once again I am unsettled by Anabpatists

I returned to my Alma Mater recently to hear a lecture by Dr. David Weaver-Zercher. Dr. Weaver-Zercher recently co-authored a book entitled Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy. He is also a recognized scholar on the Amish. Following the tragic shootings in the Nickel Mines, PA Amish community last year, he was repeatedly approached by the media for insight into Amish life. He also published a great article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on the subject titled The Amish Are Not Ours. Certainly the story received significant attention in the news because it was so shocking and tragic. What gave it particular staying power however was the extreme steps the Amish community took to forgive the killer and communicate this to his family. The book seeks to explain a bit about why this radical forgiveness was possible by examining it through the lens of Amish community. To paraphrase Dr. Weaver-Zercher, they sought to show that this was an Amish, rather than an American story. I am very intrigued by this story. This willingness to act on one's faith seems so distant from the Christian bubble in which I regretfully exist. One incident from this story that was mentioned was of a 13 year old girl who said "shoot me first." I absolutely don't know what to do with that. One mother had two daughters die in her arms in separate hospitals in the same night. Yet at the funeral for the killer, 1/2 of the attendees were from the Lancaster Amish community. In addition, they gave to a fund created for the family of the killer. It is now a year since this happened. Once again the media is inundating us with coverage of this story. More than ever, they are focusing on the forgiveness aspect of the story. I am certainly not the first to be shocked by it. I guess I am just perplexed by this dichotomy. So often I have heard Christians cry for revenge following a tragedy. How could people who lay claim to the same faith practice it in such different ways? I don't want to sound naive. Obviously a religion which admits the inconsistencies of its followers can not be expected to be a model of consistency. As Dr. Weaver-Zercher said, this is an Amish rather than American story. Much of the response of the Amish can be attributed to their abilities to act as a community. The disjointed nature of the rest of American Christianity can hardly be expected to model this. Still, most all Christians do acknowledge the oneness of God's true church. We do this when we recite the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed. I can accept subtle and even some significant differences. This one is much harder for me to accept. Why can I not help but look at this story and expect that it should be only one of many. Why can I not read this story and doubt if I would do the same? I wish that I could such swallow this, but I can't. This is truly agonizing. It makes it hard to be a part of a church. Even more so, it makes it hard to take my children. If I can't reconcile these things, how can I introduce my own children to this dilemma?

Darling when I was your age
I could do anything
I could be a restless heart
A social force
Or just genuine
And baby don't our dreams die hard
In the ashes of destiny
I wish that I could lay to rest
The bitterness that keeps telling me

About another good lie
Coming down like a freezing rain
From a hot blue sky
Another good lie
Coming in like a crosstown hurricane on fire
Another good lie
Coming down on your Daddy's soul
'Til it made him old
Another good lie
-Another Good Lie (Mark Heard)