committed these acts.”
I ask how many of us could have reacted in the way the Amish did to this horrible situation. To forgive someone for the ultimate act trespassed against one’s family. I think most families’ immediate reaction would be to seek vengeance. Violence breeds more violence. The examples are everywhere. The violence we see every night on the news, the blow ‘em up movies, the extreme and constant haranguing of the radio talk shows — pointing out to all who will listen — are just a few examples of violence breeding violence.
But this one story of Amish forgiveness should have been pushed to the forefront of the news. Isn’t this truly what we should be all about? What a great example to each one of us. The strength, the courage of conviction, the fortitude, of the Amish under tremendous duress should make us question our own faith. Could we have been so forthright with our own belief system when handling such a dagger to the heart? Probably not. These Amish are better people than I know that I would have been. They have my respect. They have obviously given me pause to reflect and reconsider that there is a good, better, and best way to handle oneself during difficult times. They have shown us at least a much better example of how to react in a time of horrific tragedies.
Forgiveness is highly touted by all world religions. We must ask ourselves the question: How can the members of this world's religious community even say they are practicing Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Taoists, etc., and still hate so deeply? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out we say one thing — and do another. Who are we kidding? We even have a hard time forgiving on a personal level, let alone even considering a worldwide scale. I don’t want to come off as preachy, but I simply want to point out what these Amish from Nickels Mine, Pennsylvania, have shown us a more Christian principle that should not be overlooked. Does it rank with the efforts of Jesus, Muhammed, Tao, Ghandi or any other religious leader? Probably not. But we should all step back and recognize such a great lesson in life when it happens. I’m stepping back now.
This article was written by me in January 2007, it was my reaction to my perception of a deeply Christian belief concerning forgiveness. It runs counter to what we have today. Forgiveness? How could we ever even think about forgiveness at such a time of devasting tragedy?
If you ask anyone who really knows me and my religion, they would probably say I am bordering on being an agnostic. I just want you to know they would probably be correct in that assumption. I was raised in Catholic catechism teachings, and I do remember when Jesus was hanging on the cross, he turned to the thieves being crucified beside him and said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” We should not forget those words. Forgiveness is the starting point to redemption. The Amish example at Nickel Mine, Pennsylvania, should be an example to all of us. Yes, the guilty need to be punished and we need to come up with alternatives. We haven’t been very good at providing those alternatives. What we are doing doesn’t seem to be working. We need to try harder. We just can’t sit around and wait for a solution. See something, say something, and DO something is where we are now.
We can do better than that. WE need to do something. What would Jesus do (W.W.J.D) and his answer was H.W.L.F — He Would Love First. These are a couple of slogans that were popular during the 1990s. Historically, these two slogans might at least be talking points for us in our current “do nothing” atmosphere. We need to do something. As usual, this is just one man’s opinion.
— Jerry Donnelly is a Petoskey native who was an educator downstate. His column, One Man's Opinion, appears monthly. Donnelly can be contacted via email at jerry.wheepapa.donnelly@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: One Man's Opinion: We can't just sit around waiting for solutions
