From Instead of War.org
I’m not sure who originally wrote this, but I thought it seemed worth passing along….bill

I’ve been thinking all day about the tragedy this week at the Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania. If the Amish had responded as we Americans did after September 11, they would have immediately burned down the killer’s home. If his wife and children were still inside, too bad — that’s what happens in war. Then they would have marched downtown and burned the hardware store where he bought supplies for his deadly rampage. And the diner where he occasionally ate breakfast. If nearby buildings caught fire, too bad — that’s what happens in war. Then they would have looked around to see what else they could destroy. The killer worked for a dairy, so they would butcher the cows and salt the pastures. Wasn’t the right dairy? Too bad — according to anonymous experts in undisclosed locations, all dairy farmers hate the Amish way of life…

A Presbyterian pastor visited the home of one of the Amish girls who was killed. He found the mother preparing her daughter’s body for burial. In the background, the girl’s grandfather was reminding the rest of the family about the importance of forgiving her killer. It was a scene that caused the pastor to “lose it” and weep openly. The Amish have established relief efforts to help the families of the girls who were killed and wounded, and to help the family of the man who killed them. Thursday, the long funeral procession of black horse-drawn buggies passed in front of that man’s house. The house is still there…

What would the world think of us now, five years after September 11, if we Americans had been more like the Amish?