Fulton County court reporter Julie Ann Brandau, Judge Rowland Barnes, Sheriff's Deputy Hoyt Teasley and federal agent David Wilhelm. (reg req) The AJC has articles on the Fallen. Sorry for the reg.
Our thoughts go out to those who died at the hands of Brian Nicholls.
As I sit and watch cable news as I usually do, I kept seeing story after story on the strength and courage of Ashley Smith in the face of an unspeakable horror. Her devotion to God and the strength that her faith gave her to somehow overcome her ordeal. (no argument there)
Segment after segment these shows paraded every minister, preacher, evangelical, and man of faith they could find to bath the segments into "how the goodness of God" or "the power of Jesus" entered into the heart of Brian Nichols by Ashley Smith’s faith and convinced Brian Nicholls to turn himself in.
The real hero that most of them are touting is the book "The Purpose Driven Life" written by Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church, a megachurch south of Los Angeles. It has sold more than 21 million copies and has been near the top of best-seller lists for more than two years. Publishers Weekly says it is the best-selling hardcover non-fiction book in U.S. history.
Ashley Smith said that she read part of "The Purpose Driven Life" to her captor, Brian Nichols who formed a bond with his captive, calling her "his angel" and gave himself up.
So far there hasn’t been one segment done on the victims of Nicholls rampage. It's almost like they are an after thought to the story. The preachers throw around a blanket statement like " this is an awful tragedy" then get back to what they really want to talk about. As long as the right leaning shows can prove somehow that God had a hand in Nichols surrender, then "praise the lord" because God is the real hero in this mess. Jerry Falwell says that Nicholls must have been exposed to the lord somehow when he was a child " I don't know for sure" Why would he know? He wouldn't have bothered to look.
If I went on any of the shows to discuss the story with anyone of these TV hosts, I'll bet you a thousand bucks, not one of them could name all the people who were killed. I'm going to now again. Fulton County court reporter Julie Ann Brandau, Judge Rowland Barnes, Sheriff's Deputy Hoyt Teasley and federal agent David Wilhelm.
I found myself in an uncomfortable position of actually agreeing with Bo Dietl, who injected some reality to the debate. (paraphrasing). "He looked out the window and saw all those cops so he gave up. He's a murderer " Thanks for reminding us Bo.
I say shame on them. Shame on all of them for dismissing the people whose lives were cut short by a brutal display of violence to promote their sense of spirituality.
Paula Zahn is doing an entire show tonight on the faith of Ashley Smith. Well I believe in spiritual principles also, but how do the families of the fallen feel about God right now? How do the families feel about Terry Ratzmann , and his listening to the teaching of "end times" over and over again? Here are their names again: Julie Ann Brandau, Rowland Barnes. Hoyt Teasley and David Wilhelm. If you really are a person of faith, say a prayer for them and their families.
