Customer Reviews

She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom Of Cassie Bernall

5 star:		(295)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(46)

 

 

I remember getting this book as birthday gift when I was 12 or 13, as the shootings occurred near my birthday (April 17) and initially I was moved by the book; little did I know it was a fabrication. But honestly, when I was that young, everything I knew about the Columbine tragedy was misconstrued by the media's false doings; I didn't know what REALLY happened. But now, I'm nearly 21, I'm doing a research paper on Columbine and I'm discovering what really happened. Yes, it's a tragedy that she died but why base a book on a complete fabricated LIE. She never said yes and she wasn't sitting in the library, but hiding underneath the tables. Also, as another reviewer mentioned, another girl (Valeen) said yes and wasn't killed. Harris and Klebold didn't kill her because she was christian, they simply killed her b/c she they felt like killing anybody that day; she was just one of their innocent victims. I find it utterly disgusting that her parents capitalized on her death based on a lie. Cassie was an innocent victim, NOT a martyr. I recommend reading any work by Dave Cullen, who was a reporter the day the incident occurred. He also has a new book coming out called 'Columbine.' I can't wait to read it to finally discover the REAL truth.

This book is not moving well in the neighborhood bookstores around the Columbine area, because everyone knows the truth is not contained between its covers. The girl who really DID say "Yes." has suffered for the printing of this book. It was dishonest for the publisher to proceed with publication once the police informed them of the truth. This book does a grave disservice to the memory of Cassie Bernall, trying to force her into false martyrdom.

Christians would have us believe that decades after the events of the life of Jesus that the New Testament was written with perfect accuracy. But the Cassie Bernall story shows how in only a matter of months, an urban legend has grown to suit the mythology of christianity.

The questions of whether Bernall said *anything at all* at the time of the shooting was known when the first stories broke. Now it's becoming more and more apparent that in the confusion of that tragic event, Bernall was confused with another girl.

Yet the christians want their martyr and the publisher is making money. Apparently "god" has blessed this story with cash and truth went to hell.

If christians can't even get a story right when the events are recent and have grown an urban myth to suit their beliefs, why should any of us believe the New Testament is accurate in the least?

This book is hype and myth with little to no substance. Even the Bernall family has issued an "apology" though they refuse to let go of this very profitable fiction.

The ninth commandment proclaims "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." It has been well proven that Cassie was never asked "the Question" that the exploiters of her death claim she was. Perhaps what Christians perceive as an intolerance of their faith stems from their arrogant view that their religion is the only true path to salvation and others (in fact the majority of people of faith)are wrong and will be eternally damned. Christian proselytizing also demonstrates this arrogance. Cassie was an victim of demented, hateful young men, not virulent anti-Christians. I would be interested in hearing from people defending this arrogance and hypocracy.

This book is a fraud. The Columbine shooting was based on a lot of incorrect information. It is a sad deal that Cassie had to die, but her story is being exploited by the Christian right. This book should be filed under "Fiction". Do not read this book based on the premise it is a true story!

--(New preface to this review.) Since this was first posted, some reviews by children have appeared here. From the look of them, they were presumably assigned by a teacher or teachers seeking to pad the number of five-star rankings. No mention is made that the title incident of "She Said Yes" is only a pretty story without foundation in fact. This abuse of young minds constitutes what even most Christians would judge to be aggrievated fraud. Jesus said it would be better for those who mislead the "little ones" to be drowned in the depths of the sea with a millstone around their necks. Judging from the children's reviews here, Stone Mountain in Georgia would have to pulled down to supply enough granite to cut all those millstones.

