You & your neighbours

On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, "We must not think evil of this man."[17] Another Amish father noted, "He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he's standing before a just God."[18]

Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, explained: "I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts."[17]

A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them.[19] Amish community members visited and comforted Roberts' widow, parents, and parents-in-law. One Amish man held Roberts' sobbing father in his arms, reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him.[20] The Amish have also set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter.[21] About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts' funeral,[20] and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims.[22] Marie Roberts wrote an open letter to her Amish neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace, and mercy. She wrote, "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. 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."[

DAVE. The event that occured on Oct 2 2006
was recounted (WRT the Amish response) in the Wiki article.
It was done in a manner that pretty much explains how the entire
Amish community acted and , by their action, resulted in
the "teaching moment" I was referring to earlier.

Heres the summary of the Amish Communities response.
Hope this helps youre lawyerly mind to understand.

On the day of the shooting, a grandfather of one of the murdered Amish girls was heard warning some young relatives not to hate the killer, saying, "We must not think evil of this man."[17] Another Amish father noted, "He had a mother and a wife and a soul and now he's standing before a just God."[18]

Jack Meyer, a member of the Brethren community living near the Amish in Lancaster County, explained: "I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts."[17]

A Roberts family spokesman said an Amish neighbor comforted the Roberts family hours after the shooting and extended forgiveness to them.[19] Amish community members visited and comforted Roberts' widow, parents, and parents-in-law. One Amish man held Roberts' sobbing father in his arms, reportedly for as long as an hour, to comfort him.[20] The Amish have also set up a charitable fund for the family of the shooter.[21] About 30 members of the Amish community attended Roberts' funeral,[20] and Marie Roberts, the widow of the killer, was one of the few outsiders invited to the funeral of one of the victims.[22] Marie Roberts wrote an open letter to her Amish neighbors thanking them for their forgiveness, grace, and mercy. She wrote, "Your love for our family has helped to provide the healing we so desperately need. 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."

Reaching out and helping the entire family of the shooter,
is something that reinforced a lesson that "we often have to work hard
at forgiveness and reconciliation, even when its most dificult"
The Amish who lost their little girls were some of the first people
to embrace the immediate family of the killer (his wife, kids,
and parents that were living locally).

From your tone of incredulity,
you seem to imply "whats so difficult about that?".

maybe youre right but, Im always amazed at how, were my kids harmed
by someone (even though the perp commits suicide, Id certainly
have a hard time befirending the families of the killer.

The Amish responses, almost as if it were a "no brainer" to them,
makes them rise several notches in the humanity scale IMHO.

Ive been following Arella Mae's travails with her new pregnant mare

and was reminded of a neighbor who has a small herd of dray horses (Perch's and Belgians) LAst year one of the Belgian mares was due sometime in the spring and my neighbor needed to board her for a short period so she could have her privacy and she be kept from exposure to any accidents or infectious agents. SO, an AMishman who lives closest to my neighbor opened his back barn and stable to keep the darft horse until she delivered. (It was a period of about 2 weeks). When the horse delivered her foal and my neighbor took the two back to his place, he attempted to pay the AMishman for his space, feed , and time that his family spent keeping tabs and watching over the horse.(This included the social skills that horse people impart to keep their animals free from fretting while they sit and wait)
Horses can get nervous and can inadvertantly do damage to their surroundings and themselves if theyre not kept calm.
To make it short, the MAishman didnt consider accepting any recompense even though a normal fee for boarding horses can run at least 500$ a month for minimal services. My neighbors horse got the royal treatment and every AMishman from a few miles around made the horse part of their daily concern . The coffee pot ws always on (even though AMish coffee is probably the worst in the world).

nice enough, quiet kinda poor folks.

much better'n the loud obnoxious wife-basher used to reside there.

I know!



So maybe, just maybe, they as as relieved to have me as a neighbour, as I am to have them?