Politics As Usual
Shining a Light on Power and Policy
Tom Shine covers congressional politics for ABC News.
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"A CONTRIBUTION WAS MADE TO MARIE ROBERTS."
September 13, 2007 8:33 AM
While the rest of us spend hours listening to endless testimony about Iraq and terror and prepare for yet another presidential explanation of why the surge is working, a tiny Pennsylvania community quietly prepares for the one year anniversary of the October 2 slaughter of five young girls and the serious wounding of five others in their Amish School in Nickel Mines.
Yesterday the Nickels Mine Accountability Committee which is an all-volunteer panel of Amish and non-Amish organized to handle the $4.3 Million in donations that came in from all over the world after the massacre issued a very lengthy statement on behalf of the community and families who were affected by the shootings.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS printed it.
The committee explains how they used the generous donations for medical, rehabilitative surgery, physical therapy and counseling services for the 5 wounded girls and their families, how they gave some of the money to the charity funds of medical providers and volunteers who have helped them and at the very end is this sentence. "A CONTRIBUTION WAS ALSO MADE TO MARIE ROBERTS." Marie Roberts is the widow of the gunman who first terrorized and then shot the five Amish girls.
"The forgiveness extended by the Amish community to the Roberts family was noted around the world," their statement says. It goes on to say, "The Amish did not wish such publicity for doing what Jesus taught and want to make sure that glory is given to God for that witness. Many from Nickel Mines have pointed out that forgiveness is a journey, that you need help from your community of faith and from God, and sometimes even from counselors, to make and hold on to a decision to not become a hostage to hostility. It is understood that hostility destroys community."
The committee statement also says that "recently 29 people, mostly members of families from the Nickel Mines School traveled to BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA to meet with school officials and the FAMILIES of the VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING VICTIMS to show their concern and to deliver the Comfort Quilt that had been given to Nickel Mines."
The Amish sure know how to forgive and give!
September 13, 2007 in Congress | Permalink | User Comments (1)
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I too wrote about this gesture by these amazing people However, I was not aware of their time spent in Blacksburg and wish I had been; that only adds to the view that these people do "set an example for all of us."
Tom Hanson
Posted by: Tom | Sep 17, 2007 7:41:31 PM
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