We’ll need every pro-life group to stand up and condemn this:
Within hours of the Sunday murder of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller, several leading pro-life groups genuinely and thoroughly condemned the killing. The reiterated the fact that, while they opposed the abortions Tiller did, they equally oppose the use of violence and death as a solution….
“Kansans for Life deplores the murder of Dr. George Tiller, and we wish to express our deep and sincere sympathy to his family and friends,” KFL director Mary Kay Culp told LifeNews.com immediately after the shooting. …Our organization has a board of directors, and a 35 year history of bringing citizens together to achieve thoughtful education and legislation on the life issues here in Kansas,” she explained. “We value life, completely deplore violence, and are shocked and very upset by what happened in Wichita today.”
I’d echo those sentiments. It’s horrifying and I will pray for his family and friends.
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Brigitte adds: Absolutely and without reservation. As Andrea likes to say, we don’t kill to solve our problems.
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Rebecca adds: I can’t say it better than Robert George does in The Corner:
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.”
by 
It’s a profound contradiction to kill in support life. (Though, we don’t actually know who did this yet, as . Press conference is 4pm central time.)
While I do not condone violence, I do feel great pity for the man who shot Tiller. I believe that we will find out he was driven by insane rage, rage at a system that should have brought justice to Tiller before it came to this point.
To see a man acquitted of 19 charges of illegal practice in one hour’s deliberation by a jury, cries out for some kind of justice.
What we are seeing with this kind of skirting of the law, and the moves by Obama to bolster the abortion lobby, is bound to result in violence. People are becoming increasingly unhappy with the way things are being handled, and that is setting the stage for a revolution of some sort.
I don’t believe this is the end of violence, but we will probably see more as innocent lives are being disregarded completely by those in power.
I dunno but I’m having a hard time finding sympathy for a man who killed babies for a living then went to church on Sundays like a good hypocrite. As you sow, so shall you reap. I guess if I were a Christian I’d pray for his soul, but I’m not so I’ll just shrug my shoulders and go to the next story.
We do not fight evil with evil, but overcome evil with good. Regardless of the injustice committed, it is the sole right of the authorities to punish crimes. We don’t believe citizens should take Justice into their own hands, as Justice becomes polluted in the process.
It is most appropriate for Kansans for Life to step forward and condemn this, even if the truth isn’t fully known yet.
This is devastating. I just finished a blog condemning this sort of violence. I also commented on a super liberal blog that was trashing pro-lifers, so hopefully they will see not all of us are crazy.
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars… Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.”
I wholeheartedly concur with everyone in condemning the murder of Dr Tiller. The incident did however remind me of an interesting, tongue in cheek contribution by Robert P. George to a symposium on the topic of violence towards abortion providers:
“I am personally opposed to killing abortionists. However, inasmuch as my personal opposition to this practice is rooted in a sectarian (Catholic) religious belief in the sanctity of human life, I am unwilling to impose it on others who may, as a matter of conscience, take a different view. Of course, I am entirely in favor of policies aimed at removing the root causes of violence against abortionists. Indeed, I would go so far as to support mandatory one-week waiting periods, and even nonjudgmental counseling, for people who are contemplating the choice of killing an abortionist. I believe in policies that reduce the urgent need some people feel to kill abortionists while, at the same time, respecting the rights of conscience of my fellow citizens who believe that the killing of abortionists is sometimes a tragic necessity-not a good, but a lesser evil. In short, I am moderately pro-choice. ”
Robert P. George in First Things, December 1994
We should definitely voice our opposition to this murder. Nevertheless, as the quote above reminds us, we still hold the moral high ground when it comes to this subject and shouldn’t allow the pro-abortion lobby to shame or put us on the defensive.
Sigh.
So it begins: “With Tiller slaying, abortion opponents lose their moral standing”, Kansas City Star (at http://www.kansascity.com/news/columnists/mike_hendricks/story/1226548.html
Heaven help us all, on both sides of this corrosive issue. We could certainly use some help.
