Blue sky thinking
The sky is open and wide.
To the eye it is a mass of blue enclosing us in the world we see around us.
Occasionally the blue is scattered with variations of grey clouds.
The sky can be seen as forgivness in all of us.
We go through life with things going well, but occasionally we encounter obstacles or ‘grey’ patches.
Just remember the beauty of what was there before; the open, wide blue, surrounding us all. This is so much better than the overcast which can cloud our minds.
Holding onto a wrong doing or grudge can cloud your judgement and can linger over you for all eternity.
Take a deep breath and look up at the sky and embrace its freedom.
You too can be as free as the blue sky through forgiveness.
by sara. hijazi
Monday, 27 October 2008
The Lord's Prayer in German
Vater unser im Himmel,
geheiligt werde Dein Name.
Dein Reich komme,Dein Wille geschehe,
wie im Himmel so auf Erden.
Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute.
Und vergib uns unsere Schuld,
wie auch wir vergeben unsern Schuldigern.
Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung,
sondern erlöse uns von dem Bösen.Amen.
by sara. hijazi
Vater unser im Himmel,
geheiligt werde Dein Name.
Dein Reich komme,Dein Wille geschehe,
wie im Himmel so auf Erden.
Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute.
Und vergib uns unsere Schuld,
wie auch wir vergeben unsern Schuldigern.
Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung,
sondern erlöse uns von dem Bösen.Amen.
by sara. hijazi
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Paradise Shooting
The Town of Paradise
The school was destroyed after the incident
The ten girls in the classroom
-- A heavily armed truck driver who was prepared for a long standoff barricaded himself in a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday, killing five girls execution-style before killing himself, police said.
Six other girls were bound and critically wounded in the attack, which police said appeared to be a revenge killing for an unspecified incident that occurred when the gunman was a boy
"It seems as though he wanted to attack young female victims, and this is close to his residence. That's the only reason we can figure that he went to the school," said Miller.
Prayers of comfort and healing are being said for five victims that remain hospitalized due to their injuries - three are in critical condition and two are in serious condition. The hospitalized girls range in age from 6 to 13-years-old. Prayers of comfort and strength are also being said for their families and friends, as well as prayers of wisdom and strength for all the medical personnel who are attending to these innocent children.
UPDATED DONATION INFORMATION:
There have been three funds set up to take monetary donations for both the Amish Community and the Roberts Children. The banks that are administering the fund works closely with the Amish community as many members are customers of the bank. I am not sure why there are two separate children’s funds. The details I currently know about each are listed with the specific information.
Amish leaders have agreed to accept these donations contrary to the popular belief that they would accept none. The bank has assured inquirers that they have spoken to one of the leaders of the Amish community and that they as a community will decide how best to disperse the donations they receive. Most likely the donations will go straight to the hospital to help pay for the children’s medical care as it is quite expensive and would put a huge burden on any community. There is also talk on tearing down the school building, and rebuilding. Some familiar with the Amish have also stated that the money would most likely be used to generate other acts of goodwill. Any of these options available to the community and in keeping with their traditions is IMHO a worthy choice. Here is the donation fund information:
Those who died from the Amish School shooting on Oct. 2, 2006 include:
Naomi Rose Ebersole (7 years old)Anna Mae Stoltzfus (12)Marian Fisher (13)Mary Liz Miller (8)Mary's sister Lena Miller (7)
Five other children, including Anna Mae Stoltzfus' sister, were hospitalized. (Eleven months later, one of them is still semi-comatose.)Also dead is the killer, Charles Carl Roberts IV.
-- A heavily armed truck driver who was prepared for a long standoff barricaded himself in a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday, killing five girls execution-style before killing himself, police said.
Six other girls were bound and critically wounded in the attack, which police said appeared to be a revenge killing for an unspecified incident that occurred when the gunman was a boy
"It seems as though he wanted to attack young female victims, and this is close to his residence. That's the only reason we can figure that he went to the school," said Miller.
Prayers of comfort and healing are being said for five victims that remain hospitalized due to their injuries - three are in critical condition and two are in serious condition. The hospitalized girls range in age from 6 to 13-years-old. Prayers of comfort and strength are also being said for their families and friends, as well as prayers of wisdom and strength for all the medical personnel who are attending to these innocent children.
UPDATED DONATION INFORMATION:
There have been three funds set up to take monetary donations for both the Amish Community and the Roberts Children. The banks that are administering the fund works closely with the Amish community as many members are customers of the bank. I am not sure why there are two separate children’s funds. The details I currently know about each are listed with the specific information.
Amish leaders have agreed to accept these donations contrary to the popular belief that they would accept none. The bank has assured inquirers that they have spoken to one of the leaders of the Amish community and that they as a community will decide how best to disperse the donations they receive. Most likely the donations will go straight to the hospital to help pay for the children’s medical care as it is quite expensive and would put a huge burden on any community. There is also talk on tearing down the school building, and rebuilding. Some familiar with the Amish have also stated that the money would most likely be used to generate other acts of goodwill. Any of these options available to the community and in keeping with their traditions is IMHO a worthy choice. Here is the donation fund information:
Those who died from the Amish School shooting on Oct. 2, 2006 include:
Naomi Rose Ebersole (7 years old)Anna Mae Stoltzfus (12)Marian Fisher (13)Mary Liz Miller (8)Mary's sister Lena Miller (7)
Five other children, including Anna Mae Stoltzfus' sister, were hospitalized. (Eleven months later, one of them is still semi-comatose.)Also dead is the killer, Charles Carl Roberts IV.
Suicide Note from Charles Carl Roberts IV’s
“I don’t know how you put up with me all those years. I am not worthy of you, you are the perfect wife you deserve so much better. We had so many good memories together as well as the tragedy with Elise. It changed my life forever I haven’t been the same since it affected me in a way I never felt possible. I am filled with so much hate, hate toward myself hate towards God and unimaginable emptiness it seems like everytime we do something fun I think about how Elise wasn’t here to share it with us and I go right back to anger.”
Hope this comes up! mike
EMILY: the school in paradise
The school where five girls were killed in America has been knocked down.
The one-room West Nickel Mines Amish School in Pennsylvania was demolished in a few minutes, and it will be replaced by a grassy field.
The five girls, aged between seven and 14 years old, were killed in an attack on their school in the tiny town of Paradise on 2 October.
They came from a group called the Amish, who avoid using modern things like electricity and cars.
Click here to find out more about the Amish people
Five other girls hurt in the shooting are thought to be still in hospital.
The gunman was a local man called Charles Carl Roberts IV. He killed himself after the shooting.
He was not from the Amish community and is thought to have chosen the school because it was close to where he lived.
Amish children knew their killer
Milkman was a popular figure on his rounds
Tony Allen-Mills, Paradise
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {
color:#06c;
}
THERE were no children to greet Charles Roberts the last time he collected milk from the Fisher family farm near the Pennsylvania town of Paradise. It was in the early hours of last Monday and the excited young Amish girls who often ran out to greet his arrival were inside asleep.
As a tanker driver for a Lancaster County dairy, Roberts was well known to farmers as one of the few “Englishers” — the Amish term for outsiders — who were allowed to pay regular visits to the community’s old-fashioned farms.
On his daytime rounds he was routinely besieged by inquisitive children who clamoured for lollipops and stories about an outside world that was rarely mentioned by their stern and protective parents.
Roberts finished his night shift at 3am on Monday and returned in darkness to his home in nearby Bart Township. The next time he saw the Fisher children that day, he lined them up against the wall of their classroom and shot them in the back of the head.
