Unfortunate

The most erudite and intelligent of my coworkers, a certain Maximus Doom, has the most admirable and well thought out points, especially in his blogs. But I have to respectfully and regrettably disagree with his most recent.

He mentions the recent killings of Amish children, and harkens back to a day when certain things- like the slaughter of the young- was considered off limits and just not done.

As far as I can see there never was a day like that. In the book of Joshua, from the Holy Bible itself, there is a story of how that famous leader of God destroyed armies and everything inside the villages they were protecting, including women and, of course, their children. In medieval times to be at the altar of Christ was considered sacrosanct, a holy pass. Alas, that didn’t help Thomas Beckett, who was killed on the very Altar of Canterbury. There are many more examples of this, too numerous and depressing to go into right now.

So why shouldn’t we all just bow our heads and cry in our beer? Because we are capable of being great, powerful creatures, that can rise above these things clinging to our past. Those very Amish whose children where just senselessly murdered speak of forgiveness for the man who killed them. They are not flying in a rage and taking revenge on the world (at least, not yet). They are quietly praying for strength. Their faith, the same faith that glows with rapture at the gruesome slaying of many a non-Israelite child, has given them a spark of genuine wisdom and mercy that is beyond understanding and beyond price. How do they reconcile their Scriptures? Can they? Are they picking and choosing? I don’t think that matters right now. I think what matters is that unimaginable pain has not broken them.