The Amish response to quickly forgive Carl Roberts, the deranged school house killer who stole the lives of five innocent schoolgirls in Pennsylvania this week should come of no surprise to anyone familiar with their beliefs. Many Amish are deeply committed Christians who regularly read the Bible and take the words of Christ seriously.

Jesus told us  “…if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matt 6:14)  He also instructed us to love our enemies and “pray for those who persecute you…” (Matt 5:44)

I talked by phone this week to a man who had transported one of the injured children
to a hospital in Philadelphia. He said the family of the injured girl revealed previously undisclosed details about the tragedy.   

They told him one of the little 7-year-old girls killed in the school house—either Naomi Rose Ebersole or Lina Miller responded to Robert’s actions with a Christ-like attitude. She didn’t beg her captor to set her free. Instead, as her moment of death approached, this innocent little girl looked up at Roberts and asked, “Can we pray for you before you shoot us?”

The caller said he wasn’t told whether or not Roberts had agreed to the request.

After I hung up the phone, I asked myself, would I be like the Amish and quickly  forgive a murderer if he stormed into my daughter’s school and took her life?  Like that faithful
7-year old, would I ask someone who was about to kill me if I could pray for them before they pulled he trigger, or would I curse them?

As Jesus hung on the cross, He asked God to forgive His persecutors because they “know not what they do.” Like that precious little Amish girl in Lancaster County,  may we all live by Christ’s example when confronted by evil men who do not know Him and “know not what they do.”