The disclosure that Roberts may have known some of the children he murdered in a still-unexplained explosion of violence at the West Nickel Mines Amish school last Monday has added a startling twist to a uniquely American tragedy.
Related Links
Amish bury fifth gun victim
Image of the day
Gun control
The killings at the heart of the Amish community’s Pennsylvania homeland shattered the zealously guarded serenity of a quaintly archaic religious order that has somehow flourished despite turning its back on modern distractions such as electricity, telephones and cars.
Police initially thought Roberts chose his victims at random, but evidence is mounting that the 32-year-old deliberately targeted the Amish schoolgirls. “I’m sure he knew the girls,” said Stephen Sipos, who lives across the road from the Roberts family. “The milk drivers were always joking around with the kids.”
Among the 10 girls Roberts seized in a planned assault a few hours after he finished work was Marian Fisher, 13, and her 11-year-old sister Barbie, both of whom bravely offered to die in exchange for the lives of the others. A third Fisher sister escaped; neighbours confirmed the Fisher farm was a regular stop on Roberts’s milk route.
As the Amish sought seclusion after the agonies of a public ordeal, there were no easy answers to awkward questions about what provoked Monday’s mayhem, and whether something happened on Roberts’s rounds to propel him to murder the girls.
There were also fears among criminal experts that respect for Amish traditions and the reluctance of Pennsylvania police to intrude may hamper a promised investigation into the motives of a mild-mannered milkman who turned out to be seething with maniacal rage.
After a few hours’ sleep last Monday, Roberts was up at 7.30am helping his wife Marie get their children Abigail, seven, and Bryson, five, ready for school. The couple also had an 18-month-old baby, Carson.
At 8.45am the couple walked the children to their yellow school bus. Paula Derby, a neighbour, said it was unusual to see Roberts on a Monday because he often worked an early shift collecting the weekend milk.
She smiled when Roberts hugged and kissed his children and told them: “Remember, Daddy loves you.” It was a touching gesture from a man whose friends would later describe as a devoted father and husband.
Roberts was due to have a random drug test required by his employer, Northwest Foods. Yet after his wife left for a prayer meeting, he drove to a hardware store and bought steel bolts, plastic ties and wooden planks.
By the time he reached the Amish school in White Oak Road about a mile from his home it was 10am and he was carrying a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a 300,000-volt stun gun, two shotguns, 600 rounds of ammunition and an assortment of chains and restraining devices.
Police later discovered that he had also brought lavatory paper, a change of clothes and two tubes of the sexual lubricant K-Y Jelly. The only possible conclusion, said Commander Jeffrey Miller of the Pennsylvania state police, was that he intended to “dig in for a long siege”. Police also think he may have been planning to abuse the girls sexually.
There were four adults and 26 children aged between six and 13 in the one-room schoolhouse when Roberts arrived. Beneath the blackboard hung a small sign that read “Visitors brighten people’s days”.
Related Links
Amish bury fifth gun victim
Image of the day
Gun control
Two of the adults ran away when Roberts appeared with a gun. There are no telephones in Amish schools so Emma Mae Zook, a 20-year-old teacher, ran across fields to raise the alarm. Emma Fisher, nine, slipped out of the classroom, leaving her two sisters behind.
Roberts ordered the 15 boys and two remaining adults to leave. As soon as they were gone he began hammering planks against the door, barricading himself and 10 girls inside. He ignored Marian’s request that he shoot her first and let the others go. “Shoot me next,” pleaded Barbie.
He was still tying the girls’ feet with wire when the first police arrived at 10.45am. Roberts immediately telephoned his wife to tell her: “I’m not coming home. The police are here.”
As his dumbfounded wife struggled to understand what he was saying, Roberts told her he was filled with guilt and remorse because he had molested two younger relatives 20 years ago. He also told her where to find suicide notes. In one of the notes he said he had never recovered from the death of his daughter, Elise, who was born prematurely in 1997 and lived for only 20 minutes.
“It changed my life forever,” he wrote. “I am filled with so much hate, hate towards myself, hate towards God and unimaginable emptiness.”
Just after 11am Roberts answered a call from police. He warned that he would open fire on the children if they did not back away. The police never had a chance to respond. Within seconds they heard gunfire.
When state troopers smashed through the barricaded door, they found the most harrowing of scenes. Roberts had walked down the line of girls, shooting them in the back of the head. He fired 13 shots from his pistol and four magnum rounds, each containing 12 buckshot pellets, from a shotgun. Then he reloaded the pistol and fired a single shot into his head.
Two girls died at the scene and three more in hospital, among them Marian Fisher. A sixth has been taken off life support and is expected to die at home. Barbie Fisher was badly wounded but is expected to survive. The others are in a critical condition.
America has become used to the dreadful aftermath of school shootings — there were two in Colorado and Wisconsin the week before Roberts’s rampage, and President George W Bush has ordered a summit this week to discuss school safety.
Yet many Americans agreed there was something unfathomably cruel about the assault on a community as peaceful and devout as the Amish. People are no longer surprised about eruptions of violence in inner city ghettos or seething suburbs. But this was Lancaster County, home of the horse-drawn buggy and long-bearded farmers who do not wear wristwatches, let alone carry guns.
In reality the Amish are not nearly as otherworldy as sometimes portrayed. Over the years they have made numerous compromises to accommodate today’s world without abandoning their beliefs that life should not be “easy”, and that modern appliances breed laziness and distance from God.
Ironically it was their success as dairy farmers that produced one of the biggest — and most controversial — compromises. As production soared, dairies demanded the replacement of old-fashioned churns with bulk stainless steel tanks. The Amish agreed to install automatic churners — albeit battery-powered — despite traditionalists’ warnings that opening the doors to modern techniques would invite ruin.
Related Links
Amish bury fifth gun victim
Image of the day
Gun control
Instead the Amish prospered and multiplied — their population has doubled to 180,000 in the past 20 years — but the price they paid was the arrival of outsider dairymen like Roberts.
“The milkman was our contact with the outside world,” said Ruth Garrett, who grew up in an Amish family before being expelled when she fell in love with an outsider.
“He and the (animal) feed man were the people who would come to the farm and the kids would chase them around and you could sit down and ask them what the world outside was like. We were shielded from everything as Amish kids . . . what we knew we learned from the milkman.”
Did Roberts have that kind of relationship with some of the children he killed? Did he give them lollipops and rides in his truck? Did he try to molest one of the girls and become angry when he was rebuffed? These questions have arisen because of what both police and criminal psychologists agree is a mass murderer’s profile that does not yet make sense. Police have investigated Roberts’s claims to have abused two of his relatives when they were four or five years old, and the young women do not remember a thing; nor does any relative believe such abuse occurred.
Psychiatrists acknowledge that the death of his baby may have filled him with anger, but most consider it unlikely he would suddenly explode nine years later without exhibiting any sign of stress.
His cousin, Ben Hildebrand, insisted: “There was not a drop of anger in him.” His wife Marie said in a statement: “The man who did this is not the man I married.”
According to Peter Ash, director of psychiatric services at Emory University, Roberts probably had “a very detailed inner life that simply nobody knew about”.
Some specialists speculated that Roberts may have been molested himself, and that he may have developed fantasies about molesting the Amish girls. In a 1995 study of murder-suicides, Alan Felthous of Southern Illinois University identified a class of “pseudo-commando” killer who may develop a paranoid delusion that a group of people is either “out to get him”, or is secretly taunting him.
