Amish Grace E-Book

Donald B. Kraybill

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Seitenzahl: 379

Beschreibung

On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-roomAmish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-fivehorrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered theboys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the tenremaining girls, Roberts prepared to shoot them execution with anautomatic rifle and four hundred rounds of ammunition that hebrought for the task. The oldest hostage, a thirteen-year-old,begged Roberts to "shoot me first and let the little ones go."Refusing her offer, he opened fire on all of them, killing five andleaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself aspolice stormed the building. His motivation? "I'm angry at God fortaking my little daughter," he told the children before themassacre. The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media inthe United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning somefifty television crews had clogged the small village of NickelMines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed wereburied. The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor whenAmish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the onewho had slain their children. The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could beoffered so quickly for such a heinous crime. Of the hundreds ofmedia queries that the authors received about the shooting,questions about forgiveness rose to the top. Forgiveness, in fact,eclipsed the tragic story, trumping the violence and arresting theworld's attention. Within a week of the murders, Amish forgiveness was a centraltheme in more than 2,400 news stories around the world. TheWashington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, NBCNightly News, CBS Morning News, Larry King Live, Fox News, Oprah,and dozens of other media outlets heralded the forgiving Amish.From the Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates) to Australiantelevision, international media were opining on Amish forgiveness.Three weeks after the shooting, "Amish forgiveness" had appeared in2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites. Fresh from the funerals where they had buried their ownchildren, grieving Amish families accounted for half of theseventy-five people who attended the killer's burial. Roberts'widow was deeply moved by their presence as Amish families greetedher and her three children. The forgiveness went beyond talk andgraveside presence: the Amish also supported a fund for theshooter's family. Amish Grace explores the many questions this story raises aboutthe religious beliefs and habits that led the Amish to forgive soquickly. It looks at the ties between forgiveness and membership ina cloistered communal society and ask if Amish practices parallelor diverge from other religious and secular notions of forgiveness.It will also address the matter of why forgiveness became news."All the religions teach it," mused an observer, "but no one doesit like the Amish." Regardless of the cultural seedbed thatnourished this story, the surprising act of Amish forgiveness begsfor a deeper exploration. How could the Amish do this? What didthis act mean to them? And how might their witness prove useful tothe rest of us?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Praise

Title Page

Copyright Page

PREFACE

Part One

CHAPTER ONE - The Nickel Mines Amish

CHAPTER TWO - The Shooting

CHAPTER THREE - The Aftermath

CHAPTER FOUR - The Surprise

CHAPTER FIVE - The Reactions

Lauding Amish Forgiveness

Questioning Amish Forgiveness

Using Amish Forgiveness

Part Two

CHAPTER SIX - The Habit of Forgiveness

Anabaptist Habits

Forgiveness as First Response

Forgiveness in the Media Spotlight

Consequences, but Not Revenge

Forgiveness, Fear, and Sympathy

Playing the Repertoire in Georgetown

CHAPTER SEVEN - The Roots of Forgiveness

The Amish and Discipleship

Reading Matthew and Practicing Forgiveness

The Lord ’s Prayer

Forgiving to Be Forgiven

CHAPTER EIGHT - The Spirituality of Forgiveness

Amish Spirituality

Stories and Songs

Reflecting Forgiveness in a Martyrs Mirror

The Dramatic Witness of Dirk Willems

Forgiveness in Amish Schoolbooks

CHAPTER NINE - The Practice of Forgiveness

Train Up a Child

Giving Up Self

Preparing for Communion

The Struggle to Forgive

Fasting and Communion

Part Three

CHAPTER TEN - Forgiveness at Nickel Mines

What Is Forgiveness?

Amish Anger?

Instant Forgiveness?

“ Forgiving ” the Killer’s Family

The Question of Self-Respect

CHAPTER ELEVEN - What About Shunning?

