The cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller on Sunday morning presents the pro-life movement in America with a crucial moral test — will we condemn this murder in unqualified terms?
I sincerely hope so. It takes a bad situation and makes it even worse. Read it all.
Update: The National Right to Life statement is here:
The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nation’s largest pro-life group, today condemned the killing of Dr. George Tiller. The following statement may be attributed to NRLC Executive Director, David N. O’Steen, Ph.D.:
National Right to Life extends its sympathies to Dr. Tiller’s family over this loss of life.
Further, the National Right to Life Committee unequivocally condemns any such acts of violence regardless of motivation. The pro-life movement works to protect the right to life and increase respect for human life. The unlawful use of violence is directly contrary to that goal.
The National Right to Life Committee has always been involved in peaceful, legal activities to protect human lives threatened by abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. We always have and will continue to oppose any form of violence to fight the violence of abortion. NRLC has had a policy of forbidding violence or illegal activity by its staff, directors, officers, affiliated state organizations and chapters. NRLC’s sole purpose is to protect innocent human life.
NRLC will continue to work through educational and legislative activities to ensure the right to life for unborn children, people with disabilities and older people. NRLC will continue to work for peaceful solutions to aid pregnant women and their unborn children. These solutions involve helping women and their children and do not involve violence against anyone.
News reports so far contain many condemnations of this act by pro-life groups. I have yet to see any pro-life leader quoted as saying Tiller’s murder was okay. It wasn’t.
It’s also too early to say much about the killer. Until we know more about him and his motivations and connections, we should assume this is an isolated act by an unstable individual. Details will emerge in the next few days, no doubt. It was several days after the murders of several nursing home residents and a nurse in North Carolina before information about the shooter was made public. All sides should wait until the actual circumstances of this crime become evident before making statements other than to condemn the act.
Murder is not only wrong, it is justice denied. This murder was wrong and I am pro-life.
This grieves me as well and I am pro-life too. In fact this appears to be an act of terrorism.
On several occasions over the years, an abortion doctor has been killed by a husband or boyfriend [b][i]unaffiliated with any pro-life group[/i][/b] who was outraged at the death of his child with no prior discussion in which he was included.
Always all the reputable pro-life groups have condemned any act of violence. Often, however, the general media has failed to point this out, or to quote the condemnations. Sometimes, the condemnations have been briefly mentioned but only on page 43 or at the tail end of a news report on TV — the “under-reported” ghetto. I am glad to read that Katherine has seen a lot of coverage of the pro-life condemnations this time.
Of course murder is wrong, as all real “Pro-[b]life[/b]” [Hello?] will always say and believe. Angry, crazy people can join any group or claim any label and then do angry, crazy things. That does not mean that others in those groups want to have anything to do with such people.
However, the timing of this worries me. The new Homeland Security boss put “Pro-Lifers” on her “Watch-out-for-these-dangerous-subversives” list and has been criticized for doing so. So now some nut shows everybody that she wasn’t so wrong after all. Hhmmmm. Sorry, but sometimes being worried is not paranoia, it’s just paying attention.
I really hope that this nut job is not used as an excuse to start pressuring or threatening the Pro-Life movement. Keep on paying attention.
We cannot overcome evil by doing evil. We cannot put an end to murder by committing murder ourselves. When we are provoked to commit a sinful act out of anger, Satan wins.
Adam 12 wrote: “In fact this appears to be an act of terrorism.”
See, that’s just the conclusion that a lot of people are going to jump to — and the Pro-Life Movement will be identified with terrorism in some people’s minds.
This is a dangerous situation. I am Pro-Life, I have marched and worked against abortion on demand and will continue to do so. Does that mean I belong on some list, as the Homeland Security folks said a few weeks ago?
This guy was a homicidal maniac. NO genuine Pro-Life person would ever take a life or advocate for such an action. We are NOT terrorists. I hope that this gets said loud and clear.
I had written the following thinking to post it at StandFirm where there are now 200+ comments:
I am so old I can recall, and was shaped by, the socio-political climate in which nearly all abortions were illegal; when I was 19 it was legalized in NYS. From then on a two-front opposition has seemed to arise as this legal development spread across the nation: one was a non-violent pro-life movement spanning generations and the other, sporadic acts of violence against abortion practitioners. Perhaps it reflects a spectrum of mental stability in the population that some are literally driven mad at the ongoing taking of innocent life whereas others yoke together to oppose an immoral practise and strive to offset its consequences. Unfortunately, the one approach will almost certainly undermine the other.
