I’m glad to see this story include this note at the end — “All of the children’s funerals are private and restricted from the public and press. This account was assembled from the writer’s earlier observations, with substantial aid from friends and neighbors of the Ebersols. ” I expect the local newspaper to have this kind of sensitivity to the privacy of the Amish, but sure wish the national media would show the same kind of consideration. It may be more work to do journalism in a respectful way, but it is the right thing to do and it is do-able.
LancasterOnline.com: Hundreds line roads to pay respects — Funerals for slain Amish girls get under way. Processions pass gunman’s home.
What is staggering to me in this story is how badly the media is behaving in covering this story (the worst example was of a reporter who tried to sneak into a funeral by dressing Amish). Certainly the story needs to be told (and I think the way that Amish follow Jesus’ teachings of nonviolence and reconciliation need to be shared with the world), but the media can do so in a respectful and less intrusive way.
CNN: Slain Amish girls laid to rest
. . . In just about any other community, a deadly school shooting would have brought demands from civic leaders for tighter gun laws and better security, and the victims’ loved ones would have lashed out at the gunman’s family or threatened to sue.
But that’s not the Amish way.
As they struggle with the slayings, the Amish in this Lancaster County village are turning the other cheek, urging forgiveness of the killer and quietly accepting what comes their way as God’s will.
“They know their children are going to heaven. They know their children are innocent … and they know that they will join them in death,†said Gertrude Huntington, a Michigan researcher and expert on children in Amish society.
“The hurt is very great,†Huntington said. “But they don’t balance the hurt with hate.â€
. . . The Amish have also been reaching out to the family of the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, who committed suicide during the attack. Dwight Lefever, a Roberts family spokesman, said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them.
“I hope they stay around here and they’ll have a lot of friends and a lot of support,†Daniel Esh, a 57-year-old Amish artist and woodworker whose three grandnephews were inside the school during the attack, said of the Roberts’ wife and three children.
Huntington, the authority on the Amish, predicted they will be very supportive of the killer and his wife, “because judgment is in God’s hands: ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged.’â€
There have been several stories on cable news channels regarding the forgiveness being shown by the Amish. One of these I saw was some lame reporter asking questions along the lines of “But how can you forgive him, he killed your granddaughter (or whatever the relationship is) — most people would want to get revenge.” It seemed like there was an attitude of subtle ridicule by the interviewer, as well as an attempt to get some “non-Amish” out of the man. Frankly, I’m surprised any of the Amish even consented to do interviews. I sure wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t.
But I did see one report early this morning (can’t remember which channel) which was respectful and brought up what I would think would be an obvious fact, that the New Testement (and I believe the Old Testement as well, though I’m no Bible expert) explicitly calls for the wronged to forgive, and strongly implied that most Christians weren’t exactly following that suggestion. It noted that the Amish were taught that they were not to wait to _feel_ forgiveness when wronged, but that they must act that way. I’m paraphrasing badly, but that was the gist. I would think this is what “turn the other cheek” is about.
Another good point that was made in this report was how the Amish have agreed to accept the donations and gifts that are being sent to them. Normally, they would not want such things, but they realize that they are allowing the givers to develop spiritually by an act of generosity, and feel they must allow that to take place.
Overall, I think the media coverage of this tragedy has been a great lesson in the true expression of faith for Americans (who, frankly, could use regular lessons on the topic, since they don’t seem to be getting them at church on Sunday). Perhaps this is why some of the Amish have been willing to do those interviews. Being quieter and wiser than most of us, I think they understand that being an instrument of their God does not always mean making the world conform to their needs or point of view — a mistake that just leads to self-reverence (which isn’t, or shouldn’t be, a recognized religious behavior, despite its popularity, in the opinion of this atheist).
Here’s an interesting post along the lines of my previous comment by a really good diarist at Daily Kos, teacherken, who is a Quaker:
Something we can learn from the Amish