Wednesday, December 5, 2001
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Wednesday, December 5, 2001 |
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Columnist should admit to Columbine's Bernall 'myth' I think columnist John W. Whitehead was wrong about the wisdom of allowing parents to post religious icons and messages in Columbine High School, but I'll defer to his expertise on that one. He's the one with a law degree. But I'm not going to let him keep telling the Cassie Bernall "myth" as if it were a reality. Clearly Whitehead's not a professional journalist (and perhaps Mr. Beverly is not a professional editor), because the fact-checking for Mr. Whitehead's column stinks. Salon.com ran two articles over two years ago debunking the Bernall story, which was so sickly sweet and anecdotal that any newsman should've been suspicious. Columbine survivor Emily Wyant told Bernall's parents, the Rocky Mountain News, and the FBI that the story wasn't true five months before the press would finally admit that they'd sold America a bill of goods. The real victim was Valeen Schnurr, a young Columbine student who was asked by one of the killers if she believed in God after she'd been shot. She lived to tell the story, which has been corroborated and endorsed by investigators in charge of the Columbine case. And while you're at it, Mr. Whitehead, your Rutherford Institute shouldn't deceive people, either: it is hardly "dedicated to the defense of civil liberties and human rights" in the comprehensive sense implied by your tagline. The ACLU actually defends every amendment delineated in the Bill of Rights; you guys are only concerned with a very particular reading of the first one. Isn't there something in the Bible about honesty? Brandon Butler b.butler@juno.com
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