--(Original review) This April (2004), the results of a summit the FBI convened three months after the Columbine massacre were released. The panel included world-renowned mental health experts, among them psychiatrist Dr. Frank Ochberg of Michigan State University, and Supervisory Special Agent Dwayne Fuselier, a clinical psychologist and the FBI's lead Columbine investigator. The panel had full access to diaries, homemade videos, and other revealing materials left behind by the killers. Among other things, they concluded that Christians, including Cassie Bernal, were not singled out for execution. (Neither were jocks, nerds, or anyone else.) Eric Harris, the mastermind, appears to be a textbook case of a psychopath--utterly devoid of empathy or conscience, and killing indiscriminately. Dylan Klebold, on the other hand was troubled and easily led by Harris.

This only adds to the overwhelming weight of evidence found by investigators for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation that the title incident of this book is a Christian urban legend that never took place. What did happen was that one of the killers posed 'the question' to another girl, Valeen Schnurr, after she had already been wounded. They had a short exchange, he reloaded, and while he was distracted, she crawled away to safety.

Mr. and Mrs. Bernal cannot be blamed for trying to pull some meaning and comfort from such a horrible tragedy. What is nauseating is the sheer contempt for simple honesty shown by the publishers, their ghostwriters and publicity flacks, and assorted Christian teachers who try to use this young lady's casket as their soapbox. Yes, yes, after the truth started leaking out, the Bernals wrote (or had published over their names) a evasive statement that makes a vapid apology to anyone who was "hurt or offended" by the book. Instead of admitting they were wrong, they (and many reviewers here) take refuge in the possibility that it just MIGHT have happened as claimed--but it really doesn't matter anyway because the incident was only symbolic of Cassie's Christian faith. Hmmm. Can you imagine the uproar if a Christian fundamentalist released a book about the Resurrection concluding that it probably was a myth, but advising readers to pretend otherwise so as to draw more souls to Christ? The honest thing would have been to withdraw "She Said Yes" from publication and eat the loss, instead of continuing to hawk it as if the title incident really took place. Everyone seems clueless that all of this puts Christianity in a worse light than anything a religious skeptic could say.

More honest and honorable Christians may want to gently point out to their brethren that this book makes Christians look like credulous fools, not only to those horrible liberal secularists, but to conservative politicians who think they will swallow anything--such as trumped-up pretexts for starting a war.

This book is not moving well in the neighborhood bookstores around the Columbine area, because everyone knows the truth is not contained between its covers. The girl who really DID say "Yes." has suffered for the printing of this book. It was dishonest for the publisher to proceed with publication once the police informed them of the truth. This book does a grave disservice to the memory of Cassie Bernall, trying to force her into false martyrdom.

It has been proven that she never said 'yes' since the gunmen didn't ask her if she was a Christian. Instead of listening to the FBI and law enforcement officials a whole group of people are clinging to this story and using it as a cause to get behind.I find it sick,and sad, that there are people out there who beleive the whole 'goths are evil' media hype. Cassie was never 'goth'. She was just a teen who saw what the media's interpretation of goth was and decided to follow it like a lemming. If she was angry, depressed and listened to Marilyn Manson then she was nothing more than a normal angsty teen. It's sad that she died but the people using this book as a platform for hate disgust me.

I read this book and I have a right to my opinion.

The negative reviews are disappearing. All the more proof that there are people who do not want the truth told. Cassie never "said yes" and this is conclusive from the witness sitting next to Cassie and witnesses near Val Schnurr, the girl who by all reports did answer "yes" when confronted by the gunmen. The only person who said Cassie "said yes" became physically ill when investigators confirmed that he was pointing in the direction of Val Shnurr's table, not Cassie's.

But the point is to sell books and politicize a child's death. Regardless of what really happened. It's sad to see people profiting off of a tragedy.

Why would Misty Bernall sink so low and authorize (the publication) about her daughter's alleged admission in her belief in God when she was being killed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold last year. In fact another one of the victims, someone who survived the massacre, said yes. Misty Bernall is as low as the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, just trying to make fame and money off of her daughter's tragic death. I really think Ms. Bernall and the publishers should have thought twice in writing this book because this has caused much distress to a lot of people, including the young person who was in the library at the same time [of the massacre] and who actually said yes.