Roberts may have fixated on young Amish girls, Felthous said: “It’s conceivable he would direct his hostilities towards them.”
When police revealed Roberts’s relatives were “absolutely sure” they had not been molested by him, Miller, the police commander, said his team would “try to determine what other motive there may have been”.
But other experts said there was little likelihood police would mount an aggressive effort to interview Amish parents about whether their daughters knew Roberts and how he may have behaved towards them.
The murderer is dead and there is no criminal case to prepare. Pennsylvania is immensely protective of the Amish — not least because of the tourism revenues they generate — and is unlikely to countenance further intrusion into a grieving community. It rained heavily in Nickel Mines on Friday. Outside the home of one of the murdered girls, a dozen black buggies were drawn up, signalling that the Amish community was looking after its own. “There is rarely a real inquiry into the motivation of the worst mass shooters,” said Kristin Rand of the Violence Policy Center, which lobbies for gun control. “It is not really a law enforcement function and I doubt we are going to see a proper psychological evaluation.” She paused. “That may be why these things keep happening.”
The one-room West Nickel Mines Amish School in Pennsylvania was demolished in a few minutes, and it will be replaced by a grassy field.
The five girls, aged between seven and 14 years old, were killed in an attack on their school in the tiny town of Paradise on 2 October.
They came from a group called the Amish, who avoid using modern things like electricity and cars.
Click here to find out more about the Amish people
Five other girls hurt in the shooting are thought to be still in hospital.
The gunman was a local man called Charles Carl Roberts IV. He killed himself after the shooting.
He was not from the Amish community and is thought to have chosen the school because it was close to where he lived.
Amish children knew their killer
Milkman was a popular figure on his rounds
Tony Allen-Mills, Paradise
div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {
color:#06c;
}
THERE were no children to greet Charles Roberts the last time he collected milk from the Fisher family farm near the Pennsylvania town of Paradise. It was in the early hours of last Monday and the excited young Amish girls who often ran out to greet his arrival were inside asleep.
As a tanker driver for a Lancaster County dairy, Roberts was well known to farmers as one of the few “Englishers” — the Amish term for outsiders — who were allowed to pay regular visits to the community’s old-fashioned farms.
On his daytime rounds he was routinely besieged by inquisitive children who clamoured for lollipops and stories about an outside world that was rarely mentioned by their stern and protective parents.
Roberts finished his night shift at 3am on Monday and returned in darkness to his home in nearby Bart Township. The next time he saw the Fisher children that day, he lined them up against the wall of their classroom and shot them in the back of the head.
The disclosure that Roberts may have known some of the children he murdered in a still-unexplained explosion of violence at the West Nickel Mines Amish school last Monday has added a startling twist to a uniquely American tragedy.
Related Links
Amish bury fifth gun victim
Image of the day
Gun control
The killings at the heart of the Amish community’s Pennsylvania homeland shattered the zealously guarded serenity of a quaintly archaic religious order that has somehow flourished despite turning its back on modern distractions such as electricity, telephones and cars.
Police initially thought Roberts chose his victims at random, but evidence is mounting that the 32-year-old deliberately targeted the Amish schoolgirls. “I’m sure he knew the girls,” said Stephen Sipos, who lives across the road from the Roberts family. “The milk drivers were always joking around with the kids.”
Among the 10 girls Roberts seized in a planned assault a few hours after he finished work was Marian Fisher, 13, and her 11-year-old sister Barbie, both of whom bravely offered to die in exchange for the lives of the others. A third Fisher sister escaped; neighbours confirmed the Fisher farm was a regular stop on Roberts’s milk route.
As the Amish sought seclusion after the agonies of a public ordeal, there were no easy answers to awkward questions about what provoked Monday’s mayhem, and whether something happened on Roberts’s rounds to propel him to murder the girls.
There were also fears among criminal experts that respect for Amish traditions and the reluctance of Pennsylvania police to intrude may hamper a promised investigation into the motives of a mild-mannered milkman who turned out to be seething with maniacal rage.
After a few hours’ sleep last Monday, Roberts was up at 7.30am helping his wife Marie get their children Abigail, seven, and Bryson, five, ready for school. The couple also had an 18-month-old baby, Carson.
At 8.45am the couple walked the children to their yellow school bus. Paula Derby, a neighbour, said it was unusual to see Roberts on a Monday because he often worked an early shift collecting the weekend milk.
She smiled when Roberts hugged and kissed his children and told them: “Remember, Daddy loves you.” It was a touching gesture from a man whose friends would later describe as a devoted father and husband.
Roberts was due to have a random drug test required by his employer, Northwest Foods. Yet after his wife left for a prayer meeting, he drove to a hardware store and bought steel bolts, plastic ties and wooden planks.
By the time he reached the Amish school in White Oak Road about a mile from his home it was 10am and he was carrying a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a 300,000-volt stun gun, two shotguns, 600 rounds of ammunition and an assortment of chains and restraining devices.
Police later discovered that he had also brought lavatory paper, a change of clothes and two tubes of the sexual lubricant K-Y Jelly. The only possible conclusion, said Commander Jeffrey Miller of the Pennsylvania state police, was that he intended to “dig in for a long siege”. Police also think he may have been planning to abuse the girls sexually.
There were four adults and 26 children aged between six and 13 in the one-room schoolhouse when Roberts arrived. Beneath the blackboard hung a small sign that read “Visitors brighten people’s days”.
Related Links
Amish bury fifth gun victim
Image of the day
Gun control
Two of the adults ran away when Roberts appeared with a gun. There are no telephones in Amish schools so Emma Mae Zook, a 20-year-old teacher, ran across fields to raise the alarm. Emma Fisher, nine, slipped out of the classroom, leaving her two sisters behind.
Roberts ordered the 15 boys and two remaining adults to leave. As soon as they were gone he began hammering planks against the door, barricading himself and 10 girls inside. He ignored Marian’s request that he shoot her first and let the others go. “Shoot me next,” pleaded Barbie.
He was still tying the girls’ feet with wire when the first police arrived at 10.45am. Roberts immediately telephoned his wife to tell her: “I’m not coming home. The police are here.”
As his dumbfounded wife struggled to understand what he was saying, Roberts told her he was filled with guilt and remorse because he had molested two younger relatives 20 years ago. He also told her where to find suicide notes. In one of the notes he said he had never recovered from the death of his daughter, Elise, who was born prematurely in 1997 and lived for only 20 minutes.
“It changed my life forever,” he wrote. “I am filled with so much hate, hate towards myself, hate towards God and unimaginable emptiness.”
Just after 11am Roberts answered a call from police. He warned that he would open fire on the children if they did not back away. The police never had a chance to respond. Within seconds they heard gunfire.
When state troopers smashed through the barricaded door, they found the most harrowing of scenes. Roberts had walked down the line of girls, shooting them in the back of the head. He fired 13 shots from his pistol and four magnum rounds, each containing 12 buckshot pellets, from a shotgun. Then he reloaded the pistol and fired a single shot into his head.
Two girls died at the scene and three more in hospital, among them Marian Fisher. A sixth has been taken off life support and is expected to die at home. Barbie Fisher was badly wounded but is expected to survive. The others are in a critical condition.
America has become used to the dreadful aftermath of school shootings — there were two in Colorado and Wisconsin the week before Roberts’s rampage, and President George W Bush has ordered a summit this week to discuss school safety.
Yet many Americans agreed there was something unfathomably cruel about the assault on a community as peaceful and devout as the Amish. People are no longer surprised about eruptions of violence in inner city ghettos or seething suburbs. But this was Lancaster County, home of the horse-drawn buggy and long-bearded farmers who do not wear wristwatches, let alone carry guns.