Members Meetings and Pardon

Excommunication

Shunning

Shunning and Forgiveness

Two Sides of Love

CHAPTER TWELVE - Grief, Providence, and Justice

Amish Grief

God’s Providence and the Reality of Evil

Amish Views of Providence

Salvation and Final Judgment

Earthly Justice

This World Is Not Our Home

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Amish Grace and the Rest of Us

The Amish Are Not Us

The Perils of Strip Mining

Extracting Lessons from Nickel Mines

AFTERWORD (2010)

INTERVIEW WITH TERRI ROBERTS

APPENDIX: THE AMISH OF NORTH AMERICA

ENDNOTES

RESOURCES FOR FURTHER READING

Acknowledgements

THE AUTHORS

INDEX

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION GUIDE

Praise for Amish Grace

“Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy is one of those rare books that inspires deep personal reflection while recounting a moment in history, telling a sociological story, and exploring theological issues. In the fall of 2006, following the murders of Amish school children by a deranged gunman, how did the Amish manage to forgive the murderer and extend grace to his family so quickly and authentically? Making it clear that the answer involves no quick fix but an integrated, disciplined pattern of life—a pattern altogether upstream to the flow of American culture—the authors invite us to ask not just how to forgive but how we should live. In our era of mass violence and the derangement from which it comes, no question could be more timely.”

—Parker J. Palmer, author of A Hidden Wholeness, Let Your Life Speak, and The Courage to Teach

“Amish Grace tells a story of forgiveness informed by deep faith, rooted in a rich history, and practiced in real life. In an American society that often resorts to revenge, it is a powerful example of the better way taught by Jesus.”

—Jim Wallis, author of God’s Politics; president, Sojourners/Call to Renewal

“An inside look at a series of events that showed the world what Christ-like forgiveness is all about . . . A story of the love of God lived out in the face of tragedy.”

—Tony Campolo, Eastern University

“Amish Grace dissects the deep-rooted pattern of Amish forgiveness and grace that, after the Nickel Mines tragedy, caused the world to gasp.”

—Philip Yancey, author of What’s So Amazing About Grace?

“Covers the subject in a superb way. It gave me a private tutorial in Amish culture and religion . . . on their unique view of life, death, and forgiveness.”

—Fred Luskin, author of Forgive for Good; director, Stanford Forgiveness Projects

“A remarkable book about the good but imperfect Amish, who individually and collectively consistently try to live Jesus’ example of love—for one another and for the enemy.” —Dr. Carol Rittner, R.S.M., Distinguished Professor of Holocaust & Genocide Studies, The Richard

Stockton College of New Jersey

“A casebook on forgiveness valuable for ALL Christians. . . . drills beneath the theory to their practice and even deeper to the instructions of Jesus.”

—Dr. Julia Upton, R.S.M., Provost, St. John’s University

“This is a very uplifting and enlightening book. It opens the door and allows us to peek at the hearts of Christian Amish believers who forgave horrid murders from the heart. And that forgiveness became a light on a hill that points to Jesus.”

—Everett L. Worthington Jr., professor of psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University

Copyright © 2007 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass

A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax [phone].

Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

All Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, King James Version.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kraybill, Donald B.

Amish grace : how forgiveness transcended tragedy / Donald B. Kraybill,

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-87381-6

1. Forgiveness of sin. 2. Amish-Doctrines. 3. West Nickel Mines Amish

School. I. Nolt, Steven M., II. Weaver-Zercher, David, III. Title.

BT795.K73 2007

364.152’30974815-dc22

2007019071

HB Printing

PB Printing

All author royalties from Amish Grace will be donated to the Mennonite Central Committee to benefit their ministries to children suffering because of poverty, war, and natural disaster.

For more information on the worldwide relief and service ministries of MCC, visit www.mcc.org.

