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October 6, 2006“Shoot me first…” “Shoot me second…” - UPDATEDLittle Amish girls are heroic and saintly in death, and their killer asks for their prayers. The Amish Community has invited the killer’s wife to the funerals of its daughters. Talk about grace? This story is huge and holy, and it is being missed by too many. The story of this humble and quiet heroism is being lost - overwhelmed by a tawdry and shallow, creepy political play without one redeeming character, and a sensationalistic, swirling toilet of sexual McCarthyism - and that is a shame, because I think the story of how these little girls faced their unjust and violent deaths is probably much more important to our spirits and our survival as a nation than a political circus. But our short-attention spans, our daytime-tv-and-Oprahesque fascination with sleaze, and our incredibly dumbed down culture is turning attention to the tittilating…and what we are finding tittilating embraces not only sex and pederast perversions, but near-Gestapo tactics and no one is really noticing that. To our very great loss, and our even greater shame, our society appears to be running like dogs to a Pavlovian bell - we don’t even really need to know what we’re scandalized about, to enjoy the scandal, and to be played by the press. The devolution of our society continues…and our hope seems to rest in the hands of little Amish kids who have more character and nobility and courage than most of us…and perhaps that’s why some look away from them and stay focused on the sleaze; it’s easier than having to respond to these girls and what they did. I am disgusted that such a story of purity and strength is being overshadowed by a story of piggishness and powermongering. All I want to do now is be quiet and pray. Back later. Whether I’ll have anything worthwhile to write is highly debatable. UPDATE: Julie at Happy Catholic has a splendid post on these little girls and what their heroism means particularly as we read the newspaper: All this was against a backdrop of those two girls offering up their lives for their friends. Never had it been so glaringly obvious that it is important for Christians to remain the leaven, the yeast, that Christ called for. We are called to be the witnesses through our actions and our words that there is a way of freedom that many have forgotten; that some truths are absolute. I can say that I never knew what joy was like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am beholden to Jesus. I daresay that all Christians recognize the absolute truth in Muggeridge’s words. The mystery is that just as they contain absolute truth, that truth is translated in different ways to different people … God deals with each of our unique souls in the way that we understand best. We can’t tell from moment to moment in what way we will be called to witness to that truth. If it is simply through living a Christian life as best we can by not snarling at the person who cuts into line ahead of us on a bad day, speaking up to a close friend about a touchy subject that may change forever how they view us, or stepping up to offer ourselves as a sacrifice. That is the way that we make sure those who need the message aren’t allowed to forget the example they are being given by the grieving but forgiving Amish. We repeat it over and over and over … through our actions, our words, and our lives. Until they are encountering Christ’s truth and love everywhere they turn. Read the whole thing. Julie has a much holier take on all of this than I do, although I must say reading her brought to mind part of something I wrote a month or so, ago: Reason told Casper ten Boom and his spinster daughters Corrie and Betsy that it was risky-unto-madness to try to hide Jews in a bedroom wall while Nazis occupied their village - faith shrugged, “how can you not take the risk?” Reason told the 16 Carmelites of Compiegne that renunciation would save their lives; after all, anyone would know they didn’t really mean it. Faith said, “trust in the Lord at all times,” and they went to the guillotine singing psalms and offering their necks for the defeat of “The Terror,” which, it must be said, came to an end some ten days later. Meanwhile, the world, in all its worldliness keeps swirling and dirty water keeps sinking to its own level As Gina Cobb says, one of these stories will matter in 20 years. Dean Bartlett answers some questions. Related: Remember when the church was struggling to deal with pederast priests, and the left screamed “witch hunt!” and said no attempt should be made to identify gay priests? Suddenly a witch hunt is not a witch hunt, when it’s done by the left. Then it’s just “in service to honesty!” Yeah…if you’re a politically expedient hypocrite. These people are reminding me of the feminists who came all over faint about Clarence Thomas because “women don’t lie about this stuff,” but decided that Bill Clinton should always be allowed “a free grope” and you know, “some women are just trailing after a hundred dollar bill in the trailer parks…” Those people, those politically expedient hypocrites” drove me rightward, and out of the Dem party. And this is going to backfire on them. And on the press that is trying so hard to control and frame the story to its own desires. http://theanchoressonline.com/2006/10/06/shoot-me-first-shoot-me-second/trackback/ 14 Responses to ““Shoot me first…” “Shoot me second…” - UPDATED” |
October 6th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
the Young Girls bravery is indeed inspiring…
perhaps the painful story is too much to face for some.