In reality the Amish are not nearly as otherworldy as sometimes portrayed. Over the years they have made numerous compromises to accommodate today’s world without abandoning their beliefs that life should not be “easy”, and that modern appliances breed laziness and distance from God.
Ironically it was their success as dairy farmers that produced one of the biggest — and most controversial — compromises. As production soared, dairies demanded the replacement of old-fashioned churns with bulk stainless steel tanks. The Amish agreed to install automatic churners — albeit battery-powered — despite traditionalists’ warnings that opening the doors to modern techniques would invite ruin.
Related Links
Amish bury fifth gun victim
Image of the day
Gun control
Instead the Amish prospered and multiplied — their population has doubled to 180,000 in the past 20 years — but the price they paid was the arrival of outsider dairymen like Roberts.
“The milkman was our contact with the outside world,” said Ruth Garrett, who grew up in an Amish family before being expelled when she fell in love with an outsider.
“He and the (animal) feed man were the people who would come to the farm and the kids would chase them around and you could sit down and ask them what the world outside was like. We were shielded from everything as Amish kids . . . what we knew we learned from the milkman.”
Did Roberts have that kind of relationship with some of the children he killed? Did he give them lollipops and rides in his truck? Did he try to molest one of the girls and become angry when he was rebuffed? These questions have arisen because of what both police and criminal psychologists agree is a mass murderer’s profile that does not yet make sense. Police have investigated Roberts’s claims to have abused two of his relatives when they were four or five years old, and the young women do not remember a thing; nor does any relative believe such abuse occurred.
Psychiatrists acknowledge that the death of his baby may have filled him with anger, but most consider it unlikely he would suddenly explode nine years later without exhibiting any sign of stress.
His cousin, Ben Hildebrand, insisted: “There was not a drop of anger in him.” His wife Marie said in a statement: “The man who did this is not the man I married.”
According to Peter Ash, director of psychiatric services at Emory University, Roberts probably had “a very detailed inner life that simply nobody knew about”.
Some specialists speculated that Roberts may have been molested himself, and that he may have developed fantasies about molesting the Amish girls. In a 1995 study of murder-suicides, Alan Felthous of Southern Illinois University identified a class of “pseudo-commando” killer who may develop a paranoid delusion that a group of people is either “out to get him”, or is secretly taunting him.
Roberts may have fixated on young Amish girls, Felthous said: “It’s conceivable he would direct his hostilities towards them.”
When police revealed Roberts’s relatives were “absolutely sure” they had not been molested by him, Miller, the police commander, said his team would “try to determine what other motive there may have been”.
But other experts said there was little likelihood police would mount an aggressive effort to interview Amish parents about whether their daughters knew Roberts and how he may have behaved towards them.
The murderer is dead and there is no criminal case to prepare. Pennsylvania is immensely protective of the Amish — not least because of the tourism revenues they generate — and is unlikely to countenance further intrusion into a grieving community. It rained heavily in Nickel Mines on Friday. Outside the home of one of the murdered girls, a dozen black buggies were drawn up, signalling that the Amish community was looking after its own. “There is rarely a real inquiry into the motivation of the worst mass shooters,” said Kristin Rand of the Violence Policy Center, which lobbies for gun control. “It is not really a law enforcement function and I doubt we are going to see a proper psychological evaluation.” She paused. “That may be why these things keep happening.”
Amish Forgiveness is Christ-like
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=p_D_Z9bskqM(Transcription of you tube video)
Keith Olbermann:
It was just one of the many extraordinary gestures of forgiveness contained in our number three story in the countdown tonight.
The family of Marian Fisher,
one of the Amish girls killed in a school house on monday,
invited the widow of her killer
to their little girl`s funeral this morning.
That funeral, one of four, on this sad day there,
the fifth is scheduled for tomorrow.
The funeral procession today is simple and humble
from a community
that has met an awful event
with dignity and abiding humanity.
Our correspondend in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania , is Rheema Ellis.
Rehema Ellis:
The horse drawn carriage processions were in step with age old Amish tradition.
First the body of seven year old Naomi Rose Ebersol.
Hours later the body of thirteen year old Marian Fisher.
And late this afternoon the seven year old Lena Miller
and her eight year old sister Mary Liz.
Keeping with tradition the families prepared the bodies.
The young victims clothed in white dresses,
handmade by their mothers.
The services are plain and private.
There is a short sermon and scripture is read.
There is no eulogy.
Just respect for the life.
But not praise.
They reserve that for god.
Kevin King:
There will be ah
Words of comfort.
Read from the bible.
From the german bible.
Ähm
It will be a solemn time.
It will be a time of we´re coming together once again
And just being together.
Ah-Crying on each others shoulders.
Rehema Ellis:
While the non-Amish community was not part of the processions
Many are showing support in other ways.
Much of it in the form of money.
More than 500.000 dollars has been donated to charities
set up for the Amish,
something they are unaccustomed to accepting.
Kevin King:
Far and wide the churches are bringing meals.
We are hearing of co-operations and companies providing food.
They said to me:
you know,
we could handle this on our own.
But- that would not be Christ-like.
Why should we stop people from being a blessing to us?
Rehema Ellis:
And although the Amish recognise the community outpouring as a blessing
What´s needed most now, they said,
are prayers.
Tonight four other girls remain hospitalised,
another student reportedly has been taken off life support.
There is another funeral tomorrow.
But members of this Amish community fear
it may not be the last.
Keith-
Keith Olbermann:
Rehema Ellis
Great
Thanks
Charles Carl Roberts IV
Charles Carl Roberts IV was married with three children and drove a milk truck. The son of a police officer, he didn't attend public schools, instead earning a diploma through a home-school association. The employee of Northwest Food Products Transportation in East Earl Township shared a vinyl-sided mobile home at 1084 Georgetown Road, Bart Township, with his wife of nine years and three children. Roberts married Marie Lynn Welk Nov. 9, 1996, at Highview Church of God in Ronks.
Paradise
Paradise, Pennsylvania has a population of just over 1000 people, and is a popular site for tourists. Paradise was the setting for the comedy movie, "Trapped in Paradise." The small Amish town of Paradise is known for numerous shops, as well as the National Christmas Center Museum, and Cherry Crest Adventure Farm.
Girls Killed
Marian Fisher, 13; Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12; Naomi Rose Ebersol, 7, and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7
Charles Carl Roberts IV was married with three children and drove a milk truck. The son of a police officer, he didn't attend public schools, instead earning a diploma through a home-school association. The employee of Northwest Food Products Transportation in East Earl Township shared a vinyl-sided mobile home at 1084 Georgetown Road, Bart Township, with his wife of nine years and three children. Roberts married Marie Lynn Welk Nov. 9, 1996, at Highview Church of God in Ronks.
Paradise
Paradise, Pennsylvania has a population of just over 1000 people, and is a popular site for tourists. Paradise was the setting for the comedy movie, "Trapped in Paradise." The small Amish town of Paradise is known for numerous shops, as well as the National Christmas Center Museum, and Cherry Crest Adventure Farm.
