Notes PREFACE 1. This event was held at the Tri-County Worship Center, 1501 Schubert Road in Bethel, Pennsylvania, on October 19–20, 26–27, 2001. I at- tended on October 26, 2001. 2. “Hell House Outreach Kits” are produced and distributed by Abun- dant Life Christian Fellowship of Arvada, Colorado. See “What Is Hell House?” undated, <http://www.alccdenver.com/hh-faq.html> (October 27, 2001). [Throughout, the dates in parenthesis indicate the date the web site was accessed.] The Hell House concept predates Columbine by several years, but the school shooting scene has at- tracted special attention and controversy. See, for example, Pat Gor- don, “Seasonal Look at Reality’s Horrors: On Halloween, Texas Church Uses True Stories to Attract Teenagers,” Boston Globe, Octo- ber 31, 1999: A12; Bob Batz, Jr., “Real-Life Horrors,” Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, October 26, 2000: D-1; Betsy Taylor,“Groups See Halloween As Opportunity To Save Souls,” Associated Press, October 26, 2001. 3. Kevin Simpson, “Video’s Release Outrages Kin,” Denver Post, April 27, 2000: A1. The version that was originally released had, incredibly enough, a soundtrack with pop music. See Dave Cullen, “Images of Columbine Terror For Sale,” Salon.com, April 27, 2000, <http://www. salon.com/news/feature/2000/04/27/columbine_video> (May 20, 2000). Jefferson County authorities soon issued a new version without the soundtrack. 4. At an event organized by Torchgrab Youth Ministries in June 2001, a portion of this tape was shown. Attendees at the “Torchgrab Youth Rally” saw the inside of the Columbine library, including closeups of the blood-stained carpet, while someone read aloud a letter from the mother of one of the victims. Beth Nimmo is a member of Torch- grab’s Board of Directors, attended and spoke at this event, and she was present when the tape was played. I attended this in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, June 22–23, 2001. Torchgrab will be described in detail in chapter 3. INTRODUCTION 1. David J. Krajicek, “Ghoulish or Great? Columbine News Coverage,” APBnews.com, April 18, 2000, <http://www.APBnews.com/media/ mediawatch/krajicek/2000/04/18/crimebeat0418_01.html> (June 9, 2001). 2. “1999 Year End Report,” The Pew Research Center For The People & The Press, undated, <http://www.people-press.org/yearendrpt.htm> (March 21, 2000). 3. “Attacks at Home Draw More Interest than War Abroad,” The Pew Research Center For The People & The Press, October 22, 2001, <http://www.people-press.org/102201que.htm> (October 30, 2001). 4. “Clinton’s Columbine Statement,” Associated Press, April 20, 2000. 5. See the Columbine Research Task Force web site at www. columbine.n3.net. See also Holly Yettick, “Columbine Plot Theories Abound,” Denver Rocky Mountain News, July 30, 2001: 4A. 6. Cover, Time, March 19, 2001. 7. See Elizabeth Bell, “High Schools React to Threats of Violence,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 5, 2000: A15; Timothy Harper, “Shoot to Kill,” Atlantic Monthly, October 2000: 28–33; John Cloud, “The Legacy of Columbine,” Time, March 19, 2001: 32. For criticism of this response see “ACLU Challenges of Suspen- sion of Student in Latest Example of ‘Post-Columbine Hysteria,’” American Civil Liberties Union press release, November 21, 2000. Such criticism also comes from political conservatives. See Dave Kopel and Linda Gorman, “Guest Comment: Post-Columbine Syn- drome,” National Review Online, May 8, 2000, <http://nationalre- view.com/comment/comment050800b.html> (September 6, 2001). 8. Quoted in Amy Wallace,“Is Hollywood Pulling Punches?” Los Ange- les Times, December 26, 1999: 5. 9. “1999 Year End Report,” The Pew Research Center For The People & The Press, undated, <http://www.people-press.org/yearendrpt.htm> (March 21, 2000). Columbine finished behind President Clinton’s im- peachment and Senate trial, which 20 percent saw as the most impor- tant story even though only 31 percent had followed it “very closely.” 10. Quoted in Mark O’Keefe, “Lessons of Columbine,” Newhouse News Service, April 16, 2000. 11. Mark Gillespie, “Poll Releases: One in Three Say It Is Very Likely That Columbine-Type Shootings Could Happen in Their Commu- nity,” Gallup News Service, April 20, 2000. Available at <http://www. gallup.com/poll/releases/pr000420.asp>. 162 | THE MARTYRS OF COLUMBINE 12. David W. Moore, “Americans Divided on Whether School Shootings Can Be Prevented, Gallup News Service, March 26, 2001.Available at <http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr010326.asp>. In this poll 49 percent said they believed that school shootings could be prevented by social and governmental action, and 47 percent believed they would happen anyway. The margin of error was -/+ 3 percentage points. 13. My understanding of evangelicalism relies heavily on the work of his- torian George M. Marsden. See Understanding Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1991); “The Evangelical Denomination,” in Piety and Politics, eds. Richard John Neuhaus and Michael Cromartie (Washington, D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1987), 55–68. 