CASE STUDIES #4: Religion in Media/Modern World
By: Matthew Tsuda
On
The article I’ve chosen to
analyze is an internet article published by the magazine/organization Focus On
The Family, and it’s directly regarding the Christian significance behind
Cassie’s tragic and yet inspirational death.
The article starts off by explaining what happened on that dreadful day
in April, but then moves on to reminisce about her past life (her
testimony). The article states that when
Cassie entered high school, her parents realized that she was at an awful state
of her life. Her grades were plummeting,
she hung out with a bad group of friends, and she got into immorally dark vices
such as satanic spells, murder talks, and even thoughts of suicide. Cassie’s parents, Brad and Misty, were
extremely worried about her and decided to enroll her in a Christian private
school. But as time lingered on, the
Bernalls realized that Cassie was only getting worse. She became very angry and bitter towards God
and her parents, she smoked pot, and she listened to malicious and evil types
of music. The Bernalls were greatly
concerned with what to do with Cassie next, but then three months after Cassie
changed schools she asked her parents for their permission to allow her to
attend a youth retreat with a close friend of hers. Her parents decided just to allow her to go,
and miraculously, after that retreat weekend things wondrously changed for
Cassie. Cassie said it was if God
captured her very heart during that spiritually gaining weekend. When she saw her mom the first thing she said
was, “Mom, I’ve changed. I know you are
not going to believe it, but I’ll prove it to you.” Following that one weekend Cassie kept up her
word and her new life was abided in Christ.
She then decided to switch to
The article then goes on to talk about how Misty decided to publish a book revealing the amazing life and death of her daughter, Cassie, and the article discusses how very important it was for Misty to share the good news of her daughter’s life- changing story. The famous book is titled She Said Yes and it not only deals with Cassie’s death, but also expresses the miracles experienced in Cassie’s life. The article ends by declaring the goodness that has resulted from this calamity, and how through it all, it has lead many non-believers to Christ. Though Brad (Cassie’s father) admits that this tragedy is still a suffering loss to him and an unspeakably painful affliction to endure, the article still stays strong with the truth that the Bernalls still have so much hope in the Lord. They have given it all to Him and have faith that it’s all in His hands.
In this moving and soul touching
article, there’s many religiously meaningful aspects in it that endeavor to
express God’s purpose within seemingly senseless tragedies, such as the
Columbine massacre. The article also
contains many other religiously significant aspects in it, such as even the
first quote bolded underneath the article’s title, which states “Honestly, I
want to live completely for God. It’s
hard and scary, but totally worth it.”—Cassie Bernall,
The religious pinnacle of the
article, however, is the fact that an abundance of goodness was resulted from
this tragedy. For example, the hopeful
plot of book She Said Yes touched thousands of lives, and it even
brought some teens to actually convert to Christianity. Some of Cassie’s old friends even went so far
as to approach Misty and Misty said that, “One of them had turned her life to
Christ. It was amazing to talk with
these girls because I thought they hated us for what we did [pulling Cassie
away from them].” Another man came up to
the Barnells and the Barnells said that “He had been asleep in his faith for 25
years; this [Cassie’s inspiring story] awakened him and he would never fall
asleep in his faith again.” All of this
supports the fact that God’s purposes are also perfect, even if it’s hard to
cope with or understand. This article
shows that God can definitely work through something seemingly bad and make it
so good. The Bible passage of Proverbs
All in all, I found this article to be very heart-rending and powerful. It was beautifully written, and the words of this article truly conveyed the mightiness of God and how He can totally change somebody’s life from darkness to effulgence (Cassie’s life changed after going to the retreat). The article also revealed some of God’s purposes and intentions behind such a terrible tragedy like the Columbine atrocity. Through Cassie’s bold and courageous martyrdom, it not only declared her faith to the world, but it also spread the word of faith amongst both Christians and non-Christians.
Bibliography
World
Wide Web:
Vinley, Andrea. “Focus On
The Family.” She Lived Yes. http://www.family.org/fofmag/pf/a0010703.html (8, April 2003).
Holy Bible:
Barker, Kenneth, ed. The NIV Study Bible.
Corporation, 1985.
ARTICLE:
She Lived Yes
by Andrea Vinley
|
Honestly, I want to live
completely for God. It's hard and scary, but totally worth it. —Cassie
Bernall, |
It's
been one year since Brad and Misty Bernall, along with 14 other families, had
their world shaken by
In
the midst of the chaos, however, inspiration emerged from a story about Cassie,
Brad and Misty's 17-year-old daughter. Cassie was in the library with several
students when two student gunmen turned it into a shooting gallery on April 20.
One of them approached Cassie, asking her if she believed in God. He shot her
when she answered yes. She died instantly.
The
irony is that Cassie herself was on a path similar to that of her killers. Nor
would she have been at Columbine if her parents hadn't tried to rescue her from
that path by pulling her out of another high school just two and a half years
earlier.
