Faith, Fear and the Wages of Columbine

as much as i dont want to say this i do believe it is true the police that day were absolutley useless they did absolutly nothing to save the children inside of that high school i live in colorado i was pretty young when this happened but looking back at all of the news footage and other videos related to this incident i feel like many peoples lives could have been saved if the police would have grown a pair and tried to actualy do something other than let the kids die.

I feel that, unfortunately too many people are simply missing the point; The irony is, they feel it is them who aren't. Put simply, the comments I made a couple of pages previous are the facts and however you choose to view this, the truth is that bullying is far too widespread when it should be virtually nullified. Instead of focusing on purely religious matters or gun crime taken statistically, we should instead look to ourselves and the society we live in. Other than this, I feel it's sad that many here do not read comments made previous to theirs and endeavour to ascertain that which has been said. I can't say this enough, true evil can be found within ignorance and a despondent attitude. This is no time for despair and lashing out or talking politics. Please! People have already lost their lives in a tragedy that could well have been averted had the necessary focus and aid been given - and there are still those who feel that the answer lies in gun control or the aesthetics of a Fundamentalist line. We need more than a couple of charities and websites to get the point across, we need a worldwide solidarity on the matter and maybe then things might start to change - but, the more we do as individuals, the better still. The bottom line is we are all homo sapiens here, we are all equal and we all deserve to be treated thusly. There are no two ways about it.

So tired about the rationalization and defense from the status quo saying to us over and over the problem is "the victim mentality", well, wake up there are victims and unfortunately many do not have resources to get help or get attention. For instance, Foster Care children that are too often abused without hardly any compensation or caring, , or children in So. Am. being killed because they discourage tourism, or the hungry and deprived in Africa, and the Viet Nam Vets who were hardly given any benefits, and Native Americans and Blacks being treated as non humans and the list goes on. This attitude of blaming the victims is basically hiding from responsibility of the ones that are the status quo, and it prevents the process of solving problems. What makes this country more advance than others is that we are not static, we allow the system to change in order to solve problems that are presented. The ones that are irresponsible to others are the ones that insist in no change and they want the comfort zone of removing guilt from their deplorable acts. Two self center individuals in Columbian that had the audacity to cause hell to others without even having thoughts of guilt. They actually belonged to the status quo, who feel no responsibility to anyone but the almighty self and no consideration of the damage they would commit to others, and we cannot sweep victims under the rug and shut them up with clichés of ???victim mentality???, which makes the abused the culpable individual.

I guessed some of you might heard before the saying "Christianity is not a religion but a relationship". That's the way i would like to look at Christianity, a love relationship between the Father and His children. Because He loves the world so much, He came down as Christ Jesus to our level as man and die for our sins. Now that's perfect love. The world today is living in fear: terror, massacres, earthquakes, tsunamis,etc..fear can lead to hate as shown why certain people hate the murderer's parents in this Columbine case. People even blamed God not realizing that the culprit is the devil himself. And by the Grace of God, perfect love cast out all these fears. A true believer of the Gospel will realized that the Father loves us so much, so much more than even we can love ourselves. We are all messed up, that's why we need Christ to change us. There's a story in the Bible i would like to share about how Jesus saved an adulterous woman from getting stoned to death by the teachers of the law. He told them off firmly by saying "If anyone of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her". They all left and unlike the teachers of the law, Jesus declared no condemnation to the woman first, then asked her to sin no more. I dont know about you guys, but i feel much secure in my Christian life without anyone putting the law on me.

Forget Dave Cullen -- the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News reported it wasn't Cassie back in 1999. How soon we forget.

Columbine Shooting Victim May Not Have Been Asked Whether She Believed in God
by Dan Luzadder and Katie Kerwin McCrimmon
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers
September 24, 1999

Investigators told Cassie Bernall's parents weeks after she died that the now-famous exchange with her killer may not have occurred.

There are questions about whether Bernall said ''yes'' after her killer, Dylan Klebold, asked whether she believed in God, said chief investigator John Kiekbusch of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

The question itself may never have been asked, he said.

''The fact that there were discrepancies in this account was brought to the attention of the Bernalls,'' Kiekbusch said.

In the days following the April 20 shootings at Columbine High, several students in the library reported the exchange between Bernall and her killer.

Accounts of the testimonial and death have inspired outpourings of faith around the country and prompted her mother, Misty Bernall, to write a book.

She Said Yes. The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall has sold more than 200,000 copies since its release two weeks ago.

Police investigating the shooting have detailed minute aspects of the case, including who said what to whom in the school library, and elsewhere, during the rampage.

Kiekbusch said the first account of the conversation between Klebold and Bernall came from Craig Scott, the brother of Rachel Scott, a student who was killed by the gunmen outside the school.

Craig Scott, who was among more than 50 students in the library at the time, told investigators he heard the ''Yes'' comment and recognized the voice as Cassie Bernall's. He did not actually see the individuals involved.

Investigators said Scott was asked to point out where the gunmen were at the time, and he indicated a table where Valeen Schnurr-not Bernall was hiding.

