H.T. – CharliesConvictions

The following quotes comes from a post Charlie did (linked above) and I learned something about the Columbine story that I had never heard before.

Valeen Schnurr doesn’t want her fellow freshmen to know her as Val, the girl from Columbine. Nor does she want to be known as the Girl Who Really Said Yes, or the Living Saint, or the Almost Martyr, even though she is all of those things. And she definitely doesn’t want to be known as the girl who punctured the myth of Cassie Bernall.

There’s a myth about Cassie Bernall?  So I went to searching for more information and sure enough, the girl who almost died a martyr is a girl named Valeen Schnurr, not Cassie Bernall.

The rest of the world can expect no more of a satisfying conclusion. When they publish their final report next year, investigators plan to leave out what they’ve discovered about Cassie. Davis say it’s because “whether Cassie said yes has no bearing on the criminal case.” *But privately, investigators admit they’ll avoid puncturing the myth for the same reason Schnurr did: They won’t risk incurring the rage of a community addicted to it.

* Emphasis added by Zoe.

Of course, the “community” addicted to it are family, friends possibly and almost certainly to a person, Christians and perhaps to a lesser degree anyone who considers themselves a “theist” in some form or fashion.

There are three things that jump out at me when I read this story.  Lying, rage and addiction.  Not three characteristics you’d expect in a redeemed community.  A girl lost her life.  Was she a martyr for Christ?  No one knows.  But after investigating the investigators know that Val was the girl asked the question and was heard to respond “Yes.”  While investigator’s gathered up their information, the myth formation was on its way. Songs had been written, testimonies given, ministries started based on the belief that Cassie was martyred, a book written and the story carved in stone.

And in stone it will stay.  Why?  Well it’s not worth getting the community riled up and raise the wrath of not only Christ believers but Cassie believers too.  I find myself wondering what Cassie would think of this myth of martyrdom?  I tend to think she’d give voice in favour of Val’s truth.  I tend to think she’d say ‘Thanks for thinking so highly of me but that’s not fair to Val.’

And this fear of collective rage?  It’s amazing when you think about it.  What is to be feared for the community when the community believes in God?  Why would they respond with rage?  Can their belief not sustain the truth of the investigation?  Jesus saves.  Cassie was a Christian.  Is that in itself not enough?  Would it hurt the cause of Christ to stick to the truth as detailed in careful investigation?  Doesn’t truth triumph over lies when it comes to Christ?  Is Cassie less a Christian if none of this ever happened?  Is she less a Christian if maybe to save her life she answered “No”?  What happens to the story of Cassie when you take away her martyrdom?  Does it change anything on an eternal scale for her salvation?  Why is it necessary to perpetuate a lie, carve out a myth for the cause of Christ?  Who benefits?  Jesus?  Does Jesus need this story?

The tragedy is more than any person should have to bear.  Especially for those who loved Cassie.  But I think the burden to bear the possibility that the story was wrong from the start would wear out my mother’s heart.  Yes I lost my daughter, but another mother is the mother of the girl who said “Yes” and though Val and family have agreed to be silent and let it all go and not make a fuss speaks volumes to me.  They too are willing not to ruffle feathers but they too don’t mind the myth IF it is for the cause of Christ.  And clearly it is.

Lying, rage and addiction.  So the story stays the same, though mythological in origin because collectively there is an addiction to the myth and it will tick off a lot of believers if it is exposed.  Not only do people agree to go along with it, so do the investigator’s.  Rather than confront the addiction, society enables it.  I keep wondering IF God is so great and God is so good, isn’t God able to handle the truth? If so, then why not let Him?

Romans 3:7

Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” NIV

A friend that I once held to accountability told me she could not do so because the public knowledge of her sin and that of someone else’s would “hurt the cause of Christ.”  When I pointed out “the cause” had already been hurt she defended herself and him. Verses like Rom. 3:7 come in handy in these cases.  One just has to figure out when to apply it and when to apply one of The Ten Commandments in regards to lying.