QUOTE WICHITA, Kan. – Dr. George Tiller, one of the nation's few providers of late-term abortions despite decades of protests and attacks, was shot and killed Sunday in a church where he was serving as an usher. UNQUOTE
Now, I am no friend of the "abortion for any reason, any time" mentality. I consider myself to be the most pro-choice of pro-lifers, and the most pro-life of the pro-choicers. I can get into a verbal sparring match with both sides with equal enthusiasm. It isn't a black-and-white issue, it is an issue with many many shades of grey in between, with nuance and condition and situation all weighing in.
But it really isn't anyone's business but mine and my spiritual director's, now is it? It has always been patently evident to me, intuitively obvious to the most casual observer, as Father Paul Brown used to say "back in the day", that a person of ethics and morals, whether Christian or something else, is basically to be anti-war, anti-death penalty, pro-life and basically oriented towards an approach which values kindness and respect of others above all.
I simply cannot imagine a mindset which can justify murder. I also cannot fathom a mindset which would pronounce, as has Randall Terry, that he is more concerned with Obama's reaction than with Tiller's murder. In his comments, Terry does not grieve for Tiller or denounce the murder but seems more concerned about President Obama's reaction and what it bodes for the pro-life movement.
A dark day for America, and a very black day for the pro-life movement.
As far as use of force goes, say I was a psycho criminal, as I see it you'd have to wait until I was about to commit the act, and you have to believe there is no other recourse. Just because you believe someone is going to kill doesn't mean you can use lethal force. Plus the force used at the very moment of intercession to prevent whatever crime, should be as minmal as possible. Legal injunctions, lawsuits, even a sit-in or a occupation of the offices. Nonviolent civil protest.
Further, this will not go to any greater good. Another doctor will graduate from medical school and take his place. Twenty will take his place. The way to end abortion is through love, prayers, conversion of hearts, and gently changing people's worldview.
"In a Catholic worldview, every person is a child of God, and has an inherent value before Christ, and that includes ourselves. We should strive to see that - as well as Christ - in everyone. And animal and plant life, while we have dominion over it, are to be treated with respect and not used and thrown away. If people had this worldview, at least partially even if they were not Catholic, they would value life as sacred and abortion as evil would necessarily follow. St. Francis of Assisi is a great example of what type of worldview will change all of this."
- Quis Ut Deus, May 31,2009
Whoever murdered Dr. Tiller, and whatever the reason they had for murdering him might be, they are NOT pro-life. His killer is pro-death. They took into their own hands who would live and who would die. Catholics are not to do this.
I offer my heartfelt condolences to Dr. Tiller's family and friends, and I pray for his immortal soul as well as the soul of his slayer. May God have mercy on us all.
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