Responding to School Violence
Johann Christoph Arnold

Earlier this month, the attention of the whole world was focused on the Amish school in Pennsylvania where five girls were killed, five others critically wounded, and the shooter took his own life.

Charles Carl Roberts IV was angry with God, angry with himself, and haunted with guilt. Each time such violence occurs, relatives, journalists and other people ask the question--where was God? How could he let this happen?

God was and is there the whole time. As the old spiritual goes, "He's got the whole world in his hands." He is against all violence and all killings. Yet he will never impose his will on people, because he wants voluntary service. As a result, tragic events like the Amish shootings will continue to happen, as long as we all do not face the violent nature that is in each one of us.
God already is using the death of these five girls by turning it into something positive.They opened up to the whole world the Amish way of life, and their deep faith, which is able to overcome any tragedy. A lot has been written about the Amish response to the shooting--to forgive. Their response, "We want to forgive...that's the way we were brought up--return good for evil." These are not just noble words. One day after the massacre, the local Amish community started a charity not only for the victims' families, but also to raise funds for the gunman's widow and children.

Roberts is dead, and some people are asking, "How can justice be done if the perpetrator is dead?" Other questions arise, such as: "Is the gunman in heaven or hell?" That is completely superfluous. He is with God. That is all that matters. No amount of human justice would have replaced and redeemed the tragic loss of these five girls. We forget that God said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." The gunman is in the hands of the best judge, who will see that true justice will be done--justice that is combined with love and with redemption, both for the victims and the shooter himself.
School shootings and other acts of violence will continue. Each time they occur, let us remember the lives of these girls, the example that they gave, such as the oldest victim, Marian Fisher, and her sister Barbie, who wanted to be shot first, to hopefully save the others.

If we truly want justice, let us ask why we cannot follow the example given us by the Amish. Why shouldn't it work for us too? In our violent society, we look too quickly for human answers to stop school violence. No amount of frisking and metal detectors and educational summits will stop it. The Amish are right in not expecting additional security such as locks on schools. If we want our children to be safe, we all have to look to God for the answer. He alone can protect us and our children.

Forgiveness is for everyone--not only for the Amish. It is the universal answer to breaking the cycle of violence that is destroying this world. Forgiveness is power, not a weakness. It can heal both the forgiver and the forgiven. It will change the world if we allow it. In short, we hold the keys of forgiveness in our hands, and we must choose whether or not to use them every day.

[Johann Christoph Arnold is the author of ten books, including Why Forgive? (http://www.plough.com/ebooks/whyforgive.html), and a founder of "Breaking the Cycle," a program aimed at reducing violence in schools by teaching forgiveness and nonviolent conflict resolution.]

posted [10.14.05]

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