According to Schnurr's mother, the girl was lying in the library with more than 15 bullet wounds, praying out loud, when a gunman approached her and asked if she believed in God, and she responded ''Yes, I believe in God.''

The gunman spared her, and she survived.

Forget Dave Cullen - The now-defunct Rocky Mountain News reported it wasn't Cassie back in 1999.

Columbine Shooting Victim May Not Have Been Asked Whether She Believed in God
by Dan Luzadder and Katie Kerwin McCrimmon
Rocky Mountain News Staff Writers

September 24, 1999

Investigators told Cassie Bernall's parents weeks after she died that the now-famous exchange with her killer may not have occurred.

There are questions about whether Bernall said ''yes'' after her killer, Dylan Klebold, asked whether she believed in God, said chief investigator John Kiekbusch of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

Accounts of the testimonial and death have inspired outpourings of faith around the country and prompted her mother, Misty Bernall, to write a book.

She Said Yes. The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall has sold more than 200,000 copies since its release two weeks ago.

Police investigating the shooting have detailed minute aspects of the case, including who said what to whom in the school library, and elsewhere, during the rampage.

Kiekbusch said the first account of the conversation between Klebold and Bernall came from Craig Scott, the brother of Rachel Scott, a student who was killed by the gunmen outside the school.

Craig Scott, who was among more than 50 students in the library at the time, told investigators he heard the ''Yes'' comment and recognized the voice as Cassie Bernall's. He did not actually see the individuals involved.

Investigators said Scott was asked to point out where the gunmen were at the time, and he indicated a table where Valeen Schnurr-not Bernall was hiding.

According to Schnurr's mother, the girl was lying in the library with more than 15 bullet wounds, praying out loud, when a gunman approached her and asked if she believed in God, and she responded ''Yes, I believe in God.''

The gunman spared her, and she survived.

Why would a Christian community turn against a person who was showing the love of Christ to the Klebolds? I am a Christian and I feel so strongly that not only should the Christian community have come around the families of the victims, but also the families of the shooters. Like the Mennonites did when it happened in their community. I remember when this happened praying for the Klebolds because of how they responded. They are not awful, terrible people. They were hurting parents who were grieving. I even wanted to try contacting them, but I was afraid the mail would never get to them because I was sure they were receiving so much hate mail. I am sorry - I should have tried anyway. To have to beg to have a minister perform a funeral for your child is wrong. Just like the response of Christians that turned their backs on them was wrong. Jesus Christ would have never done that.

Although, as a Christian, I disagree with the anti-Christian sentiment in some of these posts, that has nothing to do with my comment. What I would like to say is that I thank God that Don Marxhausen performed Dylan Klebold's funeral and gave words of hope to his family. This was a tragedy on so many levels. Not in the least for the the families of the shooters. I think it is awesome that the Christian community reached out to the families of the victimes, but where was our heart for the families of the shooters. I wondered this at the time of the incident and wonder today. I even thought at the time of trying to write a lettter to the Klebolds, but I was afraid it would never get to them because I am sure they received much mail full of hate. I am so sorry I did not try. To read of a father pleading to have a minister do the funeral for his child is heart breaking. I remember when the Mennonites were faced with a shooter. They went to the family of the person that killed their loved ones and offered help. I can only hope that somone, not just Don Marxhausen, offered love to the Klebolds. I wish I could tell them myself how sorry I am.

AE, Sounds like you are coming from a similar thought process as me. I was raised a strict Catholic, but there were too many of their doctrines I could not embrace. Prayer never seemed to help much. Any successes I have had in my life could be attributed more to hard work, common sense, honesty, and correct timing than any divine intervention. Currently, the Christian activity I am exposed to seems more about pushing an agenda, either religious or political than what is in the best interests of humanity. I don't mean to mock anybody on here, but with religion anymore you seem to get as much hypocrisy as you do positive acts.
I have to believe that to any mans God, Good works, honesty, and good will towards your fellow humans and all of earth's creatures for that matter, would be about the best that one could do...

Perhaps if we as Christians, Jews, Buddhists, or whatever faith we might be had worked to build people up and minister up we could have lessened or even outright prevented the tragedies that have happened.

Many people wonder what makes the Christian religion to be considered so special. Well, the honest truth of the matter is that it is only in the Christian religion that we have record of its teacher being RESURRECTED. That is why there are so many individuals who believe in this way. While it is of the utmost importance for someone to become saved and therefore become a Christian individual, it is in my opinion of almost equal importance to consider what one's religion (be it Christian or otherwise) compells them to do for other people. If one just goes to church, synagogue, temple, mosque or what have you because "it's good for business" or "it looks right" and then acts however they feel the rest of the week it is not useful to society at large. However, if one goes to church or other places of worship and then trys to live a decent life and do good for others then that, my friends, is when people will be attracted to your faith. True Christianity is not necessarily witnessing to people verbally, but silently doing things for others out of a heart of love is true Christianity.