What is up with this picture? Love thy brother ring a bell?

[dhinojosa]

Crosses in memory of slain victims stand near shooting site. Gunman's cross is in foreground.

Police have found no clear motive for why a man opened fire with a handgun during a church service at a Wisconsin hotel, killing seven people before taking his own life, a police spokesman said today. Terry Ratzmann, 44, fired 22 shots, stopping once to reload, and then shot himself.


--------------------------Personal Note-----------------------------
So is Terry's cross somehow supposed to be treated differently and thrown down like that?

[Bunny]

1. Well, I gotta tell ya. If one of my kin was shot dead by him, I'd

have a VERY hard time looking at "his" cross in the same general area as my loved one's.

Human nature - it's a little unreasonable to expect victims' kin to embrace him in brotherly love, don't you think? The memorial crosses for the Columbine killers were withdrawn almost immediately, following a big outcry by friends and relatives of the dead kids.

[RevCheesehead]

2. It is by humans, but God sees it differently.

Theologically, the Cross is meant for ALL believers. Even those who shoot their neighbors. Any "punishment" is dealt with in the after-life. That's God's business, not ours.

If one truly believes in Atonement theology, you MUST insist that the cross applies equally for ALL - otherwise, it is meaningless.

Is there forgiveness for Terry Ratzmann? God, I hope so.

[kiraboo]

3. If Ratzmann can be forgiven, so can those

who have reacted to his murders by vandalizing his cross. I don't condone the action but I do understand it. No doubt the God of the cross has more empathy and understanding than I do.

[RevCheesehead]

5. I believe that Jesus said it best:

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

<No doubt the God of the cross has more empathy and understanding than I do.> Than you, me, or anyone else on earth.

Thanks for your thoughtful post, kiraboo.

[Selatius]

4. The same thing happened with the crosses erected after Columbine

The man who made the crosses made crosses for everybody who died that day at school including Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. He put them all up, but people became upset over the two crosses for the gunmen, and they were repeatedly knocked down, so he removed them.

I saw those crosses with my own eyes when they were brought to my school for a program on school violence. I couldn't bear to read the little notes people scrolled on those crosses. The sadness grew immense the closer I got to those crosses.