Argh. When Muslim terrorists blow up people, the MSM goes un non-stop about how we cannot judge all Muslims based on that (which is correct). When one person with a completely skewed idea of what being pro-life means goes off the deep-end, the MSM makes this guy the poster-boy for the pro-life movement.
Very frustrating!!!!
It is interesting to note that provincial Cdn governments were flying Canadian women to Dr. Tiller as so few doctors will perform late-term abortions.
“Canada without abortion. By choice.” And if you don’t accept that “choice”, we’ll force it on you by government violence. Lovely.
Robert – no one here has ever advocated locking women up for abortions or “gov’t violence”. What exactly are you talking about?
I wholeheartedly and passionately agree that murder is not the right response to any problem.
As the murderer in this case justified his actions by believing that in eliminating the abortionist, he would be protecting countless late-term unborn children (the most innocent and vulnerable members of society) who would have otherwise been aborted by the doctor, I am curious that this event has not inspired more discussion around war – perhaps the clearest example of how society justifies the murder of many people in the name of protecting the innocent and vulnerable.
I know many pro-life supporters who would argue that the murder of an abortionist is wrong, despite the deaths that result from their work.
On the flip side, these same anti-murder pro-lifers often support war that uses extreme violence to protect the innocent and vulnerable.
If murder is murder, then why do so many have difficulty condemning war with the same resolution that they condemn the murdering of abortionists?
I was struck with the irony of this when I read the sidebar of a newspaper in Jerusalem last year that was stating the massive support Israelis had for the McCain/ Palin team in the recent US election campaign. The sidebar continued with a brief descriptor of Palin that included the line, “Sarah Palin is best known for her strong pro-life and pro-gun views…” (and no, it’s not a stretch to tie her pro-gun views to her pro-war views – she was a strong supporter of war when ‘circumstances’ demanded it). I’m not flagging this in an attempt to bash Palin, but rather to emphasize how ‘normal’ it has become for us to use and hear the following contradictory terms as if they were not contradictory: pro-lifers are pro-war/ anti-war proponents are pro-choice.
Clearly, not all pro-lifers are pro-war and not all pacifists are pro-choice, but it seems to me that the majority of both camps take on such contradictory sentiments.
Why?
Thanks for your thought-provoking blog. Keep it up!
Jocelyn D., I am a Christian. On the second page of my Bible, I read that God created man in His image. On the third page, I read that the man rebelled against God and became corrupted. On the fourth page, I read that the very first child killed his only brother. On the fifth page, I read of more violence and the beginning of a violent civilization. By the seventh page, God determined to purge the earth of violence and begin again with Noah, apparently the only man to fear God in his time.
After the Flood, God blessed Noah just as He had blessed Adam. However, Noah was a fallen human being. God added a warning (and blessing) to Noah that was never necessary for Adam before the Fall: “Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man” (Gen. 9:5-6).
So I am a pro-lifer. Human life is special. Note that because it’s so special, the man who ends it forfeits his own life. Genesis 9:6 and the principle of justice demand capital punishment for the crime of murder. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans made abundantly clear that the exercise of vengeance is the state’s job because the civil government is God’s minister: “If you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil” (13:4).
So the civil government has the power of the sword. A farmer might beat it into a ploughshare, but the soldier only uses it to kill. The civil government, when it deals with evil-doers within its dominion, punishes crime. When it deals with evil-doers that attack from the outside, it must wage war. War is its solemn duty. The government has the responsibility to protect its citizens from violence both inside and outside of its borders. King David understood his job well (see Psalm 144; cf. 2 Sam. 22-23).
Thank God for soldiers who are willing to lay down their lives in order to kill the enemy who would destroy us. Yes, war is always a great evil, a cause of unspeakable misery, but war is sometimes a necessary evil. Until the last day of history, because of the corrupt nature of man, there will always be war. Readiness to fight is one of the greatest deterrents to the enemy. The United States has made a good showing in the past: “Walk softly but carry a big stick.” I fear that President Obama’s administration will greatly hurt its reputation. I greatly appreciate Prime Minister Harper’s respect for law and order in Canada.
Jon, I appreciate your reflections on the Biblical basis for war. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. However, they do not make me feel differently about murder – in any context.
