It has been exactly one week since Dr. Amy Bishop, a brilliant biologist unloaded her 9mm clip into the bodies of six of her colleagues, snuffing out the lives of three of them. Two more were wounded and moving toward healing, and one is still in critical condition, having taken a shot to the head.

It has been exactly two weeks since Todd Brown, a Discovery Middle School ninth grader was shot and killed by a fellow student, the result of gang activity.

Our area, as Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle recently noted, has so often been thought of as a sort of "Mayberry," where evil just doesn’t occur on an epic level. The last two weeks have proven otherwise, and sadly, there has become a sort of callousness to school shootings committed by students. The last decade plus, commencing with Columbine, has made us on the one hand more aware of the angst of adolescence, and on the other somewhat resigned to it. So, I admit, I was sad about Todd Brown, but not as alarmed as I used to get, and part of me wishes that I did.

Dr. Amy’s assault, on the other hand, inspired me to take advantage of the grief counseling service offered by UAH for the community. I didn’t want to take away from the time that may be needed by a student, parent, or faculty member, but as I knew my boss was backing me on writing this article, I wanted to see if I could kill two birds with one stone—sort out my own dismay and anger, and perhaps write something that could do the same for the readers.

From time to time I teach voice lessons, and my student and friend Josiah, who attends the same fellowship as do I, is a freshman at UAH. He was in the Shelby Building in the morning before the attack. Although I knew he was ok, I just needed to hear it from him. We had an interesting conversation, and as this kid is wise beyond his years, I was fascinated by his take on the situation. "First of all, people need to realize that there was nothing that anyone could have done to prevent this." I knew he was right. If a person comes to the place that they are willing to swap their own life for a kill, (which I can only assume was the case with Dr. Amy, even though she emerged physically unscathed,) there is nothing anyone can do. There was a part of him that was relieved that the crime wasn’t committed by a student, and a part that had to contend with the betrayal of a sacred trust that an authority figure would so horribly abuse their position .His feelings matched mine. He said that one of the things that he loves about UAH is its openness, and he hopes that it doesn’t become "closed" because of the actions of someone who is either evil, insane, or maybe both. He also wishes he could exercise his 2nd Amendment rights while on campus. Having spent 3 years in Baghdad, I did not find that shocking.

I was blessed to have more than an hour’s time, one on one, with a woman on loan from Athens State University counseling office, and found we had much in common, in particular a great respect and affection for Dr. Scott Peck’s seminal work on evil, entitled People of the Lie. It is not an easy read, but if someone were going to dig into an academic work on the topic, this one is "it." It also is consistent with the message of Scripture: evil exists in all its hideous, maniacal strength, and we must overcome evil with good. "I am so angry with this woman," I told her several times. "I am, too," she replied. Somehow that comforted me the most, the fact that she was contending with her own anger in the midst of helping others with theirs. I used to experience the same kinds of things while in Iraq. "Ali, this was evil. It was a People of the Lie type of situation. It was pure selfishness, and it will never make sense." Well said. I told her at the beginning of our time together that I wanted to give her a voice in helping the people of Athens as well, and as a wise counselor, she asked me what I would say to them. "I would tell them to become an expression of good to offset the evil, so that this can never happen again." She nodded in agreement and added, "Take care of yourself, body, soul, mind and spirit, and take care of others, so you have the strength to make a difference. Talk lots and keep talking with as many people who need it, as the full force of this isn’t going to hit for several months."

I was comforted by the fact that she believed, one way or another, that Dr. Amy would be held fully accountable for her actions, either by civil law or something higher. She also said, and I know it’s true, that "all of us have a Hitler inside us." We do, and it’s why we need and keep needing a Savior.

"Overcome evil with good." Strong, glorious words from Jesus, and now we are hearing that in the midst of the carnage, Dr. Debra Moriarity, a colleague of Dr. Amy’s, demonstrated the kind of love that was willing to "lay down [her] life for [her] friends, and even a possible Judas. She tried to talk Dr. Bishop into putting the gun down, offering to help her, and instead Dr. Amy tried to put two bullets into Dr. Debra’s chest. Thankfully the clip was empty, and Dr. Debra was spared. What I have learned is that when evil roars, good refuses to be silenced even though it may be quieter. We all can choose to silence our "inner Hitler," and let the strength of good prevail. That is what I expect to come out of this mess. By grace UAH, and we, will "charge on."