And then I read on NRO a paragraph by Robert George at Princeton, who says it much better:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDM5NGYyYWMxZDY3NWFmYjhjZmJiNTI2YmRjZmRlYWE=
Tiller’s murder is just as wicked as the other 46.4 murders that took place yesterday (on average) in America.
The following statement was issued late yesterday on these events by the priest who oversees the Order of Holy Innocents, a fraternity of Anglican Priests for Life:
[blockquote]The Doctor who preformed many late term abortions apparently has had his life taken. I am not familiar with the deceased but Dr. Tiller’s actions were just as violent as his own end, “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword”. He is no hero for the cause of women’s rights but just the opposite. With all that said George Tiller was created, to be redeemed and Our God is merciful. If there was no evidence of his sanctified life, that is all we have to go with as humans. However in our country we have due process and Jesus said “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” To live by the sword outside just law joins one with the devil. The spirit of defense of self and family is part of God’s design in us but only with-in the limits of law. Some would argue that Roe vs. Wade being an unjust law would warrant such action, I don’t agree. The gift of Wisdom we were given at Confirmation helps us always to make judgments that first always seek non-violence. Certainly wisdom would suggest that many non-violent actions of groups have drastically changed the outcome of unfair and unjust laws of men. We must learn also to pray for those that persecute God’s children, that they will answer the call of the Holy Spirit to repentance.[/blockquote]
While I don’t quite agree with the tone in a few parts of this statement, as a member of OHI, I would stress the part about “George Tiller was created, to be redeemed and Our God is merciful.”
Random acts of violence only perpetuate more distrust and potentials for violence and reprisals within the very community to whom we are trying to instill the very notion that all life is sacred. Part of being Pro-life is being for life in all its forms, even those who themselves take life. Committing murder inside a House of the Lord is the very betrayal of everything it means to be Pro-life.
Archer, I agree with the tenor of your comment, but any “church” that would allow Tiller to be a member in good standing is no “House of the Lord.”
But yes, the murder of Tiller was wrong. My thoughts are particularly with any children at that church who are surely traumatized by this.
It’s a terrible thing when someone resorts to murder to try to prevent abortions, and at it’s core, it’s an embrace of despair. Lord, have mercy.
Opps, HTML autopilot kicked in.. Here’s the link:
http://shakingoffsleep.blogspot.com/2009/05/audacity-of-dispair.html
I totally abhor and disdain and condemn the act of murder against this man.
But the story does bring up two questions:
Three questions:
1. The doc was killed while being an usher at church. How can he claim to be a Christian and practice what he did the other 6 1/2 days of the week???
2. How could the Church leadership, knowing his occupation, allow him to participate in a Church leadership position (Ushers are seen as leaders by the laity)??
and
3. How can the man who killed him claim to be a Christian and do what he did???
A whole lot of people who go around claiming to be Christians are lying and are bringing dishonor on God’s Church.
In sadness,
Jim Elliott
Florida
Al Mohler’s blog entry is excellent. I also appreciate Robert George’s short commentary at the NRO.
[blockquote]Gravely Wicked [Robert P. George]
Whoever murdered George Tiller has done a gravely wicked thing. The evil of this action is in no way diminished by the blood George Tiller had on his own hands. No private individual had the right to execute judgment against him. We are a nation of laws. Lawless violence breeds only more lawless violence. Rightly or wrongly, George Tilller was acquitted by a jury of his peers. “Vengeance is mine, says the Lord.” For the sake of justice and right, the perpetrator of this evil deed must be prosecuted, convicted, and punished. By word and deed, let us teach that violence against abortionists is not the answer to the violence of abortion. Every human life is precious. George Tiller’s life was precious. We do not teach the wrongness of taking human life by wrongfully taking a human life. Let our “weapons” in the fight to defend the lives of abortion’s tiny victims, be chaste weapons of the spirit.
— Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University.[/blockquote]
from here:
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDM5NGYyYWMxZDY3NWFmYjhjZmJiNTI2YmRjZmRlYWE=
Someone over at the long thread at SFiF posted about the various good deeds Tiller did from time to time. What I wonder is how someone who is not entirely, always, evil could accustom himself to what he did to babies. We read many times about abortion doctors and nurses suddenly looking down at what’s on the surgical tray and realizing the full horror of what they’ve done. I grieve that neither Tiller nor his pastor and church associates seem to have come to that realization.