14. Franklin Graham, Remarks at the Columbine Memorial Service, April 25, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado. 15. Bruce Porter, The Martyrs’ Torch: The Message of the Columbine Massacre (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 1999), 53. 16. See, for instance, Misty Bernall, She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyr- dom of Cassie Bernall (Farmington, PA: Plough Publishing House, 1999); Beth Nimmo, Darrell Scott, and Steve Rabey, Rachel’s Tears: The Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2000). 17. Dave Cullen, “Inside the Columbine High Investigation,” Salon.com, September 23, 1999, <http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/09/23/ columbine> (July 7, 2001). 18. “Columbine’s Rachel Scott May Have Said Yes,” Associated Press, December 16, 1999. See also Kevin Simpson, “Apology to Rachel’s Kin ‘From the Heart,’” Denver Post, April 21, 2000: A-08. 19. Jefferson County, Colorado, Sheriff’s Office, The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Report, Columbine High School Shootings, April 20, 1999 (Golden, CO, 2000), CD-ROM. CHAPTER 1 1. Kenneth L. Woodward, “The Making of a Martyr,” Time, June 14, 1999: 64. This seems to be the only time Ruegsegger was cited as hav- ing a God-conversation with the killers. She has never made such claims. See Janna L. Graber, “Kacey’s Comeback,” Family Circle, April 18, 2000: 66–70. 2. Franklin Graham, Remarks at the Columbine Memorial Service, April 25, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado; see the “Yes, I Believe” web site at <http://YesIBelieve.com>; Andrew Guy Jr., “Victims Parents Rely On Their Faith,” Denver Post, April 24, 1999: A3; Eileen McNamara, NOTES | 163 “A Martyr Amid the Madness,” Boston Globe, April 24, 1999: A1; Claire Martin and Janet Bingham, “Cassie Bernall, Girl’s Faith a Bea- con to Those She Left,” Denver Post, April 23, 1999: A6; Albert Gore, Remarks at the Columbine Memorial Service,April 25, 1999, in Little- ton, Colorado. 3. Franklin Graham, Remarks at the Columbine Memorial Service, April 25, 1999, in Littleton, Colorado. 4. Quoted in Maria Hinojosa, “Colorado School Shooting: Cassie Bernall, a Teenager Who Simply Said ‘Yes,’” CNN Today, Cable News Network, April 26, 1999. 5. Quoted in Larry B. Stammer, “Slain Student’s Act of Faith Inspires Nation’s Christians,” Los Angeles Times, May 4, 1999: A1. On the April 21, 1999, edition of Larry King Live (Cable News Network), Mickie Cain, a Columbine High School student, gave essentially the same account, but she had the killers asking about “faith in Christ.” Cain also said that she was not present when Cassie was killed. The Reverend Jerry Falwell cited Cain’s account in an appear- ance the next day. But he changed the killer’s question to “Is there a believer in Jesus Christ in this room?” Falwell reported Cassie’s re- sponse as, “Yes, I’m a believer.” Jerry Falwell, interview by Geraldo Rivera, Rivera Live, CNBC, April 22, 1999. 6. “From Tragedy Comes Faith,” Copley News Service, June 10, 1999. A very similar exchange is also attributed to Rachel Scott. See Bruce Porter, The Martyrs’ Torch: The Message of the Columbine Massacre (Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., 1999), 53. 7. Thomas Winters, “About Cassie,” undated, <http://homepages.go. com/~thomaswinters/cassie.html> (January 30 2000). 8. Nancy Gibbs, “Special Report: The Littleton Massacre,” Time, May 3, 1999: 25. 9. Joshua Lapp quoted in Misty Bernall, She Said Yes:The Unlikely Mar- tyrdom of Cassie Bernall (Farmington, PA: Plough Publishing House, 1999), 12–13. See also Carla Crowder, “Martyr For Her Faith,” Denver Rocky Mountain News, April 23, 1999: 5A; Eileen McNamara, “A Martyr Amid the Madness,” Boston Globe, April 24, 1999: A1; Wendy Murray Zoba, “‘Do You Believe in God?’: How Columbine Changed America,” Christianity Today, October 4, 1999: 36. 10. See Beth Nimmo, Darrell Scott, and Steve Rabey, Rachel’s Tears:The Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 91–92; Darrell Scott and Steve Rabey, Chain Reaction: A Call to Compassionate Revolution (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), 126; Porter, Mar- tyrs’ Torch, 53; Michael W. Smith and Gary Thomas, This Is Your Time: Make Every Moment Count (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), 11–12; Darrell Scott quoted in Julia Duin, “3,100 164 | THE MARTYRS OF COLUMBINE Hear Story of Columbine,” Washington Times, April 2, 2000: C1; Brent High, “God Used A Toothache,” Rachel’s Journal, January 2000: 11. 11. See Zoba, “Do You Believe in God?” 36; “Who Will Go In Her Place?” undated <http://www.acquirethefire.org/s2kmissions/rachel. htm> (June 24, 2000); Susanna Nikula, “Does It Echo?” Rachel’s Journal, February/March 2000: 13; Bob Larson, Extreme Evil: Kids Killing Kids (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), 16. 12. See Untold Stories of Columbine, Darrell Scott, 80 min., Gateway Films, 2000, videocassette; Darrell Scott and Beth Nimmo, inter- viewed by Cynthia Bowers, 48 Hours, Columbia Broadcasting Sys- tem, June 10, 1999.