Girls Killed
Marian Fisher, 13; Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12; Naomi Rose Ebersol, 7, and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
research -22/10/08 by Amy
a useful video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkNeRzCnne4&feature=related
The Town Of Paradise
The Town Of Paradise
- population in June 2007=1086
- 51% female, 49% Male
- median resident age = 37.2
- 96.6% white, 1.8% black, 1.1% Hispanic
- cost of living is 92.2 (USA is 100)
- population density is 959 people per square mile (below USA average)
- most common industry for men there is construction (23%), and for women is accommodation and food industry (24%)
- 10 schools in paradise, 3 of them amish. most students in one school is 129, lowest is 24
- aged between 6-13
- 5 killed, others were bound and some critically injured
- 26 students in the school, 11 of them girls
- the 5 killed were Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7; Anna Mae Stoltzfus,12; Marian Fisher, 13; Mary Liz Miller, 8 and her sister Lena Miller, 7.
- the day after another 6 year old was in critical condition and a 13 year old had been upgraded from critical to serious condition.
- he worked driving a commercial milk truck and collecting milk from Amish farms
- he was not Amish himself
- No criminal record
- had 3 children
- was aged 32
- when wife called him after finding the suicide notes, and just before the shooting, he told her "that he was acting out to achieve revenge for something that happened 20 years ago".
- it was later revealed that in the note to his wife he had admitted molesting two of their relatives that had been aged 3 and 5 at the time, and he had felt the need to do it again.
- people believe that he went to the school with the aim to molest the girls he held hostage, as KY jelly, a lubricant, was found in the back of his van.
- before making his way to the school, he finished his shift at 3am and had taken his 3 children to go and catch their school bus
- at the school he instructed the 15 boys and the 3 adults to leave
- there was no proof that he chose the school because it was Amish, people believe that it was just because there was little security there.
- he shot his victims and as the police were climbing through the window, he shot himself.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Research Tasks
Please could you find out more about:
1. The town of Paradise
2. The ten girls in the class room
3. The man - Charles Carl Roberts IV
4. Pennsylvania Dutch - translate text?
... and post it to the blog before next week's session
Thanks
Michael
1. The town of Paradise
2. The ten girls in the class room
3. The man - Charles Carl Roberts IV
4. Pennsylvania Dutch - translate text?
... and post it to the blog before next week's session
Thanks
Michael
Sunday, 19 October 2008
Here is some research I found out the Amish Community.
By
Sian Gunn...
The Amish Community
Background
Today there are over 25 different Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren church groups in Lancaster County, all holding to slightly different traditions and their own interpretations of the Bible.
These people trace their heritage back hundreds of years, and yet, despite all the time that has passed and the many changes that have taken place in society, they still live and work much as their forefathers did. Their families and their farms are their top priorities, second only to God.
The Amish are very devout in their faith. They believe in the literal interpretation and application of Scripture as the Word of God. They take seriously the Biblical commands to separate themselves from the things of the world. They believe worldliness can keep them from being close to God, and can introduce influences that could be destructive to their communities and to their way of life.
These traditional groups wear plain clothing styles, which has earned them the name "Plain People". It is the simple, peaceful lifestyle of these plain people that attracts such a curiosity today. Many wonder how these people can survive in their supposedly backward ways.
The Amish are generally private people and often find all the attention and curiosity about their lifestyle disturbing. They believe that the taking of photographs where someone is recognizable is forbidden by the Biblical prohibition against making any 'graven image'.
Clothing
Girls: Modest dresses made from solid coloured fabric with long sleeves and a full skirt, covered with a cape and an apron.
Girls never cut their hair and will wear it tied back in a bun.
Boys: Dark coloured suits, straight coats, solid coloured shirts and black socks, shoes and hats. (Within church groups, one's age and status is often reflected by the dimensions of one's hat)
Boys do not grow moustaches, but will grow a beard once married. – “An Amish man does not shave his beard after he becomes married; a long beard is the mark of an adult Amish man. Moustaches, on the other hand, have a long history of being associated with the military, and therefore are forbidden among the Amish people."”
The Amish feel these distinctive clothes encourage humility and separation from the world. Their clothing is not a costume; it is an expression of their faith.
Facts about the Amish people
Amish people do not use Electricity - "Amish people interpret linking with electrical wires as a connection with the world - and the Bible tells them they are not to be "conformed to the world." (Romans 12:2) In 1919 the Amish leaders agreed that connecting to power lines would not be in the best interest of the Amish community. They did not make this decision because they thought electricity was evil in itself, but because easy access to it could lead to many temptations and the deterioration of church and family life.
Amish people speak a form of German dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch – the children are taught English and the German language “Deitch” in Amish schools
Amish people celebrate the religious holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, and Whit Monday (the day after Pentecost).
The Amish funeral and burial service takes place three days after death and is very simple - A plain wooden coffin is built. Often it is six-sided with a split lie - the upper part is hinged so it can be opened for viewing the body.
The tone of the two-hour Amish funeral service is hopeful, yet full of admonition for the living. There are no eulogies. Respect for the deceased is expressed, but not praise. A hymn is spoken but not sung. There are no flowers. The grave is hand dug in an Amish church district cemetery. There will be only a simple tombstone to mark the spot, much like all the other tombstones in the cemetery - in death as in life, we are all equal and do not elevate one person above another."
Girl’s dolls do not have faces - "The understanding is that years ago, most of the dolls for little girls were rag dolls without faces. The Amish have retained this custom. We believe the reason is similar to the refusal to have pictures of people and is linked to the second commandment. (Exodus 20:4-6) At an early age children are learning not to have images, likenesses, and idols.”
Musical instruments are forbidden – Playing an instrument would be ‘worldly’
______________________________________________________________
All my information was taken from a very informative website that claims to have close contact with Amish people – however I found that the information was quite contradictory. They claim they want to stay as far away as possible from our fast moving modern society, but they allow this website and on which they actually advertise tourist attractions within the Amish villages.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center Website
www.800padutch.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tragic Shooting at an Amish School
October 2nd, 2006. It was a typical fall day. Birds could be heard in the distance and little else, except maybe the clip-clop of a horse's hoofs and the rattling of a buggy heading down a back country road. It's normally quiet and peaceful in the rolling Amish farmlands of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. But that peace was shattered when the sound of gunfire was heard from inside an Amish school. When local police broke into the one-room Amish schoolhouse they found 10 Amish girls ages 6-13 had been shot by Charles Carl Roberts IV, who had then committed suicide. School shootings are a far too frequent occurrence in this country. But this case openly displayed a clash of two different cultures - the modern, more "advanced" American society and the withdrawn community of the Amish, who intentionally attempt to distance themselves from worldly influences. The violence that is far too common in one society blasted its way into the non-violent, peaceful community of "the gentle people".The shooting took place at the West Nickel Mines Amish School, located about 12 miles southeast of Lancaster City. Nickel Mines is just a crossroads within Bart Township, a local municipality with a population of roughly 3,000 Amish and English (the Amish term for the non-Amish). The school was a typical Amish one-room school with a school bell on the roof, two outhouses, a ball field, and an enclosed schoolyard. It was built in 1976. On the blackboard was a sign with a teddy bear. The sign read "Visitors Bubble Up Our Days". Twenty-six children, ages 6-13, from three different local Amish church districts attended this school. Charlie Roberts was a milk truck driver who serviced the local community, including the farms of some of the victims' families. Nine years earlier his wife Amy gave birth to their first child, a baby girl. However, the baby died after living only 20 minutes. Apparently his daughter's death affected him greatly. He never forgave God for her death, and eventually planned to get revenge. On the morning