Father of Rachel Joy Scott (Killed in Columbine Shooting) speaks to Congressional panel (taken from 1999)
I recently came across the testimony of Darrell Scott that he bravely gave to the Subcommittee On Crime at the U.S. House of Representatives In 1999 (Obviously it’s very timely given the recent Virginia Tech massacre).
He become an activist trying to raise awareness for what can be done about school violence after his daughter Rachel Joy Scott, a young Christian girl, was brutally murdered during the Columbine high-school shooting massacre. She was murdered in part because of her faith (she boldly told her killers she was a Christian even though she knew they would kill her for uttering those words). Her parents wrote a book about her life, death and the after-effects called Rachel’s Tears which became a world-wide best seller and an amazing example of living for Christ for all young Christians.
Darell Scott discusses the Columbine tragedy and how God’s grace allowed him to come to forgive the killers of his daughter. You should watch this before you read the speech below.
Below is the full transcript of the testimony given by Darrell Scott.
Testimony of Darrell Scott
TESTIMONY OF DARRELL SCOTT FATHER OF TWO VICTIMS OF COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTINGS IN LITTLETON, COLORADO
BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1999 2:00 P.M.
2141 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING
Since the dawn of creation there has been both good and evil in the heart 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 11 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 that blame lies here in this room. Much of that blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves.
I wrote a poem just 4 nights ago that express 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 3 part beings. We all consist of body, soul, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make- up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreck havoc.
Spiritual influences 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 historic fact.
What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in doing so, 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 continue 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 conscience and denies 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 you cast the first stone!
My daughter’s death will not be in vain. The young people of this country will not allow that to happen.
—END
Do You Believe In God? Music by Flyleaf (Song is “Cassie”. Named after the girl who was asked if she believed in God during the Columbine shooting. She said yes and so they shot her in the head)
I would also like to add some comments of my own.
Everytime a shooting happens, everytime a young person kills someone else, politicians immediatly start to blame everything under the Sun. Like he says, the NRA, but also everything from video games to horror movies to gangsta rap or heavy metal music. Yet they fail to realize that millions upon millions of people view these types of media and are NOT violent criminals (they may even be *gasp* Christians! Like me and all my friends).
If those type of media were the cause then everyone in our generation and the previous and the previous generations would be violent thugs! But that’s not the case because it’s up to each person on their own to either choose the side of good or the side of evil (even if they aren’t Christians) and to effect the people around them in a positive way. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING can cause a person to go out and kill other people unless that person is extremely unstable in the first place (obviously war or killing someone in defense, being a police officer, etc. doesn’t count).
A person who prays is not going to stop praying because of those type of media above. Matter of fact these things might just make them want to pray more! I know when I was in school I never agreed to not bringing my Bible to school, I actually brought it to school a lot when I was at LifeSkills and even if they told me not to I probably would’ve anyway. While I don’t think Christians should go out and try to defy laws at every turn or whatnot, you can’t deny that it’s a right to both free speech and to freakin’ Freedom of Religion to be able to pray and read your Bible or religious literature in peace without persecution or without being forced to stop. Especially if you are keeping to yourself then there is no reason you should be stopped. The very idea that this could somehow offend someone is utterly ridiculous. Having to study Evolution without having Creation discussed is offensive to me, but you don’t see Christians complaining about it and trying to legislate laws to get rid of it (not to the extent of the anti-Christian people anyway). I’m extremely offended too by the fact that Scholastic and Schools themselves embrace such content as Harry Potter for kids. It’s full of sorcery and even death. If that’s ok then the Bible should be ok. Period.
I only hope that when my generation grows up there will be enough Christians who stand up for religious rights in the public square to change these silly laws. As they say it is mainly the hippie generation (who are now the older ones) who run our colleges and media, and are extremely liberal.
I think by the time our generation grows up, attacks on video games will cease (and most media in general. Even though I agree with some of what they are saying, especially in regard to gangsta rap and torture movies. Though I’ve yet to see hardly any games that even approach the violence in some movies, even old ones like Nightmare On Elm Street) and hopefully we will bring about a lot more change in the government, especially since all of us grew up with these kind of things common place so I think those types of laws on speech and art will be less strict.
But hopefully prayer in school and religious freedom in schools and the public will become normal again. After all, 80% of America says they believe in God in the first place! Yet the 20% try to control us. You also have to remember that we are part of the blogging generation! We’re more used to speaking our minds I think.
Ok, that’s my rant! lol.
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