Dwelling in
darkness
When
Cassie hit ninth grade, her parents noticed her slipping away. Her grades were
falling; she was skipping school and hanging out with students who did the
same. Brad said her personality changed; she wasn't the gregarious, outgoing
young lady they had known. When asked if everything was all right, the answer
was fine. "I kept thinking maybe this is just normal teenage rebellion,
yet something kept nagging at me," Misty said.
|
The
irony is that Cassie would not have been at Columbine if her parents hadn’t
pulled her out of another high school just two and a half years earlier.
|
Misty
was right. One day in December 1996, after quitting her full-time job to spend
more time with Cassie and their son, Chris, Misty went into Cassie's room to
look for a teen Bible. Instead she came across some letters written between
Cassie and her best friend. They were full of sex talk, gory drawings, satanic
spells, suicide and murder. Though they were just letters, Misty and Brad took
them seriously. So did the sheriff when he read the girls' plans of killing
their parents.
That's
when the Bernalls decided to enroll Cassie in a private Christian school. But
it was a long haul to bring Cassie out of the darkness she was dwelling in.
"On top of this, we began regular searches of her room and backpack,
monitored her use of the phone and forbade her to leave the house without our permission,"
Misty said. They also allowed her no contact with her old friends. The only
thing Cassie was permitted to participate in was youth group at
As
time went on, the Bernalls realized Cassie's descent into darkness had gone
beyond notes between friends. She was filled with hate and anger toward God and
her parents, which was expressed by her smoking pot, drinking, mutilating herself
with metal objects and listening to music with dark, evil messages.
Turning around
Three
months after Cassie changed schools, she asked permission to attend a youth
retreat with a new friend. "Cassie seemed to be making some progress, yet
we were still cautious and protective," Misty said. "The idea of
letting her go off for a whole weekend on her own seemed like an enormous risk
at the time."
But
that weekend things changed. God captured Cassie's heart. When the Bernalls
picked her up, she hugged her mom and said, "Mom, I've changed. I know you
are not going to believe it, but I'll prove it to you." Her parents kept
their guard up, but it was true. Cassie had found new life in Christ. Later
that year, at Cassie's request the Bernalls let Cassie enroll in
Mixed emotions
"We
knew Cassie had a story before April," Brad said. "Misty had hoped
that when Cassie was older the two of them could speak with parents and
teenagers and share her story. "Once Columbine happened, we felt the only
way that we can tell this story now is through a book."
So
Misty wrote. Friends of Cassie's and her youth leader contributed, and now the
journey from darkness to brilliance is recorded in She Said Yes.
|
One
weekend things changed. God captured Cassie’s heart. When the Bernalls picked
her up from a retreat, she hugged her mom and said, “Mom, I’ve changed. I
know you are not going to believe it, but I’ll prove it to you.”
|
"We
realized Cassie's life had come full circle," Misty said. "We thought
that was important to share, especially with parents. No matter how troubled
your teenager is or how bad things are, there's always hope for change." A
portion of the proceeds from the book's sales go to the Cassie Bernall
Foundation. The West Bowles youth group is the primary benefactor, but as the
foundation grows the Bernalls would like the finances to be able to help other
youth-related ministries and provide scholarships.
For
now the story is a ministry on its own. The responses have been overwhelming.
"Misty and I have gotten many letters from hundreds of kids who have
turned their lives either back to the Lord or to the Lord for the first
time," Brad said.
The
Sunday night before Cassie's funeral, Christian musicians Steven Curtis Chapman
and The Kry performed at West Bowles. Afterward three girls approached Misty.
"They said, ‘We're some of Cassie's old friends.' " Misty said.
"One of them had turned her life to Christ. It was amazing to talk with
these girls because I thought they hated us for what we did [pulling Cassie
away from them]."
As
the word of Cassie's declaration of faith has spread, people have come to God
through that as well. "Right after the funeral a man came up to me, tears
streaming down his face," Brad said. "He just wanted to let me know
that he had been asleep in his faith for 25 years; this awakened him and he would
never fall asleep in his faith again."
"But
in the entire scope of things," Misty said, "what was said in the
library doesn't make a difference to us. It's just something that God has used
out of the tragedy."
Unfortunately,
it is still a tragedy in the Bernall home. Chris, 16, is being home schooled
this year because it was too hard to go back. And there are still a lot of
tears. "We still suffer loss every single day," Brad said.
"We're still left with great, haunting questions."
But
there is hope—from the impact on others' lives to the way the entire community,
both Christians and nonChristians, have taken care of them by feeding them,
praying with them, doing housework and taking care of funeral arrangements.
"I
was drying my hair one morning and I heard God tell me that he had been
grooming Cassie all along for something like this, and it had to be big,"
Misty said. "If it wasn't big, then no one would listen.
"It
has been difficult to stand on that at times, but when I start getting really
upset I remember what Cassie said when we were discussing how awesome heaven
would be: ‘Wouldn't you be happy for me? You'd know I was in a better place.'
"