of October 2nd Roberts said goodbye to two of his own children at the school bus stop, then drove to the West Nickel Mines Amish School. When he walked in the door, some of the children recognized him. That day the school had four adult visitors - the teacher's mother, her sister, and two sisters-in-law. One of the women was pregnant. When the young teacher saw his guns, she and her mother left the other adults with the children and ran to a nearby house for help. A call was made to 911. The pregnant visitor was trying to comfort 7-year old Naomi Rose when Roberts ordered the adults to leave. Then he told the boys to leave. The boys huddled near an outhouse to pray. Roberts had the 10 girls lie down facing the blackboard and he tied their hands and feet. Roberts told the girls he was sorry for what he was about to do, but "I'm angry at God and I need to punish some Christian girls to get even with him." When the state police arrived, Roberts ordered them to leave the property or he would shoot. He told the girls, "I'm going to make you pay for my daughter." One of the girls, 13-year old Marian, said, "Shoot me first." Roberts began shooting each of the girls before finally shooting himself. When the police broke in to the school, two of the girls, including Marian, were dead. Naomi Rose died in the arms of a state trooper. Emergency personnel arrived quickly, and helicopters flew the wounded to hospitals in Lancaster, Hershey, Reading, and Delaware. Two sisters died later that night in two different area hospitals. Amish parents tried to console themselves by saying the five girls who had died were "safe in the arms of Jesus." Word about the shooting spread quickly throughout the Amish community. The shooting was reported on local television stations, and was soon picked up by the national media. Reporters, photographers, and video crews invaded this rural countryside to report this story around the world. While the Amish community strives to avoid publicity, this tragic event thrust their community in front of a worldwide audience.The Amish were obviously shocked by this incident and they collectively grieved for the children and their families. But that shock extended far beyond just the Amish. This tragedy rocked all of Lancaster County. The day after the shooting, 1600 gathered for a prayer service at one local church, while hundreds more met at other churches for prayer. All Lancaster County shared in the horror and grief of this tragedy. As one Amishman said, "Today, we're all Amish." Some individuals and organizations hosted barbecues and other events to raise financial support for the victims' funds. Over 3,000 motorcyclists rode together from nearby Chester County to Lancaster in a procession over 12 miles long. They raised over $30,000 in support. A number of funds were set up to accept donations for the families of the Amish girls who were shot, and for Roberts' wife and three young children. Donations and sympathy flowed in not only from Lancaster County but from across the county and around the world. For months volunteers met at the Bart Twp. Firehouse to sort through thousands of cards, letters, teddy bears, and other gifts from around the world. Some were addressed simply to "Amish Families, USA". In all, over four million dollars was raised in support of the families.The horror of this school shooting was the story the reporters came to tell about. However, in the hours and days following the shooting another story developed that also caught the world's attention - the story of Amish forgiveness.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center Website
www.800padutch.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Amish School Victims
and the Aftermath of the Tragedy
Those who died from the Amish School shooting on Oct. 2, 2006 include:
Naomi Rose Ebersole (7 years old)Anna Mae Stoltzfus (12)Marian Fisher (13)Mary Liz Miller (8)Mary's sister Lena Miller (7)
Five other children, including Anna Mae Stoltzfus' sister, were hospitalized. (Eleven months later, one of them is still semi-comatose.)Also dead is the killer, Charles Carl Roberts IV.
The following information is provided for those who wish to send letters of condolences or who wish to donate funds to support the families of the victims, including the Roberts family: Cards and letters of condolences can be sent to Bart Twp. Fire Company, P.O. Box 72, 11 Furnace Road, Bart, PA 17503.Donations for the Nickel Mines Children's Funds and the Roberts Family Fund can be sent to Coatesville Savings Bank, 1082 Georgetown Road, Paradise, PA 17562. The Nickel Mines School Victims Fund has been established by Hometown Heritage Bank. Contributions can be sent to the bank at 100 Historic Drive, P.O. Box 337, Strasburg, PA 17579. Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Disaster Service has established the Amish School Recovery Fund to help the Amish community with medical care, transportation, and support. Donations can be made by calling MCC at 717-859-1151 or MDS at 717-859-2210. You can donate online at mcc.org or mds.mennonite.net or mail to Mennonite Central Committee, 21 S. 12th St., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA 17501 or Mennonite Disaster Service, 1018 Main St., Akron, PA 17501.
The West Nickel Mines Amish school building has been torn down. At 4:30 am on October 12, while about 25 Amish and others watched, wrecking crews tore down and hauled away the Amish school where the girls were shot. Also torn down were the outhouses, the fence, and the baseball backstop. Originally built in 1976, the site of the West Nickel Mines School is now just an open field. "It was something we had to do," an Amishman said. A new Amish school was later built at a different location.
On October 13, 2006 the family of Charles Roberts released the following statement thanking their Amish neighbors and the Lancaster community:From the Roberts family:To our Amish friends, neighbors, and local community:Our family wants each of you to know that we are overwhelmed by the forgiveness, grace, and mercy that you’ve extended to us. Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. The prayers, flowers, cards, and gifts you’ve given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you.Please know that our hearts have been broken by all that has happened. We are filled with sorrow for all of our Amish neighbors whom we have loved and continue to love. We know that there are many hard days ahead for all the families who lost loved ones, and so we will continue to put our hope and trust in the God of all comfort, as we all seek to rebuild our lives.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center Website
www.800padutch.com
By
Sian Gunn...
The Amish Community
Background
Today there are over 25 different Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren church groups in Lancaster County, all holding to slightly different traditions and their own interpretations of the Bible.
These people trace their heritage back hundreds of years, and yet, despite all the time that has passed and the many changes that have taken place in society, they still live and work much as their forefathers did. Their families and their farms are their top priorities, second only to God.
The Amish are very devout in their faith. They believe in the literal interpretation and application of Scripture as the Word of God. They take seriously the Biblical commands to separate themselves from the things of the world. They believe worldliness can keep them from being close to God, and can introduce influences that could be destructive to their communities and to their way of life.
These traditional groups wear plain clothing styles, which has earned them the name "Plain People". It is the simple, peaceful lifestyle of these plain people that attracts such a curiosity today. Many wonder how these people can survive in their supposedly backward ways.
The Amish are generally private people and often find all the attention and curiosity about their lifestyle disturbing. They believe that the taking of photographs where someone is recognizable is forbidden by the Biblical prohibition against making any 'graven image'.
Clothing
Girls: Modest dresses made from solid coloured fabric with long sleeves and a full skirt, covered with a cape and an apron.
Girls never cut their hair and will wear it tied back in a bun.
Boys: Dark coloured suits, straight coats, solid coloured shirts and black socks, shoes and hats. (Within church groups, one's age and status is often reflected by the dimensions of one's hat)
Boys do not grow moustaches, but will grow a beard once married. – “An Amish man does not shave his beard after he becomes married; a long beard is the mark of an adult Amish man. Moustaches, on the other hand, have a long history of being associated with the military, and therefore are forbidden among the Amish people."”
The Amish feel these distinctive clothes encourage humility and separation from the world. Their clothing is not a costume; it is an expression of their faith.
Facts about the Amish people
Amish people do not use Electricity - "Amish people interpret linking with electrical wires as a connection with the world - and the Bible tells them they are not to be "conformed to the world." (Romans 12:2) In 1919 the Amish leaders agreed that connecting to power lines would not be in the best interest of the Amish community. They did not make this decision because they thought electricity was evil in itself, but because easy access to it could lead to many temptations and the deterioration of church and family life.
Amish people speak a form of German dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch – the children are taught English and the German language “Deitch” in Amish schools
Amish people celebrate the religious holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, and Whit Monday (the day after Pentecost).
