| |
|
SPIRITUAL BOOK Reviews: Amish Grace |
|
Amish Grace by Donald B. Kraybill,
Steven M. Nolt, David L. Weaver-Zercher On October 2, 2006, five young Amish girls were murdered in their one-room schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. They were shot to death by Charles Carl Roberts IV who then committed suicide. He’d also severely wounded five other girls. The story, of course, made the national news. But the follow-up story created an even greater shock. The grieving families of the girls, along with their entire Amish community, forgave the perpetrator and reached out in kindness to Richards’s non-Amish family! Amish Grace tells the story. It was authored by three men who had all previously written about Amish theology and culture. Part One tells about the shooting and the immediate aftermath. Charles Roberts intended that day to rape the girls. Carrying two guns, he invaded the school and drove out the teacher and the young male students. By the time Roberts had bound the girls, the teacher had reached a phone to call for help and the police had arrived at the school. So Roberts shot his captives and then himself. Each of the girls’ funerals brought three dozen carriages “led by two state troopers on horseback and a horse-drawn hearse that carried the simple wooden coffin.” (p. 37) By the time of the funerals, sentiments of anguished support and donations of money, teddy bears, and school supplies were flooding into Nickel Mines. This touched the Amish community. But what startled the nation was the reaction of the Amish to the family of the shooter. “The Amish quickly realized that Roberts’s widow and children were also victims of the shooting—victims who had lost not only a husband and father, but also their privacy.” (p. 43) At Charles Roberts’s funeral, “more than half of the seventy-five mourners were Amish.” (p. 45) A fund was set up to help the Roberts family and many Amish donated. “One English man recalled making a contribution at the bank, turning to leave, and finding two Amish people behind him in the line waiting to donate.” (p. 47) “How did the Amish decide so quickly to extend forgiveness? ’Forgiveness was a decided issue,’ explained Bishop Eli. ‘It’s just what we do. It was automatic.’” (p.49) Part Two of the book addresses this culture of forgiveness in the Amish community. The Amish Church emerged after the reformation from the Anabaptists-Mennonites who insisted on re-baptizing adults. The Amish founder, Jakob Ammann, was concerned that people were becoming too lax and he wanted to preserve the old ways. Forgiveness seemed to him a clear and important mandate from Jesus. The book continues with several stories of contemporary forgiveness by Amish victims. Drunk drivers, careless drivers, murders, cruel assaults, robberies. And always Amish forgiveness. “Amish people understand that evil deeds carry consequences—which are often meted out by the state—but they are keen not to allow that worldly process to entice them to seek revenge.” (p.77) “This is no doubt rooted in Christianity’s understanding of God as one who absorbs evil and willingly forgives sinful humans.” (p. 85) Amish faith gives great prominence to the Beatitudes and to the specifics of the Lord’s Prayer. So, “The Amish believe if they don’t forgive, they won’t be forgiven.” (p. 95) Amish spirituality, the book explains, is characterized by “gelassenheit” which means a yielding to God’s will. The Amish tell many “martyr” stories. One is from 1569, the account of Dirk Willems fleeing for his life in a religious persecution. His pursuer fell through the ice on a pond and, when Dirk turned back to rescue the man, he was apprehended and burned at the stake. Amish forgiveness. Amish children are taught to forgive. One mother explained, “My children learn forgiveness when they are fighting. I teach them to say, ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I forgive you.’ It’s just our routine.” (p. 114) Part Three of the book speaks to some of the issues related to forgiveness. Amish forgiveness does not preempt hurt and grief and anger. Nor does it forgo facing the consequences of evil actions. Forgiveness is a decision, a choice. Asked if he’d forgiven the Nickels Mines murderer, the grandfather of one of the victims replied, “In my heart, yes.” (p. 135) “The main thing is not to carry a grudge.” (p. 131) Forgiveness of the shooter’s family (who had done no wrong) reflects this dimension. That forgiveness is a promise to maintain a friendly relationship into the future. The book addresses whether Amish forgiveness may be emotionally damaging or even socially inappropriate. Professionals concede, for example, that victims of sexual abuse risk being subjected through “forgiveness” to continued abuse. Also criticized in some quarters is the practice of “shunning” Amish church members who offend against church rules. “From the outside, Amish-style discipline may appear harsh, judgmental, and even cruel.” (p.153) Amish see compliance with church rules (“Ordnung”)—e.g. about clothes or technology—as important since offenders are showing self-centered rebelliousness. The problem of evil doesn’t get resolved by Amish beliefs. In the end, “the expressions of forgiveness that followed in the aftermath of Roberts’s rampage brought healing, but they didn’t bind up all the wounds of the shooting.” (p. 174) “In fact,” the authors conclude, “forgiveness is less a matter of forgive and forget than of forgive and remember—remembering in a way that brings healing.” (p. 182) An Appendix in the book provides background on Amish history, church organization, and work and on Amish attitudes toward technology and government. |
|
|
"Lord, how good it is for us to be here..." Matthew 17 | |
