Too many people have been trying to make this story about guns. But a one-room schoolhouse in Lancaster County is not a drug-riddled street in North Philadelphia, and trying to link the two is an insult to our intelligence.
Let's be clear: The man who stole five little girls from their families bought his weapons legally, and none of the proposed gun restrictions would have had a significant effect on his ability to get them in the first place.
He had no criminal record, and acquired the guns over a period of time. There was no "straw man." More important, Roberts could have taken that schoolroom with one gun alone, or a knife, or a bat. He met with no resistance.
His victims lived in a peaceable kingdom, one that prepared them for glory in heaven, not bloodshed on earth. They were no match for an evil man with a death wish, nor were they children living in an urban war zone.
The preoccupation with guns has deflected attention from the true revelation of this story - the character of the victims. Those whose contact with the Amish is limited to their presence at the Reading Terminal Market or Harrison Ford's encounters in "Witness" were awed and humbled by the community's reaction to the slaughter of their daughters. First, they wept. Then they prayed. And then they forgave. With surpassing grace, the Amish honored both their God and their fellow human beings by their refusal to seek revenge.
People who were always considered foreign and somewhat strange proved themselves to be closer to perfection than the rest of us in the "English" world. They didn't march, or sign petitions, or blame the government for an unprecedented and unforeseeable act of violence. They looked within themselves for strength, and stitched together the broken threads of their lives as they would a quilt - in community.
