[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 60 (Thursday, April 29, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E808-E809]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE COURAGE OF ONE'S CONVICTIONS

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                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 29, 1999

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I want to call my colleagues' 
attention to the incisive commentary on the moral and religious 
dimensions of the horrific tragedy in Littleton, Colorado by Charles W. 
Colson, who many believe is one of the greatest Christian leaders in 
the world.

[[Page E809]]

  The senseless killings at the Columbine High School are a direct 
challenge to human decency and powerfully underscore the consequences 
that can occur when the value of human life is eroded by our society 
and culture.
  Below is the full text of Mr. Colson's analysis of the killings, with 
a special emphasis on the heroism and courage of Cassie Bernall, who 
was gunned down, point blank, for merely professing her faith in God 
publicly.

                 [BreakPoint Commentary, Apr. 26, 1999]

                          Littleton's Martyrs

                         (By Charles W. Colson)

       It was a test all of us would hope to pass, but none of us 
     really wants to take. A masked gunman points his weapon at a 
     Christian and asks, ``Do you believe in God?'' She knows that 
     if she says ``yes,'' she'll pay with her life. But 
     unfaithfulness to her Lord is unthinkable.
       So, with what would be her last words, she calmly answers 
     ``yes, I believe in God.''
       What makes this story remarkable is that the gunman was no 
     communist thug, nor was the martyr a Chinese pastor. As you 
     may have guessed, the event I'm describing took place last 
     Tuesday in Littleton, Colorado.
       As the Washington Post reported, the two students who shot 
     13 people, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, did not choose 
     their victims at random--they were acting out of a 
     kaleidoscope of ugly prejudices.
       Media coverage has centered on the killers' hostility 
     toward racial minorities and athletes, but there was another 
     group the pair hated every bit as much, if not more: 
     Christians. And, there were plenty of them to hate at 
     Columbine High School. According to some accounts eight 
     Christians--four Evangelicals and four Catholics--were 
     killed.
       Among them was Cassie Bernall. And it was Cassie who made 
     the dramatic decision I've just described--fitting for a 
     person whose favorite movie was ``Braveheart,'' in which the 
     hero dies a martyr's death.
       Cassie was a 17-year-old junior with long blond hair, hair 
     she wanted to cut off and have made into wigs for cancer 
     patients who had lost their hair through chemotherapy. She 
     was active in her youth group at Westpool's Community Church 
     and was known for carrying a Bible to school.
       Cassie was in the school library reading her Bible when the 
     two young killers burst in. According to witnesses, one of 
     the killers pointed his gun at Cassie and asked, ``do you 
     believe in God?'' Cassie paused and then answered, ``Yes, I 
     believe in God.'' ``Why?'' the gunman asked. Cassie did not 
     have a chance to respond; the gunman had already shot her 
     dead.
       As her classmate Mickie Cain told Larry King on CNN, ``She 
     completely stood up for God. When the killers asked her if 
     there was anyone who had faith in Christ, she spoke up and 
     they shot her for it.''
       Cassie's martyrdom was even more remarkable when you 
     consider that just a few years ago she had dabbled in the 
     occult, including witchcraft. She had embraced the same 
     darkness and nihilism that drove her killers to such 
     despicable acts. But two years ago, Cassie dedicated her life 
     to Christ, and turned her life around. Her friend, Craig 
     Moon, called her a ``light for Christ.''
       Well, this ``light for Christ'' became a rare American 
     martyr of the 20th Century. According to the Boston Globe, on 
     the night of her death, Cassie's brother Chris found a poem 
     Cassie had written just two days prior to her death. It read:

     Now I have given up on everything else
     I have found it to be the only way
     To really know Christ and to experience
     The mighty power that brought
     Him back to life again, and to find
     Out what it means to suffer and to
     Die with him. So, whatever it takes
     I will be one who lives in the fresh
     Newness of life of those who are
     Alive from the dead.

       The best way all of us can honor Cassie's memory is to 
     embrace that same courageous commitment to our faith. For 
     example, we should stand up to our kids when they want to 
     play violent video games. We should be willing to stand up to 
     community ridicule when we oppose access to Internet 
     pornography at the local library.
       For the families of these young martyrs, I can only offer 
     deep personal sympathy and the hope that they might take 
     strength from the words Jesus spoke to the woman who honored 
     Him by pouring ointment on His head. ``Wherever this gospel 
     is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be 
     told in memory of her'' (Matthew 26:13).
       ``Well done, good and faithful servant. Now enter into the 
     joy of your Lord'' (Matthew 25:23).

     

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