I too am a Christian. I too am pro-life. I am also a pacifist.
There are many Biblical versus from which we can draw supportive arguments for war. There are also many from which we can draw supportive arguments for pacifism. My tendency and soul lean towards the teachings that emphasize love, forgiveness and mercy. And of course it’s pretty difficult to ignore the frank commandment, “Though shall not murder”.
I believe that we were made in the image of God. Yes, we are sinful. However, we have had grace extended to us. I believe that all things are possible with Christ – including following the path of peace towards reconciliation and justice rather than the path of violence. Justice does not demand violence. It demands mercy (Micah 6:8).
I am a Christian. To me, this means that as well as I can, I follow Christ and his example in all that I do. The Christ whose example I follow and who speaks into my heart is the man who loved the unloved, fed the unfed, cleansed those who society deemed unclean, stood up in defence of those who the church leaders of the day deemed sinful and unworthy of grace. He is the man who condemned the violent action of his own disciple who raised a sword while trying to defend his teacher. This is the Christ who brings me to my knees and who I am willing to commit my life to. This is also the Christ who fills me with hope and resolution that we should use our time on earth to be examples of love and reconciliation and peace instead of accepting that, “there will always be war”.
Jocelyn, Christ Himself said that there will always be war. In answering His disciples’ questions about the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of His return, He said that wars and rumours of wars were NOT a sign, implying that just as there have always been wars, there will always be wars. In today’s world if we don’t choose war, we may well be choosing Islam, i.e. submission to our conquerors.
You present a caricature of Christ. You must show His justice as well as His mercy. Justice is not mercy (and Micah 6:8 does not say it is; the meaning of “justice” there emphasizes doing what is right). Neither is justice violence. Justice is reward and retribution. Justice means “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” The punishment should fit the crime, i.e. capital punishment for premeditated murder.
The Christ was named Jesus, i.e. Saviour. He came to seek and to save. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Today is the day of salvation, but tomorrow is the day of judgement. Even in His first coming, the Christ cursed the false teachers of His day. He drove the money-changers out of the temple and knocked over their tables. When He comes again, He will deal out retribution, rewarding everyone according to his deeds.
Killing an enemy soldier in battle is not murder. Neither is it a transgression of the Sixth Commandment, “You shall not kill” (and see God’s command to kill almost immediately after He gave this commandment, Ex. 32:27). It is obedience to God’s minister, the country’s ruler, who is only protecting his people if he is properly fulfilling his stewardship. Right decisions and just wars are difficult to ascertain as we see in the case of President Bush’s Iraq war. Even a German soldier in Mr. Hitler’s army might easily have been fooled for as long as the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Chamberlain was. Desertion is a momentous decision.
The Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. He extends it by the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, the preaching of holy Scripture. Here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come, the heavenly Jerusalem. The kingdoms of this world, however, do engage in warfare, and their rulers have the God-given authority and responsibility to protect their citizenry. There are just wars, and Christians ought not to bury their heads in the sand. A husband and father should defend his family, and a countryman should defend his country.
King David said, “Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle” (Ps. 144:1). David wasn’t just speaking figuratively; he was a bloody man. And he spoke of his much greater descendant in similar terms: “The LORD says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet.’ … The Lord is at Thy right hand; He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations, He will fill them with corpses…” (Ps. 110:1,5-6; cf. Psalm 2).
The apostle John in Revelation described the ascended Son of David as having eyes “like a flame of fire” and a voice “like the sound of many waters.” “Out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength” (1:16). “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God… and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty” (19:15).
Yes, His sword is a spiritual sword, but it is not any the less real. It is, in fact, more dreadful because those who kill the body cannot kill the soul, but He can cast both body and soul into hell forever. Spiritual death and eternal death are more serious than physical death. Physical death is like a symptom; sin is the disease. The Christ fills me with hope because He has given me peace with God.
Jon,
Maybe I’m missing some of the nuances of your argument, but this line really struck me as problematic and I think it highlights a general problem with what you’re saying:
Notice… you’ve made arguments about Christ as a judge, but… Christ didn’t kill George Tiller. A human individual did.