The Amish funeral and burial service takes place three days after death and is very simple - A plain wooden coffin is built. Often it is six-sided with a split lie - the upper part is hinged so it can be opened for viewing the body.
The tone of the two-hour Amish funeral service is hopeful, yet full of admonition for the living. There are no eulogies. Respect for the deceased is expressed, but not praise. A hymn is spoken but not sung. There are no flowers. The grave is hand dug in an Amish church district cemetery. There will be only a simple tombstone to mark the spot, much like all the other tombstones in the cemetery - in death as in life, we are all equal and do not elevate one person above another."
Girl’s dolls do not have faces - "The understanding is that years ago, most of the dolls for little girls were rag dolls without faces. The Amish have retained this custom. We believe the reason is similar to the refusal to have pictures of people and is linked to the second commandment. (Exodus 20:4-6) At an early age children are learning not to have images, likenesses, and idols.”
Musical instruments are forbidden – Playing an instrument would be ‘worldly’
______________________________________________________________
All my information was taken from a very informative website that claims to have close contact with Amish people – however I found that the information was quite contradictory. They claim they want to stay as far away as possible from our fast moving modern society, but they allow this website and on which they actually advertise tourist attractions within the Amish villages.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center Website
www.800padutch.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tragic Shooting at an Amish School
October 2nd, 2006. It was a typical fall day. Birds could be heard in the distance and little else, except maybe the clip-clop of a horse's hoofs and the rattling of a buggy heading down a back country road. It's normally quiet and peaceful in the rolling Amish farmlands of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. But that peace was shattered when the sound of gunfire was heard from inside an Amish school. When local police broke into the one-room Amish schoolhouse they found 10 Amish girls ages 6-13 had been shot by Charles Carl Roberts IV, who had then committed suicide. School shootings are a far too frequent occurrence in this country. But this case openly displayed a clash of two different cultures - the modern, more "advanced" American society and the withdrawn community of the Amish, who intentionally attempt to distance themselves from worldly influences. The violence that is far too common in one society blasted its way into the non-violent, peaceful community of "the gentle people".The shooting took place at the West Nickel Mines Amish School, located about 12 miles southeast of Lancaster City. Nickel Mines is just a crossroads within Bart Township, a local municipality with a population of roughly 3,000 Amish and English (the Amish term for the non-Amish). The school was a typical Amish one-room school with a school bell on the roof, two outhouses, a ball field, and an enclosed schoolyard. It was built in 1976. On the blackboard was a sign with a teddy bear. The sign read "Visitors Bubble Up Our Days". Twenty-six children, ages 6-13, from three different local Amish church districts attended this school. Charlie Roberts was a milk truck driver who serviced the local community, including the farms of some of the victims' families. Nine years earlier his wife Amy gave birth to their first child, a baby girl. However, the baby died after living only 20 minutes. Apparently his daughter's death affected him greatly. He never forgave God for her death, and eventually planned to get revenge. On the morning of October 2nd Roberts said goodbye to two of his own children at the school bus stop, then drove to the West Nickel Mines Amish School. When he walked in the door, some of the children recognized him. That day the school had four adult visitors - the teacher's mother, her sister, and two sisters-in-law. One of the women was pregnant. When the young teacher saw his guns, she and her mother left the other adults with the children and ran to a nearby house for help. A call was made to 911. The pregnant visitor was trying to comfort 7-year old Naomi Rose when Roberts ordered the adults to leave. Then he told the boys to leave. The boys huddled near an outhouse to pray. Roberts had the 10 girls lie down facing the blackboard and he tied their hands and feet. Roberts told the girls he was sorry for what he was about to do, but "I'm angry at God and I need to punish some Christian girls to get even with him." When the state police arrived, Roberts ordered them to leave the property or he would shoot. He told the girls, "I'm going to make you pay for my daughter." One of the girls, 13-year old Marian, said, "Shoot me first." Roberts began shooting each of the girls before finally shooting himself. When the police broke in to the school, two of the girls, including Marian, were dead. Naomi Rose died in the arms of a state trooper. Emergency personnel arrived quickly, and helicopters flew the wounded to hospitals in Lancaster, Hershey, Reading, and Delaware. Two sisters died later that night in two different area hospitals. Amish parents tried to console themselves by saying the five girls who had died were "safe in the arms of Jesus." Word about the shooting spread quickly throughout the Amish community. The shooting was reported on local television stations, and was soon picked up by the national media. Reporters, photographers, and video crews invaded this rural countryside to report this story around the world. While the Amish community strives to avoid publicity, this tragic event thrust their community in front of a worldwide audience.The Amish were obviously shocked by this incident and they collectively grieved for the children and their families. But that shock extended far beyond just the Amish. This tragedy rocked all of Lancaster County. The day after the shooting, 1600 gathered for a prayer service at one local church, while hundreds more met at other churches for prayer. All Lancaster County shared in the horror and grief of this tragedy. As one Amishman said, "Today, we're all Amish." Some individuals and organizations hosted barbecues and other events to raise financial support for the victims' funds. Over 3,000 motorcyclists rode together from nearby Chester County to Lancaster in a procession over 12 miles long. They raised over $30,000 in support. A number of funds were set up to accept donations for the families of the Amish girls who were shot, and for Roberts' wife and three young children. Donations and sympathy flowed in not only from Lancaster County but from across the county and around the world. For months volunteers met at the Bart Twp. Firehouse to sort through thousands of cards, letters, teddy bears, and other gifts from around the world. Some were addressed simply to "Amish Families, USA". In all, over four million dollars was raised in support of the families.The horror of this school shooting was the story the reporters came to tell about. However, in the hours and days following the shooting another story developed that also caught the world's attention - the story of Amish forgiveness.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center Website
www.800padutch.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Amish School Victims
and the Aftermath of the Tragedy
Those who died from the Amish School shooting on Oct. 2, 2006 include:
Naomi Rose Ebersole (7 years old)Anna Mae Stoltzfus (12)Marian Fisher (13)Mary Liz Miller (8)Mary's sister Lena Miller (7)
Five other children, including Anna Mae Stoltzfus' sister, were hospitalized. (Eleven months later, one of them is still semi-comatose.)Also dead is the killer, Charles Carl Roberts IV.
The following information is provided for those who wish to send letters of condolences or who wish to donate funds to support the families of the victims, including the Roberts family: Cards and letters of condolences can be sent to Bart Twp. Fire Company, P.O. Box 72, 11 Furnace Road, Bart, PA 17503.Donations for the Nickel Mines Children's Funds and the Roberts Family Fund can be sent to Coatesville Savings Bank, 1082 Georgetown Road, Paradise, PA 17562. The Nickel Mines School Victims Fund has been established by Hometown Heritage Bank. Contributions can be sent to the bank at 100 Historic Drive, P.O. Box 337, Strasburg, PA 17579. Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Disaster Service has established the Amish School Recovery Fund to help the Amish community with medical care, transportation, and support. Donations can be made by calling MCC at 717-859-1151 or MDS at 717-859-2210. You can donate online at mcc.org or mds.mennonite.net or mail to Mennonite Central Committee, 21 S. 12th St., P.O. Box 500, Akron, PA 17501 or Mennonite Disaster Service, 1018 Main St., Akron, PA 17501.
The West Nickel Mines Amish school building has been torn down. At 4:30 am on October 12, while about 25 Amish and others watched, wrecking crews tore down and hauled away the Amish school where the girls were shot. Also torn down were the outhouses, the fence, and the baseball backstop. Originally built in 1976, the site of the West Nickel Mines School is now just an open field. "It was something we had to do," an Amishman said. A new Amish school was later built at a different location.
