After School Massacre: East Germans Flock to the Churches and Violence!

Erfurt, April 29 (idea)  ­ The massacre at an East German school has left Germany in shock and grief. In the Thuringian city of Erfurt thousands have been flocking to the churches. Christian counselors and police psychologists are helping the bereaved.

While final exams were in progress April 26, a 19-year-old ex-student entered the premises of Gutenberg High School and gunned down twelve teachers, two female students, one secretary and one policeman before taking his own life. It was one of the worst school killings anywhere.

The gunman, Robert Steinhaeuser, had been expelled from the school in February because he had faked medical certificates. As a member of a shooting club he had legitimate access to weapons.

====>>>> Police investigators found brutal computer and video games as well as CDs in his room. The lyrics in one of the songs:  ³Shoot your disgusting teachers with a pump gun! ² According to a German tabloid newspaper, Steinhaeuser described himself as  ³Satan ¹s son ² in an Internet chat. He warned his friends by SMS cell phone messages to stay away from the school.

Erfurt  ­ where Martin Luther studied – is a town of 200,000. About one in five citizens is a church member. Shocked by the massacre many Non-Christians have been attending services at Protestant and Catholic churches.

The evangelical students mission has called on all pupils and students in Germany to observe minutes of silence for the victims and hold daily prayer vigils.

The evangelical media watch organization KEP in Wetzlar called for decisive action against sex, crime and violence in the media.  ³Hush-up-time is over ², said director Wolfgang Baake.

Evangelicals have passed out flyers in Erfurt with words from the Bible  ­ Psalm 23 or John 14:1  ³Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me ³. The flyers were gone within an hour, according to Pastor Ruediger Zander.

He is saddened to see that the public discussion focuses on the issue of gun control. People seemed to forget the deeper cause of violence  ­ godlessness. The massacre had shown the consequences of a society which neglects or ignores God ¹s commandments, for example in matters of family ethics.

The leader of the Protestant Churches in Germany, Manfred Kock, said people were irritated by the brutality of the school killing. “But we have seen the same thing happening ever since Cain killed his brother Abel ³.

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Evangelical news agency idea. Wolfgang Polzer Tel: +49-6441-915102, Fax: +49-6441-915118 e-mail:  ­ Internet: http://www.idea.de