Living in an area with a large Mennonite population brings images of the Amish school shooting in Pennsylvania closer to home. Billions of dollars spent to eliminate terror from abroad cannot stop the madness of unstable men among us.
Amish…pacifists…children…Guns….terror… death…
Something is wrong with the equation.
Something is wrong with the equation.
Last weekend we attended a theatre production of Oliver at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario. The musical, based on the novel by Charles Dickens, brings to the stage the mistreatment of children and women during the Industrial Age in London, England. The story ended happily for Oliver, but many children suffered and died in the conditions of the time.
Children around the world continue to suffer and die daily from the effects of war, famine, and disease. Many are victims of political and social injustice.
The children of Pennsylvania will be mourned by a nation.
As I contemplate their horror, I must also remember the suffering of children in the world who have no one to mourn their existence.
(Photo of an Old Order Mennonite schoolyard in Waterloo Region, Ontario)
See Via Negativa for another post related this this story.
Yeah, what's up with the copycat shootings in schools now?
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As I contemplate their horror, I must also remember the suffering of children in the world who have no one to mourn their existence.
Sadly, it is so easy to forget about that...
I sense a few stories in that pic - who is the person off to the right wearing blue jeans? And what did the little boy do that is standing up against the wall?
ReplyDeleteI can hardly bear to watch the news of this tragedy, as a teacher it is all too easy to imagine it happening in my classroom.
It would be fascinating to hear the story from the Amish perspective - how the community must feel invaded - but I imagine that will never be told.
You are a very observant person, Laura (that is apparent in your blog). I took a sequence of photos at this parochial school. The boy in jeans goes up to bat, and then enters the school with the others. I took the photos from a distance, as I always do with the local Mennonites. I am sure all teachers feel some anxiety at work after the recent school incidents. God bless you in your job!
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