Shoot Me First

ABC News reported The oldest of the five Amish girls shot dead in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse is said to have stepped forward and asked her killer to "Shoot me first," in an apparent effort to buy time for her schoolmates.

Why did ABC News feel it necessary to add that. Is it so surprising to ABC News that the girls might have known where they were going, and that this was their way of saying they did not fear to go.

Rita Rhoads, a midwife who delivered two of the victims, told ABC News' Law and Justice Unit that she learned of 13-year-old Marian Fisher's plea from Fisher's family. What's more, Fisher's 11-year-old sister, Barbie, who survived the shooting, allegedly asked the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, to "Shoot me second," Rhoads said.... Rhoads said that before killing himself, Roberts uttered three words — "Pray for me."

The girls knew where they were going, and they did not fear to go. Roberts (the gunman) knew where he was going also. None the less, if you had been in their position, would your faith have been strong enough to make a similar request.

Julie D blogged What more Christian love could we ever see than those young girls offering themselves in an attempt to save their classmates?.... Those two girls were superbly equipped to live Christ's truth in every way. I pray that my own children are as well equipped for the trials they encounter in their lives. I pray that I am.

Anchoress blogged The Amish Community has invited the killer’s wife to the funerals of its daughters. Talk about grace? This story is huge and holy, and it is being missed by too many.

Gina Cobb blogged A story of genuine heroism -- an Amish schoolgirl who faced an unjust death with a kind of courage rarely seen this side of heaven -- is being lost among the hyperpoliticized charges involving ex-Congressman Mark Foley.

Genevieve Kineke blogged A man who claimed to be an atheist obsessed with impure thoughts prepares to avenge himself on God and girls -- and is bowled over by purity and piety. Children unsullied by the world (though certainly sinners like all of us) are grounded in faith and the meaning of their existence. When evil crosses their doorstep out of the blue, they respond with heroic virtue. The assailant -- intending the worst -- foregoes much of his plan, and dies asking for their prayers to a God, Whom he stoutly rejected before meeting them. We ask for miracles, and this is what we're handed.