Are you suggesting that Christians are all called to be judges themselves? And that each individual can wage a war and deal out retribution?
As Frank pointed out in a comment on another post, “just war theory hardly grants private individuals license to employ violence, even when it appears capable of bringing about a concrete good or preventing evil acts… Vigilantism, however, by its very nature violates the principle of legitimate authority when private individuals take it into their own hands to solve the problem.”
George Tiller’s murderer was not Christ. He was not God. He does not have the authority as an individual, from any coherent Christian ethic, to deal out retribution himself or to engage in that sort of vigilantism.
Vigilantism is not just war, and individual Christians are not called to be judges — Christ is the judge.
Please note, Blaise, that the “line” you quoted is actually two lines, the last sentence of one paragraph and the first sentence of the next.
No, no, No, NO! I am not a vigilante! And I had thought that I was very clear in my previous two comments, especially the first, that avenging is the job of God’s minister, the civil government. The murderer of Mr. Tiller took justice into his own hands. He was a violent murderer just like Mr. Tiller himself (according to God’s law). I agree with you.
Soldiers in a country’s army are not vigilantes. There are even international conventions for treatment of prisoners of war. Terrorists, however, are vigilantes, and the conventions do not apply to them.
I was concerned to correct what I believe to be Jocelyn’s misrepresentation of the Christ. The Christ fights a spiritual war. It has physical implications, but it is generally not fought with the same weapons. Actually, Christ has already won the war, but He is pleased to “mop up” through the Church that He is building and beautifying. They are His Christian soldiers, going as to war. They do fight, and they maybe even do judge, but with the tongue and the pen (so to speak, Eph. 6:17), not the physical sword. And they still are not vigilantes. King David, before he was a king, had the utmost of respect for King Saul, God’s anointed. And the great son of David is the Christ. “Christ” means “the anointed one.” At His anointing, God said, “This is My beloved Son; in Him I am well-pleased.” Christ is not a vigilante.
Thank you, Blaise, for emphasizing that Christians must not be vigilantes.
Ah, sorry, Jon. That was my mistake for a sloppy reading of your comments. I had falsely assumed that you were rationalizing Tiller’s murder in some way, but that was my fault for jumping to conclusions. Thanks for correcting me and clearing that up.
Interesting article that touches on the topics brought up in the last handful of comments on this page:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/holy-post/archive/2009/06/05/john-g-stackhouse-the-strange-double-standards-of-abortion.aspx
This act of Christian terrorism must be condemned by Christians in the strongest terms!
However, to suggest that this is rare is laughable.
Look at the world and you will see how much violence and terror is committed by Christians in the name of Christ or for alterior motives (stealing land, evangelizine non-Christians, etc.). From the Invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, to the support of Israeli Zionist terror, love of torture, to the stealing of Mid-East oil, to the support of wars in Latin America in the 1980s, Christians have been some of the most evil people in the world. While many blame the leaders (Bush, Cheney, Blair), the average Christian citizen is shamelessly supportive of these actions because the people dying or ripped off are non-White and non-Christian.
While Americans and Christians love to talk about the thousands dead in 9/11, they ignore the millions killed in Iraqi sanctions during the 1990s (for WMDs that weren’t their no less) or thousands killed in Israeli state-terror in Lebanon or Gaza. Hypocritical and self-righteous racists- as most Christians are- will be hated by much of the outside world! Their support of war and claims of being “pro-Life” while taking life and threatening all those who oppose them will result in Americans being hated in the US by non-Christians, as well!
Nonsense, Akhman! Why do you suggest that Mr. Tiller’s murderer was a Christian? And even if he was, his act of murder certainly was not “Christian terrorism.” In my last comment, I agreed with Blaise that Christians cannot be vigilantes. The apostle Paul wrote (Romans 12:19-21; 13:1), “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities.” But Mr. Tiller’s murderer’s principle association was anarchist. He said after the murder, “I want people to stop and think: It is not anti-government; it is anti-corrupt government.” The apostle Paul, however, said that “there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” At the time Paul wrote, Emperor Nero was probably in power. He was very corrupt.