Amish want to help family of the man that killed their children

[Herman Munster]

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=nation_world&id=4628736

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 Robertses.

Huntington, the authority on the Amish, predicted they will be will be very supportive of the killer and his wife, "because judgment is in God's hands: `Judge not, that ye be not judged."

[goclark]

1. Now that is the way to look at it nt

[ShortnFiery]

2. Amazing ... I guess that it will be part of their healing process ...

They're much more forgiving than I could be, especially so soon after the killings.

May God Bless and Keep Them Close ... if any people deserve comfort, it's the parents of those precious little girls. :cry:

[HockeyMom]

9. I second that

I wish there was a some kind of a fund to contribute to them. These people truly ARE Christians and we owe them our respect.

[jberryhill]

14. There is a fund...

http://www.coatesvillesavings.com/



Nickel Mines Children's Fund

Coatesville Savings Bank

1082 Georgetown Road

Paradise, PA 17562



Roberts Family Fund

Coatesville Savings Bank

1082 Georgetown Road

Paradise, PA 17562

[liberaldemocrat7]

25. The family of the murderer appears blameless.

The wife and children and relatives knew nothing of what this man planned. They remain blameless.

As a teenager in the 1960's I went with my family to Pennsylvania and saw Amish Country and saw Amish and Mennonite people. These people for the most part want to live their lives with their families. They live a relatively simple life and it has great meaning to them.

To raise money for the family of the dead murderer who apear blameless I view as very good. I imagine they also have given money to the families of the little girls who have gotten murdered too.

[cynatnite]

3. This is what real christians do

These people have my respect and admiration.

[Kutjara]

4. Wow, real live actual genuine Christian forgiveness.

I thought it was a myth. Phelps and his mob could learn a lot from these good people.

[roguevalley]

21. phelps is coming to protest the funerals. the skank.

[BrotherBuzz]

29. They bugged out for a safer route to pitch their hate

The controversial anti-homosexual Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., has canceled its plans to stage a protest at the funerals of the five Amish girls executed in their Pennsylvania school, a church official said Wednesday.

Shirley Phelps-Roper, the daughter of church's pastor, said the group canceled the protests in exchange for an hour of radio time Thursday on syndicated talk-show host Mike Gallagher's radio program.

"We're not going to any of the Amish funerals — that's the agreement we're making — that we won't go to any of them," Phelps-Roper.

[LiberalArkie]

5. They are what yoou call CHRISTians.. Doing what HE said to do.

[KittyWampus]

6. Reminds me of my beloved fellow NY'ers after 9/11. In Union Square Park

it was a Love-In of sorts as we tried to grasp the enormity of the blow.

"Not in our name".

[Midlodemocrat]

7. "Love your brother as you love yourself"... this doesn't surprise me.

I dated a guy who had an enormous affectation for the Amish/Mennonite communities. He taught me a great deal. I thought I knew the message of Christ, but these folks live it beyond anything that I could imagine.

Makes you wonder if technology is a good thing after all.

[stellanoir]

8. Ahhhhhh the hearts and souls of the Amish

are truly inspirational. I wish they were our State Department or put in charge of Kucinich's proposed Department of Peace.

Which is in direct opposition to the purposeless vengefulness that only "perpetuates (even further) retributions" that our country unconsciously commits.

Yikes.

[LunaSea]

10. Take note, TV fundies and megachurch minions....

You just might learn a thing or two you've apparently forgotten.

And thank you Mr. Esh.

[RogueBandit]

11. A little tear, there is hope

I cried a bit when I read the headline. There is hope afterall.

[mom cat]

20. Me too Rogue Bandit... me too. Welcome to DU . We need Rogues who

know how to shed a tear now and then. Welcome. :hi:

[Az_lefty]

12. Amish certainly take their faith to heart...

[habitual]

13. My pastor always told me that to be a christian meant

that you live according to christs teaching. When i saw the attitude of forgiveness yesterday, i thought that these people are closer to real christians than anything i have seen up to this point in my life.

[dogindia]

15. I have been weeping. Forgiveness seems to release emotions and is

very freeing at a deep level. These folks hold Christ's teachings in the heart and practice them. This is more touching than anything that has happened in the public sphere for along time. I am honored to have heard of these people. I believe it has helped them to be so close to nature and natural systems. There is great depth of communion possible within the human/nature active perceptions. And the truth that lies within Christ's words have strong meaning beyond anything ordinary men had done with these words as we all know. And I am not a formalized religious believer. I do believe in the sanctity of all being and the powerful idea of caring deeply for all beings and things of the earth.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

16. I'm humbled before this breathtaking act of forgiveness. I thank the Amish

for demonstrating by their very lives what true Christianity represents. :cry: MKJ

[kestrel91316]

23. They live their whole lives charged with setting a good example,

living their faith openly and actively, for others to see. But they are also warned not to sin by being proud of the fact. Very humble people.

[Mike03]

17. My heart has grown so hard these past five years, but

this story brings tears to my eyes. Maybe there is still hope for the human race. It makes me want to reach out to them and help them. That would feel really good right now.

[ms liberty]

18. Their tragedy becomes a lesson in Christianity to us all...

I wish our "leaders" and the RW fundies who support them would learn the lesson I see in this.

I am humbled by their faith, and their strength.

[Swamp Rat]

19. REAL Christians!

:wow:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

22. Wow. People who understand what that means.

Most other christians think that God bestowed upon them the power to judge everyone. Amish people don't bother anyone. Why can't people just leave them alone?
Duckie

[kestrel91316]

24. Sadly we have a couple of folks here on DU who love to tell hateful

lies and perpetuate myths and half-truths about them. They appear to have gone to bed for the night, or mommy is reading them a bedtime story, lol.

[AZBlue]

26. That is so beautiful. Simply amazing.

K&R

[farmbo]

27. Amen, Brothers. This is Christianity.

eom

[DarkTirade]

28. Go figure.

The one group of christians who actually follow the 'judge not lest ye be judged yourself' mantra are the ones people consider to be eccentrics.

[REP]

30. Why Does His Family Need To Be Forgiven?

This I don't understand. There's nothing his wife or children could have done to stop him; they had no idea what he was planning. Why do they need to be forgiven for anything? I've read some posts from some blaming the wife for not doing enough, but police say that by the time she found his note, he was already at the school (and said there is nothing she could have done to prevent it). And what on earth do his children need to be forgiven for - having the wrong father? Not being killed by him? What? I just don't get it.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

31. I see it as forgiving the man who killed their children. After that, they

are giving love and support to his wife and his children left behind by his death.

MKJ

[spoony]

32. kick for the beauty of forgiveness n/t