Derb, Count me in your decently silent reader’s camp. Re Columbine: There was the story of Cassie Bernall. In the end, the story, as I recall was in doubt, but people seeking to hold her up, was a good sign of what you are aiming at, I would think. A child who would (possibly) confidently say “yes” when a gunman asks her about whether she’s a believer. Whether it went down like that or not, our wanting that to be true and to hold up as an example, seems to be a wonderful thing.
That said, if a child begged for his life instead of fighting for it when crazed kids with guns aimed at them, I don’t blame them. Teach your kids survival instincts by all means, but in the end…blessed be their souls. Which brings me back to the decently silence thing–and having a little understanding for why the Telegraph might have hesitated a bit on those Bigley remarks. I’m not endorsing their call–because a) I love Mark Steyn b) Mark says important things in that column c) I don’t know the whole story about the incident. But I’m glad it’s available somewhere.