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| 'Idealistic' U.S. Diplomat Mourned By John Kerry - The Inquisitr Posted: 07 Apr 2013 09:09 AM PDT An "Idealisitc" U.S. diplomat was killed this weekend in Afghanistan. John Kerry issued a statement mourning the death of Anne Smedinghoff, 25, and the five other people who were killed by militants on Saturday. Kerry met the young Chicago woman a few weeks ago when he was visiting Afghanistan. The U.S. Secretary of State said that he remembered the "selfless, idealistic" young diplomat who was working to donate books to students in the area. Kerry said: "Anne and those with her were attacked by the Taliban terrorists who woke up that day not with a mission to educate or to help, but with a mission to destroy. A brave American was determined to brighten the light of learning through books, written in the native tongue of the students she had never met, whom she felt it incumbent to help." Smedinghoff, who grew up in River Forest, a suburb just outside of Chicago, was killed by a suicide bomber in the center of Qalat in the Kabul province of Southern Afghanistan. An Afghan doctor, three soldiers, and another US civilian were also killed in the attack. According to News Day, Saturday was the deadliest day for the United States in the war in the last 8 months. Kerry described Smedinghoff, saying: She was vivacious, smart, capable, chosen often by the ambassador there to be the lead person because of her capacity … There are no words for anyone to describe the extraordinary harsh contradiction for a young 25-year-old woman, with all of her future ahead of her, believing in the possibilities of diplomacy to improve people's lives, making a difference, having an impact." Kerry added that the United States could honor Anne's legacy by continuing to work for peace. The Secretary of State added: "It is now up to us to determine what the legacy of this tragedy will be. Where others seek to destroy, we intend to show a stronger determination in order to brighten our shared future, even when others try to darken it with violence. That was Anne's mission." The young "idealistic" U.S. diplomat was also publicly mourned by her parents. Tom and Mary Beth Smedinghoff wrote in a statement to the Chicago Suntimes: "The world lost a truly beautiful soul today. Our daughter, Anne, a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, died in the service of her country as she was traveling with a group to deliver books to a local school in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan. She joined the Foreign Service three years ago right out of college and there was no better place for her. Anne absolutely loved the work she was doing. Her first assignment was in Caracas, Venezuela. She then volunteered for an assignment at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, which she began in July, 2012. Working as a public diplomacy officer, she particularly enjoyed the opportunity to work directly with the Afghan people and was always looking for opportunities to reach out and help to make a difference in the lives of those living in a country ravaged by war. We are consoled knowing that she was doing what she loved, and that she was serving her country by helping to make a positive difference in the world. She was such a wonderful woman–strong, intelligent, independent, and loving. Annie, you left us too soon; we love you and we're going to miss you so much." |
| First Take: Vitriol infests Warren family grief - USA TODAY Posted: 07 Apr 2013 06:55 AM PDT Pastor Rick Warren, the best-known name in American evangelism after Rev. Billy Graham, lost his 27-year-old son, Matthew, to suicide this week. Uncounted strangers have joined the 20,000 congregants who worship at the megachurch network "Pastor Rick" built in Southern California, Warren's nearly 1 million Twitter followers and hundreds of thousands of Facebook followers in flooding social media with consolation and prayer. But a shocking number are taking this moment of media attention to lash out at Warren on the digital tom-toms. The attacks are aimed at him personally and at his Christian message Some unbelievers want to assure Rick and Kay Warren, his wife and Matthew's bereaved mother, that there's no heaven where they'll meet their son again. STORY: Pastor Rick Warren's son commits suicide You can find, among hundreds of comments on USA TODAY's news story on Matthew's death, comments such as the Cincinnati poster who says, "Either there is no God, or God doesn't listen to Rick Warren, despite all the money Rick has made off of selling false hope to desperate people." In another comment, the same poster counsels Warren to "abandon primitive superstitions and accept the universe for what it is — a place that is utterly indifferent to us." Some rush to add pain to the Warrens' world because, in their view, he did not show sufficient compassion for the unremitting pain suffered by gay youths rejected by parents and peers. They were outraged when Warren took a political stand for Prop 8, which overturned legal same-sex marriage in California in 2008 and is now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Others have appointed themselves 140-character theologians in a debate over whether someone once saved can lose his or her salvation if suicide is against God's law. These posters, rather than waiting for Judgment Day, have ruled for hell. But Bruce Kwiatkowski of the University of Toledo posted on Facebook: "I appreciate what Pastor Ronald Cole said about the subject of Christian suicide. He said the Lord will say, 'We weren't expecting you yet...' " John Schuurman observed on Facebook that celebrity culture makes everyone "fair game" and the anonymity afforded by social media that allows people to "send out hate flames without any consequence." There are, however, people who won't let the vitriol unleashed on social media infect the little corners of the world under their own name. John H. Armstrong fought back on Facebook, saying, "I just blocked someone that I do not know from my wall for saying that Rick Warren's son went to hell. What is it with people being so sure that they know God's final judgment? I fear for people like this. This man added that Rick Warren was being judged for being a 'false prophet.' Pathetic, cruel and reckless all come to mind. If I've seen the evidence of a false prophet this comes close." A day ago, Warren tweeted to his 943,000+ followers: "We pray 'Thy WILL be done on earth AS IT IS IN HEAVEN' since in heaven God's Will is done #always On earth, it's done rarely." |
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