Gone, but Not Forgotten
The one room schoolhouse in Lancaster County has been razed, quietly removed in the dawn hours this morning. The scene of the murder of the 5 Amish school girls was gone in 15 minutes. See my earlier post on this, Troubles in Paradise.
"By Thanksgiving, the site of the massacre will be a memory in a meadow guarded by the two massive shade trees that stood on either side of the school," reports the Philadelphia Inquirer, In misty darkness, Amish schoolhouse is demolished.
There is much we can (and should) learn from the Amish. In A Silver Lining In A Very Dark Moral Cloud, Philosophers' Playground writes an essay marveling at the "humanity" of the Amish community, which expressed concern not only for the victims and their immediate families, but also for the family of the perpetrator. As he notes:
At a time when it would have been understandable, even forgivable, for those closest to the atrocious act to ignore the agony of the perpetrator's family, to lash out in an attempt to claim the space needed for them to work through their own grief, they instead opened their hearts to these fellow sufferers. This was truly an act of great ethical maturity.We surely need some humanity to rub off on us.
I hope that we all can learn a lesson from them. In a world where we have begun a "war on terrorism" because we had become victims of the hatred of others, we need to learn to seek justice like these Amish families who were able to fully feel their own anger, grief, and despair while allowing everyone to retain their humanity. I solemnly hope that their wisdom and maturity in this time of great distress and sorrow may rub off on the rest of us.
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