On October 13, 2006 the family of Charles Roberts released the following statement thanking their Amish neighbors and the Lancaster community:From the Roberts family:To our Amish friends, neighbors, and local community:Our family wants each of you to know that we are overwhelmed by the forgiveness, grace, and mercy that you’ve extended to us. Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. The prayers, flowers, cards, and gifts you’ve given have touched our hearts in a way no words can describe. Your compassion has reached beyond our family, beyond our community, and is changing our world, and for this we sincerely thank you.Please know that our hearts have been broken by all that has happened. We are filled with sorrow for all of our Amish neighbors whom we have loved and continue to love. We know that there are many hard days ahead for all the families who lost loved ones, and so we will continue to put our hope and trust in the God of all comfort, as we all seek to rebuild our lives.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center Website
www.800padutch.com
Amish Forgiveness
In just about any other community, a deadly school shooting would have brought demands from civic leaders for tighter gun laws and better security, and the victims' loved ones would have lashed out at the gunman's family or threatened to sue.
But that's not the Amish way.
As they struggle with the slayings of five of their children in a one-room schoolhouse, the Amish in this Lancaster County village are turning the other cheek, urging forgiveness of the killer and quietly accepting what comes their way as God's will.
The hurt is very great, But they don't balance the hurt with hate.
The Amish have also been reaching out to the family of the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, who committed suicide during the attack.
"The Amish neighbor came that very night, around 9 o'clock in the evening, and offered forgiveness to the family," Dwight Lefever, a Roberts family spokesman, said "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 Roberts.
Huntington, the authority on the Amish, predicted they will be very supportive of the killer and his wife, "because judgment is in God's hands: `Judge not, that ye be not judged.'"
But that's not the Amish way.
As they struggle with the slayings of five of their children in a one-room schoolhouse, the Amish in this Lancaster County village are turning the other cheek, urging forgiveness of the killer and quietly accepting what comes their way as God's will.
The hurt is very great, But they don't balance the hurt with hate.
The Amish have also been reaching out to the family of the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, who committed suicide during the attack.
"The Amish neighbor came that very night, around 9 o'clock in the evening, and offered forgiveness to the family," Dwight Lefever, a Roberts family spokesman, said "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 Roberts.
Huntington, the authority on the Amish, predicted they will be very supportive of the killer and his wife, "because judgment is in God's hands: `Judge not, that ye be not judged.'"
Friday, 17 October 2008
A few facts about gun crime in America
here are a few facts that i found on the internet that i thought might help us in two main reasons....firstly, they helped me put it into perspective and realise what a huge issue it is in the USA....also they might help us to create our final piece. here are the 5 best ones i found anyway.
Amy x
1. In the USA there are 200 million guns circulating....the population of the country is 300 million.
2. 1 child every 3 hours is killed by gun crime.
3. In one year, firearms killed 0 children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France and 5285 in USA.
4. 253 deaths occured in schools between 1994 and 1999 - 74.5% of which involved firearms.
5. in 1998, 3523 students were expelled for bringing firearms into school.
Amy x
1. In the USA there are 200 million guns circulating....the population of the country is 300 million.
2. 1 child every 3 hours is killed by gun crime.
3. In one year, firearms killed 0 children in Japan, 19 in Great Britain, 57 in Germany, 109 in France and 5285 in USA.
4. 253 deaths occured in schools between 1994 and 1999 - 74.5% of which involved firearms.
5. in 1998, 3523 students were expelled for bringing firearms into school.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Week 1: Research Tasks
Conduct some individual research into one of the following.
Films we might want to see:
Michael Moore - Bowling for Columbine
Gus Van Sant - Elephant
Peter Weir - Witness
Please add to the list if possible. Thanks.
- Paradise (BBC Article)
- The Amish community
- Gun crime in US schools
Films we might want to see:
Michael Moore - Bowling for Columbine
Gus Van Sant - Elephant
Peter Weir - Witness
Please add to the list if possible. Thanks.
Stimulus
Fatal shooting at US Amish school
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Scene of shootingsThe gunman entered the class and ordered all the boys and some adults to leave. He then tied up the girls and began shooting them in the head.
Police named the killer as 32-year-old truck driver Charles Carl Roberts IV. He is not Amish himself.
The attack is the third shooting at a US school in the past week.
In the latest shooting, the gunman was said to be heavily armed and seemed prepared for a long siege.
He lined up the girls in front of the blackboard, tying their feet using wire or plastic cuffs.
"It appears that when he began shooting these victims, the victims were shot execution style in the head," said Pennsylvania police commissioner Col Jeffrey Miller.
The attack happened at a one-room school for Amish children aged six to 13 in the village of Paradise near Nickel Mines in Lancaster County.
The Amish are the Anabaptist Christian descendants of German settlers who reject many types of modern technology in their effort to lead a life true to holy scriptures.
They restrict the use of cars, telephones and television to varying degrees.
Col Jeffrey B Miller said the gunman entered Georgetown School in the morning, armed with an automatic handgun and shotgun.
He told the boys to leave, along with a pregnant woman and three women who had young infants with them.
He then tied up the girls and barricaded the doors with large pieces of wood.
Police arrived at the scene at about 1045 (1445 GMT) and set up a cordon around the school, Col Miller said.
The officers tried hailing the gunman on their car loudspeakers, but were unable to make contact, he said.
The Associated Press news agency quotes Col Miller as saying a person who visited the school passed on a warning from the gunman that he would open fire unless the police withdrew.
As the message was going through shots fired in rapid succession were heard, Col Miller said.
Police stormed the building, breaking the windows to enter. But by the time they got there three girls and the gunman were dead. A fourth girl later died in hospital.
Seven people were found injured, at least three of whom were shot in the head.
'Normal behaviour'
Roberts was a local milk tanker driver who often picked up milk from Amish farms in the area.
A father of three, he had worked his night shift as usual on Sunday night, finishing at 0300 on Monday.
FACTS ABOUT THE AMISH Anabaptist Christian denomination Communities in the US and Canada Many communities reject links to outside world Most Amish shun modern technology including electricity and cars Plain clothing - no buttons allowed in some communities Speak English and a German dialect called Pennsylvania Dutch
His wife said he had seemed perfectly normal as he walked his children to the school bus at 0845, as he did every day.
However, when his wife returned to the family home around mid-morning she discovered suicide notes that he had written to each of his children.
The police said there were indications that he was motivated by an incident that happened some 20 years ago.
It is not thought that Roberts had anything against the Amish community but chose the school because it was close by and had young girls.
In a separate incident, two Las Vegas schools, one high school and one elementary school, were temporarily locked down while police hunted for a teenager spotted carrying a gun on the high school campus.
These latest incidents come at the end of a week of gun-related violence in US schools.
Last Wednesday a 16-year-old girl died when an armed man, who also killed himself, took six students hostage at a Colorado high school.
And on Friday, a head teacher at a high school in Wisconsin was killed when he confronted an armed 15-year-old student as he entered the school.Introduction
Paradise Lost is a performance installation site-specific to a school hall space inspired by a fatal shooting in a school in the town of Paradise, Pennsylvania, USA in 2006. Mixing live and recorded action with music, movement and text, a group of performers will create and re-create a forensic re-enactment of this real-life event in which four school children were killed. The performance will take the form of a line of enquiry into notions of faith, religion and (in)fidelity. The research will cut across verbatim accounts of the incident, the belief system of the Amish community and an in depth investigation into what makes a man kill others and then himself.
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