More than 4 million viewers watched "Amish Grace," the cable-TV movie I reviewed for NCR (see Without forgiveness, there's no room left for love). Starring Kimberly Williams-Paisley, "Amish Grace" is a fictionalized account of the events surrounding the October 2006 shooting at an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pa. Five of the girls died and the other five were seriously injured. The gunman, a local milkman, killed himself. A shocking tragedy.
But, as I wrote in my review, "we were in for an even greater shock: The Amish community, including the families of the dead and wounded children, forgave Roberts. They visited his wife, Marie, and offered their condolences to her and the couple's three children. As the Amish buried their daughters, the media watched. They questioned this deeply countercultural attitude of the Amish and were, at the same time, astonished."
The film premiered on the Lifetime Movie Network on Palm Sunday. It will continue to air this week.
Thursday, April 1:
8 pm ET / 5 pm PT and Midnight / 9 pm PT
Saturday, April 3:
8 pm ET / 5 pm PT and Midnight / 9 pm PT
Here is the relevant paragraph from Lifetime's press release: