Christ and the Amish
Posted in Uncategorized on October 9th, 2006 by His HolinessLast week a gunman entered an Amish schoolhouse and shot 10 young Amish girls, killing at least 5 of them, before killing himself.
The almost immediate response from the Amish community was to forgive the shooter for his actions, and more recently members of the Amish community have been seen grieving the loss of the gunman, and comforting his family.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/04/amish.shooting/index.html?section=cnn_topstories
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/07/amish.mourners.ap/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/06/amish.funeral.ap/index.html
Your assignment for this week, using as many (or as few) resources as you like – including your bible – is to explain why the way the Amish community has responded is or is not the proper Christian response to such a tragedy. You should be prepared to support your position, and provide attribution if you quote outside sources.
You may, as a part of your answer, wish to compare and contrast the way the Amish have responded with the way that President Bush, who also describes himself as a Christian, has responded to the senseless acts of violence that have taken place during his term in office, and explain how his response has or has not been the proper Christian response.
October 11th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
I think that the Amish didn’t respond in the proper Christian response. The Amish are a very religious group and follow their beliefs. Even though it is part of their beliefs to believe those who have sinned, they shouldn’t forgive this guy. He killed other people to get over a loss in his family. That is no reason to go and kill kids 8th grade and younger. The Amish said, “We should not think evil of this man”. I know that we are supposed to forgive somebody that does something that effects you or someone you know, but this was just to bad. He basically killed others somewhat to fill the whole that was left when his daughter died. The five surviving children have 500,00 dollars pledged to them to help their families cover the medical bill. So this is why I think that this wasn’t a proper Christian response. He killed himself which could be another way of saying that he had a terrible life. He did this to give him a way to kill himself and end his life.
-I used http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/07/amish.mourners.ap/index.html
October 12th, 2006 at 1:11 am
I think it is good to be able to forgive like the Amish but for something like that they need to be angry at the gunman.I know if someone’s child got shot in our school that persons parents would be mad and probably would not forgive the gunman.They would not comfort the gunman’s family.Most people would be mad and send hate notes or threats to the gunman’s family.It is good that they can forgive him it is the Christian way that we should forgive enen if it seems wrong.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:20 am
“Father forgive these people for they do not know what they have done” Luke 23:34, as Jesus once said as he died on the cross forgiving Pontious Pilate and his people that helped kill Jesus. Just like the Amish community and the gunman, i think back then there system of forgivness was the same, but now the Christan community is different because they go by what they did and not consider the fact that they are the same as everyone else. In Matthew 6:14-15, For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. That also applies to the gunman and the Amish because if you don’ t forgive people you won’t be forgiven by the Father– who forgave Pontious Pilate for killing his only son–, but the Amish are forgiving the gunman for what he did giving them forgivness making them more Christan.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
I think that the Amish are giving a Christian response because they are willing to forgive. They might not be able to forget, but they can forgive. They should still be upset with the gunman. They make it seem like he didn’t do anything wrong and he did. Bush and all of the other people that heard about this think that he deserved to be killed or given a terrible punishment. The Amish really believe in what they believe in. This was still a wrong way to get over a loss. He killed other children basically to get over the fact that his daughter died a long time ago. The five girls that survived got 500,000 dollars to help pay for all of the medical bills. The reason why it was a great Christian response was because they should be able to forgive and just move on. It is going to be hard to move on but they will eventually. Like the Amish said,” We must not think evil of this man” I believe that what they say is the right thing.
I used- the first website that you suggested
October 19th, 2006 at 8:56 pm
It’s always good to forgive people. But i wouldn’t forgive someone who shot someone that I know. I would be mad at them for a very long time. The Amish men should be angry at the gun person. At my school they wouldn’t forgive that person who killed their kid. They will be mad becasue they killed their own kid. I think this is very wrong to do to someone who didnt do nothing to you at all.