October 24, 2001
'Chain reaction of compassion'
Father of student killed at Columbine speaks out in Traverse City
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
"God intended us not to weep over Rachel's death, but that her chain reaction of compassion would continue."
With his straightforward manner and emotional honesty, speaker Darrell Scott both moved and inspired his audience as he used words, pictures and music to share his daughter's short life.
The father of Rachel Joy Scott, one of 13 people killed at Columbine High School in April of 1999, Scott spoke Wednesday to an audience of students at Traverse City St. Francis High School during the day and a public audience of more than 120 people that evening.
His appeal for love, compassion and spiritual renewal as an answer to the violence in the world rang true to many - especially the youth he is trying to reach.
"This talk just makes us realize that anger and violence are not the answer for anything," said Allison Vlach, a tenth-grade student at St. Francis High School. "Hearing it was just like a blow in the face, with all the danger in the world."
Vlach and some friends had heard Scott speak in the morning, but were inspired by Rachel and her message to come to his evening presentation.
"I think this is one of the most moving things I have ever experienced," said Corey Maslowski, a tenth-grade student at St. Francis High School. "She was a true Christian."
While losing a child was crushing, Scott said he has found comfort and closure after examining his daughter's diaries, talking with her friends and even receiving a phone call from a complete stranger detailing a dream about his daughter. Scott discovered that the images in that man's dream closely matched two drawings Rachel had made, one six months before she died and one just 30 minutes before. He began to believe that her life - and death - had a greater purpose.
"For our family, God allowed us to have some answers that provided comfort in our suffering," said Scott, who also wrote a book about his daughter's life and death, 'Rachel's Tears.' "If we look with eyes of faith, we can see beyond the tragedy. Rachel only lived 17 years, but her purpose here was complete."
Scott said Rachel always believed that she was going to both change the world and die young. The many writings, drawings and poems she left behind revealed a deep religious faith coupled with a boundless zeal to help others. She exuded love, warmth and compassion to everyone she met, he said. Even strangers had their lives changed by a brief encounter with her, he discovered after her death.
Drawing a parallel to the terrorist attacks of September 11, Scott said he realized after his daughter's death that guns did not kill Rachel, evil did. Especially in light of the terrorist attacks, Scott exhorted his audience to call evil by its name, to not fear the truth or shrink from using the word.
"Guns are not the issue, it is the people who allow evil to grip their hearts who are," said Scott, whose son, Craig also faced death that day in Columbine though, for some reason, the gunmen did not pull the trigger. "The problem on September 11 is not buildings or airplanes, again it was the evil that gripped the hearts of some people."
Now on a mission to share his daughter's vision of peace and love, Scott speaks all over the country and world. He has testified before Congress and appeared on network television to promote prayer, love and compassion as a way to prevent future Columbines.
A self-educated constitutional scholar, Scott detailed for his audience extensive research on the separation of church and state, saying the Constitution has no such language in it. Determined to ferret out this nationwide misunderstanding, he said that religion was an integral part of education until the last century.
The violence of the past few decades, especially in the schools, reflects life without it, noted Scott.
"My daughter was killed at a school where there was not even a Bible in the library," Scott said. "If one woman, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, could get them all removed, then I believe that one grieving father can get them back."