such a mindless tragedy…
RIP
October 6th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
I have a post at my own site on this very subject. Evil ultimately cannot win, because it contains nothing good, and victory is essentially of the good. So evil truly does contain the seeds of its own defeat. The evil gunman can only take the lives of the little girls, he cannot deprive them of their souls, and ironically he ennobles them by the very act of destruction that he set out to perform. For if it were not for his actions, they would not have had the chance to demonstrate the value of their spirits. So have heart, my sisters and brothers! Victory, while not necessarily at hand, is nonetheless on our side, for even in its most despicable acts, evil cannot vanquish the good, and indeed, wicked times bring forth great men to do battle. It is in facing the lion that we discover who we are. I only hope that when the Destroyer comes, in his turn, for me, that I have the strength to take the blow. Let us never forget that good has a ruthlessness all its own.
October 6th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
The weight of purity
Read this, if you can, and consider what happened in that school house. A man who claimed to be an atheist obsessed with impure thoughts prepares to avenge himself on God and girls — and is bowled over by purity and piety. Children unsullied by the wo…
October 6th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
[...] Having read the Anchoress’ rather dour (yet justifiably so) read on this idiocy, perhaps it will increase people voting, but against both parties. [...]
October 6th, 2006 at 3:39 pm
Shoot Me First
The girls knew where they were going, and they did not fear to go. Roberts (the gunman) knew where he was going also. None the less, if you had been in their position, would your faith have been strong enough to make a similar request.
October 6th, 2006 at 4:31 pm
All in all, it shows that Brian Rohrbough was pretty much on the mark with his comments on CBS. The furious criticisms that followed just confirmed it. Muslim criticism of our society hurts because of its accuracy.
October 6th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
A Quiet Heroism
I would rather not write this post. I did not write it yesterday when the story broke because of that reluctance. But there are names that must be remembered and one that must be forgotten. And so I will write this for the ones who should be …
October 6th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read This
A story of genuine heroism — an Amish schoolgirl who faced an unjust death with a kind of courage rarely seen this side of heaven — is being lost among the hyperpoliticized charges involving ex-Congressman Mark Foley. Fortunately, The Anchoress has n…
October 6th, 2006 at 6:23 pm
[...] Sometimes people amaze you. The Anchoress has an amazing post about the strength of faith of those little Amish girls, and how thier families have embraced the truest sort of forgiveness. I don’t think I could do that under any circumstances. [...]
October 6th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
[...] UPDATE: The Happy Catholic says it far better than I could ever say myself. (Hat tip: The Anchoress) [...]
October 8th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
True Forgiveness
Our pastor this morning spoke of this story. With tears in his eyes, he mentioned that he wondered if the Amish families involved aren’t better Christians than he could be under the same circumstances. Serious food for thought. For a
October 13th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
[...] Only last week we watched the Amish community bury 5 of its daughters, and we heard how the eldest child asked to be killed first, hoping to buy time to save the others. Of course they are martyrs - they may not be martyrs to an ideology or a theology, but their victimhood was directly connected to their innocence, and to their faith-founded pacifism. And maybe that’s something we need to talk about. The evil propelling their murderer forward was an evil that preyed upon those little girls specifically because a victory over them seemed “easy,” because of who and what the girls were. [...]
October 15th, 2006 at 8:57 am
[...] AMISH SHOOTINGS– What a real “martyr” looks like. Report: Amish girl said: “Shoot me first.” The weight of purity: “Rita Rhoads, a Mennonite midwife who delivered two of the victims, told ABC News she learned of the girl’s plea from her family. What’s more, her younger sister, Barbie, who survived the shooting, allegedly asked the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, to “shoot me second,” Rhoads said.” Site of Amish Schoolhouse Shooting Razed …. (Various) [...]
December 28th, 2006 at 5:51 pm
[...] And what does it mean when you willingly die for another, while insanity and duplicity swirl all around? A reminder to Elizabeth Edwards and Hillary Clinton: There is an art to good politics [...]