PREFACE

Amish. School. Shooting. Never did we imagine that these three words would appear together. But the unimaginable turned real on October 2, 2006, when Charles Carl Roberts IV carried his guns and his rage into an Amish schoolhouse near Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. Five schoolgirls died that day, and five others were seriously wounded. Turning a tranquil schoolhouse into a house of horror, Roberts shattered a reassuring American myth—that the Old Order Amish remain isolated from the problems of the larger world.

The Amish rely less on that myth than do those who watch them from afar. In fact, their history reminds them that even the most determined efforts to remain separate from the world and its iniquities are not foolproof. The Nickel Mines Amish certainly didn’t anticipate the horror of October 2. They were, however, uncommonly prepared to respond to it with graciousness, forbearance, and love. Indeed, the biggest surprise at Nickel Mines was not the intrusion of evil but the Amish response. The biggest surprise was Amish grace.

This book explains the Amish reaction to the Nickel Mines shooting, especially their forgiveness of the killer and their expressions of grace to his family. Given our longtime study of Amish life, we weren’t entirely surprised by the Amish response. At the same time, their actions raised a host of questions in our minds: What exactly did the Amish do in the aftermath of the tragedy? What did it mean to them to extend forgiveness? And what was the cultural soil that nourished this sort of response in a world where vengeance, not forgiveness, is so often the order of the day?

As we explore these questions, we introduce some aspects of Amish culture to show the connection between Amish life and Amish grace. This tie is important for two reasons. First, it clarifies that their extension of grace was neither calculated nor random. Rather, it emerged from who they were long before that awful October day. Second, embedding the Amish reaction in the context of their history and practice enables us to suggest more easily what lessons may apply to those of us outside Amish circles.

In the Appendix we provide details about some of the distinctive features of this community, but a few words of introduction here will help set the stage for our story. The Amish descend from the Anabaptists, a radical Christian movement that arose in Europe in 1525, shortly after Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation. Opponents of the young radicals called them Anabaptists, a derogatory nickname meaning “rebaptizers,” because they baptized one another as adults even though they had been baptized as infants in the state church. These radical reformers sought to create Christian communities marked by love for each other and love for their enemies, an ethic they based on the life and teaching of Jesus. Nearly two centuries later, in the 1690s, the Amish emerged as a distinct Anabaptist group in Switzerland and in the Alsatian region of present-day France.

The Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, are one of many Amish subgroups in North America. Most Amish groups are also known as Old Orders because they place a premium on maintaining old religious and social customs. Mennonites, who are religious cousins to the Amish, also trace their roots to the sixteenth-century Anabaptists. Many, but not all, of the Mennonite groups in the twenty-first century are more assimilated into mainstream culture and use more technology than the Amish.

Even though the occasion for this book is one we would like to erase from Lancaster County history, we believe it opens a window onto Amish faith. Buggies, beards, and bonnets are the distinctive markers of Amish life for most Americans. Although such images provide insights into Amish culture and the values they hold dear, Amish people are likely to say that they are simply trying to be obedient to Jesus Christ, who commanded his followers to do many peculiar things, such as love, bless, and forgive their enemies. This is not a picture of Amish life that can easily be reproduced on a postcard from Amish Country; in fact, it can be painted only in the grit and grime of daily life. Although it would be small comfort to the families who lost daughters that day, the picture of Amish life is much clearer now than it was before October 2006.

This book is about Amish grace, but it is also about forgiveness, pardon, and reconciliation. Grace, as we use it in this book, is a broad concept that characterizes loving and compassionate responses to others. A gracious response may take many forms: comforting a person who is grieving, providing assistance to someone in need, sacrificing for another’s benefit, and so on. Amish people are somewhat uncomfortable talking about “Amish grace,” because to them, grace is a gift that God alone can give. We use grace in a broader way throughout the book, as a synonym for graciousness and gracious behavior toward others.

