I COULD NEVER BE AMISH

What is it like to live isolated from modern civilization? Ask the Amish. I imagine undergoing an operation. The surgeon lifts the top of my cranium, and covers my brain with two inches of fiberglass insulation. When it is finished, all I see is people who dress alike and talk alike. All I am able to hear is some kind of indoctrination affirming the values of the simple lifestyle. My avenues for entertainment are limited, and so is my education. I cannot enjoy the technological advances others outside my community take for granted. The newspaper in my community is strictly about what is happening in Amish country. No murders, scandals, or negative news allowed. Forget about world news. I am part of the human race and live on planet Earth, but that is about it. Do not expect me to mingle or contribute to the solution of the world’s problems. The best I can do is staying here in my own little world and not becoming a problem myself.

On my post of October 22, “Having inner peace is not always a good thing,” I explained how many people achieve that state by ignoring the outside world, as if somebody anesthetized them to the existence of evil, injustice, and human suffering. That is my perception of the Amish people. Perhaps I am being too harsh, not having lived among them and, therefore, not having in-depth knowledge of their lifestyle. However, just thinking about living there gives me the impression I would be in a kind of pleasant prison. After years of indoctrination, I guess most young people become accustomed to that way of living, but I wonder about the fate of those who want to explore other options in life.

On Monday October 23, page 27A, the Miami Herald published a column by Newsday columnist James P. Pinkerton. The piece is full of praise for the behavior of the Amish after the school tragedy in which Charles Roberts murdered five of their children and wounded others. According to Mr. Pinkerton, the Amish gave us a good example of carrying out in practice the message of forgiveness we find in the New Testament. He is referring in particular to the family of Marian Fisher, one of the Amish girls murdered, inviting the Roberts family to the girl’s funeral. They mourned together. The girl’s grandfather even told some boys as they were standing next to Marian’s body, “We must not think evil of this man.” Pinkerton says the quote comes from Rev. Robert Schenck who was a witness at the funeral services.

That kind of Amish complacency bothers me. Unless he was insane, how can we not think evil of Charles Roberts? He was the instrument. Evil was there somewhere. We should try to find the reason or reasons he did what he did.

Pinkerton likens the spirit of forgiveness shown by the Amish with the sacrifice and martyrdom of Christians in eras past. What nonsense that is. First, if these poor girls are martyrs, what is the cause for which they died? There is no cause. They died for no good reason whatsoever. A maniac ended their young beautiful and peaceful lives. Second, many Christian martyrs ended up that way because they believed in a false and irrational philosophy, that of loving their enemies and repaying evil with good. If they had put up a good fight, perhaps they would have avoided martyrdom.

The glorification of the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation in this and many other instances is abhorrent to me. Good people always end up mourning and losing. If somebody is insane, then let science fight the evil of insanity until we conquer it if that is possible. If not, let us find ways to detect and put away the crazies before they do mortal harm. If somebody is outright evil, then let us fight his or her kind with everything at our disposal, beginning with our religious philosophy. Repaying evil with good does not work.

Why did Charles Roberts choose a school in the Amish community as his target? Judging from their pacifist tradition, he probably knew he would not find much resistance there. True, similar tragedies have hit regular American public schools. Yet, because of better security at those schools, it is possible Roberts would not have dared carry out his plan in one of them.

Rethink your way of life, Amish people. Part of the reason you survive is because the laws and officers of the land protect you. If you were living in some lawless frontier, your kind would not stand a chance unless you decided to fight for your survival and those of your children. Vengeance is not the Lord’s, as you think. Vengeance is ours. That is why God gave us minds, so that we could learn right from wrong, so that we could fight evil every inch of the way.

Recommended Reading: Ercian Testament - Part III, chapter 25 “Heaven for Humans, Hell for the Namuh.”