chaikwa

This was e-mailed to me by a friend, or I would have posted a URL so as to not clutter up the board. I thought it was kinda interesting, but if the moderators want to delete it because they feel it's too long or inappropriate, so be it.




Guess our national leaders didn't expect this, hmm?

On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School

shootings in Littleton, Colorado, was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee's sub-

committee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was

painfully truthful. They were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It

needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every

psychologist, and every so-called expert! These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott

are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as

a voice crying in the wilderness.


The following is a portion of the transcript:


"Since the dawn of creation there has been both good and evil in the hearts of men and

women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my

wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other

eleven children who died, must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers."


"The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The

villain was not the club he used. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The

true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart."


"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began

to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I

do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA - because I don't

believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe that

they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would

be their strongest opponent."


"I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy-it was a spiritual event

that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in

this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I

wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way

before I knew I would be speaking here today":


Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!


"Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, soul, and spirit. When we

refuse to acknowledge the third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil,

prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our

educational systems for most of our nation's history. Many of our major colleges began as

theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We

have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And

when something as terrible as Columbine's tragedy occurs - politicians immediately look for a

scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that

contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive

laws."


"Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can

stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within

our own hearts. Political posturing and restrictive legislation are not the answers. The young

people of our nation hold the key. There is a spiritual awakening taking place that will not be

squelched! We do not need more religion. We do not need more gaudy television evangelists

spewing out verbal religious garbage. We do not need more million dollar church buildings

built while people with basic needs are being ignored. We do need a change of heart and a

humble acknowledgment that this nation was founded on the principle of simple trust in God!"


"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered

before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny

him that right! I challenge every young person in America, and around the world, to realize

that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do

not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the

new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to

communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA - I give to you

a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone! My

daughter's death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to

happen!"



Just thought I'd 'share'!

chaikwa.

sherod

Would like to read the entire transcript. Thanks.

Haven't noticed any media coverage on that one.

Ed

BNH4221

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/scott.htm

FWIW...

Steve

BigBlue

Wow. That's powerful.

edwinsmith

Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Laws don't stop killers, they only disarm their victims.

Edwin

tool

I gotta say he's right......
Gun laws aren't going to cure anything.

At the end of the day it's just a piece of pipe with a hammer on the end.

jthorpe

Guys, read the link this guy posted because it states facts about this testimony. Not only that, but whoever has been pushing this one around has turned it into something about gun control when the whole point was prayer in schools. The last statements in the speech were added by someone else, and he did NOT make that testimony.

The speech ACTUALLY ended like this:

Quite a far cry from the one posted here. This is NOT a gun ownership speech other than a quick opinion about it earlier in the speech. If we're going to talk about it, at least we should talk about the real message he's trying to get across.

I have no opinion on gun owner's rights one way or the other as it pertains to this thread by the way.

edwinsmith

Well the issue of prayer in schools is not being argued for the correct reasons. There is NO constitutional problem at all with prayer in a private school, only in schools which get money from the taxpayers.

If you want prayer in your school then put your kids in a private school that is more to your liking. Don't force others to finance your idea of religeon.

Public schools are a bad idea for more reasons than just the banning of religeon. They teach socialism and tolerance of abberant behavior and al lot of other bogus ideas. They also largely fail in their primary mission of teaching children the basic skills needed to get a job at something better than a burger flipper.

Edwin

chaikwa

Well, don't look at ME... I just posted it the way I got it becasue I thought it was interesting.

I didn't mean to start a war. SORRY!

chaikwa.

jthorpe

What war? I just pointed out what the speech was really about to avoid confusion. There is no reason for you to be sorry.

chaikwa

It just seems that I posted something that was not entirely true, and I HATE it when people do that. Now, here I've gone and done it myself.

If I knew how, I'd check this kind of thing out before I posted it. Or not post at all!

chaikwa.

BNH4221

Hey Chaikwa,

My rule of thumb is if I receive or view something over the 'net, I check using either snopes or urban legends.com

There is so much crap out there that it is almost impossible to tell what is true and what isn't.
Assume it is a fake unless proven otherwise.

Besides the snopes and urban sites are kinda fun to check out. Lotsa cool fakes and such.

Best -

Steve

xp8103

Chaikwa,
I believe that that is acutally an old missive too. It's not something written last week.

Edwin,
I'd love to be able to do that. I really would. Just as level soon as the local government allows me to withhold my portion of my property tax bill that goes to education and the state government allows me to withhold the amount of my income tax that goes to general purpose aid to education so that I can afford it......

Until that time, it's freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM it... The Constitution gives me the right to practice it, it neither compells you to practice as I do nor compells you to practice when I do.

edwinsmith

This is why vouchers are probably a good idea as long as the state doesn't assert control over the private school curriculum.

I also think that the anti-religeon people go overboard on their rants about ANY religeon in public schools. As long as the teacher doesn't lead the prayer the students should have the freedom to pray or not as they see fit. The same goes for displays or proseletizing on school grounds. As long as the school isn't involved it should be hands off.

Edwin

Hoss

I don't know about the rest of you, but my son is going to be taught that he can pray anywhere and everywhere he wants to no matter what ANYBODY says. Our government may be able to stop PUBLIC prayer in school, but they cannot stop prayer in school.

Besides....if you REALLY want to point fingers at someone....be sure you do it standing in front of the mirror. The moral decline of this country is a direct result of parents not raising their kids right in my opinion.