While most of us do not commit such flagrant sins, we do sin, and we do look past it to make ourselves feel better. Lord, have mercy.
I join in condemning this vigilante action but hope that perhaps some innocent babies will be spared as a result of what has happened.
i guess i would be more curious as to the thought processes and circumstances of the women who had those procedures done. what was happening in their lives or to their health that they deemed these abortions necessary? i have read that the late term necessity circumstances had to be confirmed by second opinion to be legally performed. this doctor was only one of three in the country to do these type. i find it hard to believe they were all done for conveniences’ sake. does anyone here know?
Katherine (#15),
I was wondering the same. It is ironic that this occurred in Kansas, a state forged in blood and the scene of one of John Brown’s [url=http://http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/contexts/kansas/jbrown.html]more infamous acts of vigilantism[/url]. There is a thread running through the history of the United States of vigilante “justice,” some instances less commendable than others, but all marked by a commitment to a “greater good” outside the existing bounds of law. Yet because it is safely buried in the past and it was all dedicated to the elimination of the “slaveholding South,” Brown can be presented – at least in the popular mind – solely as a crusader against an unmitigated social evil.
The critique of today’s abortion culture looks very similar to the 19th century indictment of slavery and yet in the latter case we commend those who were in their day labeled unbalanced fanatics. Perhaps there is something to be said for those much maligned gradualists and even for the advocates of colonization, not so much because their solutions were the correct ones but because they genuinely sought a solution to an ultimately insuperable problem.
Everyone has lost here. Tiller, his family, his church community, the killer and the pro-life movement itself.
[url-http://catholicandreformed.blogspot.co]Catholic and Reformed[/url]
Sorry,
The link doesn’t work as posted. Try [url=http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/contexts/kansas/jbrown.html]this[/url].
Someone, help me out here. Isn’t Dr. Tiller the abortionist that was excommunicated from LCMS a few years back and then received by ELCA? Excommunication is supposed to lead to repentance and reinstatement. At least that is how I understand Biblical teaching on church discipline. If this is the same dr., an attempt was made to help him turn his life around. Frances Scott
#18, i am from kansas and can attest to a giant mural of john brown in the capital . he’s got pretty crazy looking eyes in it though. i wouldn’t think ‘hero’ now from first glance and i don’t think the accompanying blurb really portrays him as such(i cannot quite remember). also there is one dude with a church up there that demonstrates round the country with signs that read ‘god hates f**s’, even at funerals. my family and friends always cringed with embarassment when he/they were mentioned on national news. sad to say lot of loonies in my ol’ hometown…but also mother earth magazine is published there and who can forget the wizard? kansas is complicated.
Yes, #20, it does appear the LCMS excommunicated him.
Jeffersonian, thanks…sometimes my memory slips a cog, but I remember an article posted here or on standfirm some time ago and I an quite sure it was about this doctor.
“LITTLE ROCK, Ark — A man with “political and religious motives” killed a soldier just out of basic training and wounded another Monday in a targeted attack on a military recruiting center, police said. The shootings were not believed to be part of a broader scheme.” This from Fox News. Police arrested Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, previously known as Carlos Bledsoe, and charged him with first degree murder. Why is the Tiller murder, indefensible as it is in every respect but committed by a lunatic, laid at the door of Pro-Life people while this equally indefensible murder of a serving soldier by someone with “political and religious motives” ignored? If Tiller’s murderer discredits the Pro-Life movement, why doesn’t this murder in Arkansas equally discredit pacifism or Islam? Can anyone spell “double standard?” Can anyone in the media even recognize it?
[i]Can anyone in the media even recognize it? [/i]
Recognize it? they propagate it.
And on the subject of the need for personal introspection, [url=http://community.feministing.com/2009/05/boston-vigil-for-dr-tiller.html]here[/url] is a notice about a vigil to mourn Dr. Tiller to be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Boston. The notice says his murder is “a tragedy for the women who need his care and for the
entire community of health care providers and advocates, and for all of us who believe in a woman’s right to dignity and self-determination.” The notice apparently comes from a feminist group, but the event will be held in an Episcopal church, presumably with knowledge and permission.
Dr. Tiller was excommunicated by the LCMS congregation he was a member of. He was then accepted into the membership of an ELCA congregation. Such decisions are made by individual congregations, and not the denomination. And, yes, I am confident that, particularly given his public position, there are plenty of ELCA congregations (perhaps even others in the same city) that would not have received him into their membership.
[url=http://pastorzip.blogspot.com]spt+[/url]