Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy

by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, David L. Weaver-Zercher Narrated by Paul Michael Garcia

Overview

On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts prepared to shoot them execution style with an automatic rifle and four hundred rounds of ammunition. The oldest hostage, a thirteen-year-old, begged Roberts to “shoot me first and let the little ones go.” Refusing her offer, he opened fire on all of them, killing five and leaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself as police stormed the building. His motivation? “I'm angry at God for taking my little daughter,” he told the children before the massacre.

The Amish community's remarkable response*to this horrific shooting stunned the larger world.*Amish Grace*tells the incredible story of this community's reaction to the senseless crime and explores its profoundly countercultural practice of forgiveness.

Outsiders often hold a stereotypical view of the Amish as a stubbornly backwards people-a view rooted in the picturesque images of buggies, beards, and bonnets. But the community's collective and radical act of forgiveness-the loving and compassionate response to the shooter and his family-gives us insights into who the Amish truly are and how they live their faith. In a world where religion spawns so much violence and vengeance, the surprising act of Amish forgiveness begs for deeper consideration.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

When a gunman killed five Amish children and injured five others last fall in a Nickel Mines, Pa., schoolhouse, media attention rapidly turned from the tragic events to the extraordinary forgiveness demonstrated by the Amish community. The authors, who teach at small colleges with Anabaptist roots and have published books on the Amish, were contacted repeatedly by the media after the shootings to interpret this subculture. In response to the questions "why-and how-did they forgive?" Kraybill and his colleagues present a compelling study of "Amish grace." After describing the heartbreaking attack and its aftermath, the authors establish that forgiveness is embedded in Amish society through five centuries of Anabaptist tradition, and grounded in the firm belief that forgiveness is required by the New Testament. The community's acts of forgiveness were not isolated decisions by saintly individuals but hard-won "countercultural" practices supported by all aspects of Amish life. Common objections to Amish forgiveness are addressed in a chapter entitled, "What About Shunning?" The authors carefully distinguish between forgiveness, pardon and reconciliation, as well as analyzethe complexities of mainstream America's response and the extent to which the Amish example can be applied elsewhere. This intelligent, compassionate and hopeful book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on forgiveness. (Sept. 21)

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Library Journal

Kraybill (senior fellow, Young Ctr. of Elizabethtown Coll.), Steven M. Nolt (history, Goshen Coll.), and David L. Weaver-Zercher (American religious history, Messiah Coll.) have each authored or edited numerous works on the Amish. Here, they explain the Amish community's reaction to the Nickel Mines, PA, murder of five of its schoolchildren, especially its forgiveness of the killer and expressions of grace toward his family. While the reader will gain important glimpses into the grit and grime of daily Amish life, broader understanding of Amish practices of forgiveness will enable reflection on the meaning and value of it. Those familiar with Joe Mackall's Plain Secrets: An Outsider Among the Amish, the 2005 documentary The Amish: How They Survive, or John L. Ruth's Forgiveness: A Legacy of the West Nickel Mines Amish Schoolwill appreciate this balanced presentation, which blends history, current evaluation of American society, and an examination of what builds community into a seamless story that details the shootings while it probes the religious beliefs that led to such quick forgiving. Recommended as an essential title for current affairs and religion collections; also recommended for public libraries wanting to offer general readers with an interest in history and crime a work that nourishes both mind and soul.
—Leroy Hommerding

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169550795
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	04/01/2008
Edition description:	Unabridged

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