Forgiveness is a particular form of grace that always involves an offense, an offender, and a victim (in this case, a victimized community). When forgiveness happens, a victim forgoes the right to revenge and commits to overcoming bitter feelings toward the wrongdoer. Some people who have studied forgiveness extend this definition a step further, contending that positive feelings toward the offender—feelings such as love and compassion—are also essential to forgiveness. For their part, the Amish believe that gracious actions extended to the offender are an important aspect of authentic forgiveness. It is not our goal in this book to define forgiveness once and for all. Ours is a more modest goal: to tell the story of Amish forgiveness at Nickel Mines. Although we give priority to the Amish understanding of forgiveness, we sometimes link it to scholarly conversations on the topic.

In telling the Amish story, it is important to distinguish forgiveness from both pardon and reconciliation. Whereas in forgiveness the victim forgoes the right to vengeance, pardon releases an offender from punishment altogether. In many cases, pardon can be granted not by the victim but only by a person or institution with disciplinary authority over the offender (such as the judicial system). Reconciliation is the restoration of a relationship, or the creation of a new one, between the victim and the offender. Reconciliation is not necessary for forgiveness to take place, and of course it does not always happen, because it requires the establishment of trust between two willing parties. In many situations, however, reconciliation between victim and offender constitutes the ultimate goal, and forgiveness is a crucial step in that process.

We talked with more than three dozen Amish people in the course of writing this book, and we quote many of them liberally in the following pages. Because Amish culture emphasizes humility, the Amish people we interviewed did not want their names to appear in print. We have respected their wishes and simply cite many of our sources as “an Amish grandmother” or “an Amish carpenter.” Similarly, we do not identify by name Amish people who wrote letters or essays in Amish magazines and correspondence newspapers.

For the eight individuals we quote extensively, we use typical Amish first names as pseudonyms (Amos, Eli, Gid, Katie, Mary, Mose, Sadie, and Sylvia). Each pseudonym refers to an actual person, not a composite of characters. This is a book about grace, and in that spirit we also use a pseudonym for the killer’s widow.

In a few circumstances, we use the real names of Amish people because their names were published so widely in the news media. We use the first names of the girls who attended the West Nickel Mines School, as well as their teacher’s first name. We also include the full names of Amish people in forgiveness stories unrelated to the schoolhouse shooting because these names have already appeared in the news media or in other publications when the stories were originally reported.

Finally, we must clarify our use of the phrase the English. Amish people often use this term for non-Amish people.The Amish speak a German dialect, Pennsylvania German (also known colloquially as Pennsylvania Dutch), as their first language. They also speak, read, and write English, which they typically learn when they begin school. Amish adults routinely speak English in their interactions with non-Amish neighbors, whom they refer to simply as “the English,” even if the outsiders have no formal ties to Great Britain. In the pages that follow, we use the terms non-Amish, English, and outsiders interchangeably.

We’ve organized the text into three parts. Part One, which comprises the first five chapters, tells the story of the school shooting and the responses that flowed in its wake. Part Two explores broader understandings and practices of forgiveness in Amish life. Part Three reflects on the meaning of forgiveness, not only for the Amish but for the rest of us as well.

Part One

CHAPTER ONE

The Nickel Mines Amish

We believe in letting our light shine, but not shining it in the eyes of other people.

—AMISH FATHER

The earliest streaks of light were barely breaking the eastern sky as we turned east in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.1 Reading our MapQuest printout with a flashlight, we drove two miles and then turned south onto Wolf Rock Road. Ahead of us, two blinking red lights punctured the darkness, signaling the unhurried pace of a horse-drawn buggy. We slowed the car and followed the rhythmic clip-clop, clip-clop of the horse’s hooves toward the top of a ridge.

We were searching for a place that one hopes never to be looking for. A shooting had occurred the day before at a one-room Amish school in a small community called Nickel Mines. As scholars of Amish life, we had spent that day responding to a flood of phone calls from reporters eager for information. Now we were headed to the scene of the tragedy, to answer more questions from the journalists gathered there.