Abortionist George Tiller Murdered
Yeah, I know I’m late with this story. Mostly I’ve been late with it because I really didn’t want to say anything about it. Look, no one thinks abortions are a good thing. And to make a career of doing the dirtiest job that even Mike Rowe wouldn’t do can’t be an easy or pleasant career path.
George Tiller never broke any of the laws in his home state of Kansas. Tiller deeply believed he was helping women, and his clinic was plastered with hundreds of thank you letters from women who were grateful that there was someone to turn to when they needed help. He continued to do his job even after being shot by someone who deeply objected to his career choices.
His offices were like a fortress. There were several security checkpoints, magnetometers, and armed guards. He needed it with the constant death threats, the angry protesters and the risk he took showing up to work every day. But even though he was reportedly earning over a million dollars per year, I still can’t grasp why he would do the work he did. He knew in the long run someone would get him.
Tiller’s church seemed to be the weak security link in his life and he was gunned down by a crazed anti-abortion guy named Scott Roeder while Tiller was going in to pray for his own beleaguered soul. No matter how you feel about abortion, this man’s murder was a horrible thing, and thousands of women whom he helped are mourning his loss.
But this loss should not be taken as an excuse by the pro-abortion crowd to dampen the rights of others to speak out against abortion, nor is his death the fault of those who criticized Tiller for his career choice.
Crazy leftists are saying Roeder is a terrorist, and is equating him with Al Queda. That’s preposterous. Roeder is a terrorist like Mark David Chapman was a terrorist. Meanwhile a Muslim man gunned down soldiers at a recruitment center and no one is calling that terrorism.
Francis Schaeffer, Frank Schaeffer’s son, apologized tonight for the years in which he used such heated anti-abortion rhetoric that he (and his dad) helped create a climate in which abortion providers are murdered. I suspect God convicted him for those comments that did so little to show forth the spirit of Christ. It behooves each of us to do some soul-searching ourselves.
The extreme fringe of the pro-life movement defames my Savior by misrepresenting who He is and falsely showing Him in a bad light. That hurts. All my telling my parents that they are wrong about Jesus and Christians was just wiped out by this murder – and the actions of those like Rev. Phelps who condemns the military for their “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy towards gays.
Remember that it was the Law that a woman taken in adultery be stoned. But what does Jesus do? Asks the angry crowd if there is any there without sin – let him cast the first stone. When the crowd melts away, does he condemn her – no, just gently tells her to go and sin no more.
Was Cain put to death after he murdered his brother? No, he was given a mark to protect him and exiled from the community. And what about David after causing Bathsheba’s husband to die in battle? Did God strike him? No, his consequences did not include death. So to act as judge and jury of George Tiller is deeply disrespectful of God’s nature and his call on our life.
Jesus is supposed to be the pattern for our life as Christians. So when non-believers see those who claim to be Christian behaving hatefully or violently, what are they likely to believe about Jesus? That He is hateful and violent? That He is worthy of following? Or that He is okay with torture or murder, if it’s for a so-called righteous cause?
As for the question of whether or not Scott Roeder is a terrorist or not, I believe he is because one of his purposes is to terrify other abortion providers to not perform them.
I agree with you Sue, but Scott Roeder is not a terrorist; neither are those that strap on a bomb and blow themselves up for Allah. The terrorist is the one that sends a fooled soul to his death, laughs and pats himself on the back. In biblical times the crowd was not made up of those who followed the right path, but rather those fouled with sin, hatred and self loathing; blinded by similar misquotings of the word of God. I’m going to use you as the perfect example and I don’t even know you, but I’ll go out on a limb here… 😉
Would you ever throw a stone at someone to hurt them, let alone kill them? See, I didn’t think so.
If all the children of God would just pay attention to the subtext, we’d all be better off… in other words, “judge not lest ye be judged.”
John Chapter 8
1Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
I wonder, what would Jesus think of Dr. Tiller and his murderer? Would he be proud of the comments of his followers? Would he rejoice in the actions done in his name today?
Now is the time for all Christians regardless of your position on abortion, to raise your voice in protest to those who would kill others in YOUR name!
Well put!
…Would you ever throw a stone at someone to hurt them, let alone kill them? See, I didn’t think so.
As a kid I did once, Robb, angry at my brother. Bonked him pretty hard. (I wasn’t raised a Christian.) I was promptly convicted of how wrong that was, and it became part of a long slow path that led me to long to be a better person and eventually to Christ.
But back to topic, I’ve been worrying for a long time at the huge increase in vitriolic, extreme speech on the airwaves. It seems to have much more power to turn people to the negative.
Did you see an interview with Roeder’s ex-wife? She said they were married happily for 10 years until he became obsessed with anti-government groups and anti-abortion groups. He turned angry and irrational. Some ideas are toxic – at least when on radio or TV where they bypass reason and go straight to emotions. So in a free society how do we restore civility to the airwaves?
Okay, I had to change the name of the prior poster in case anyone confused him/her with me. No one is murdering in anyone’s name other than his own. Abortion doctors get shot, just like rappers and late night 7-11 workers. It comes with the job. This is not a matter of Christian terrorism, nor is this a matter of hate speech on the radio. This is a case of vigilante justice.
And if Roeder became obsessed about abortion doctors it was because he was deeply disturbed and felt powerless, so he took the law in his own hands.
Ideas are not toxic, Susan. People who want to ban free speech are.
Hey Pat, I didn’t mean to imply that I oppose free speech.
But for someone whose wife says was once a nice guy to turn into an angry, violent man capable of murder, something got into him. What else but a toxic brew of ideas – undoubtedly used by Satan to divide Roeder from his original wholesome faith? The Screwtape Letters seem to me to have a lot to say here.
Christians are called to love one another, but he ended up hating another Christian brother and murdering him.
He seems to me to have taken his eyes off of Jesus and any commitment to live as his followers are called to do. Instead he spent too much time focused on the negative and his mind got drawn away into obsessive thinking.
There’s a reason the Bible tells us to think of whatsoever is noble, good, pure, and so forth (to paraphrase Paul). It helps us to draw closer to God. Conversely too much dwelling on evil draws us away from Him.
Of course prophets need to speak out about evils, so it’s a fine line to walk – made possible by constant returning to disciplines of the faith such as study, prayer, worship, acts of mercy, and talking things through with others active in their faith.
Yes abortion and torture need to be confronted as evils – and those who are involved in either one ought to be lovingly prayed for. God honors our prayers when our hearts are right – and righteous anger can easily betray us into angry, hard hearts.
As a favorite song says, he takes our hearts of stone and turns them into hearts for love alone.
Hearing more than one side can help one’s mind to retain some balance, or so I think. Then the Holy Spirit can help us sort through to the truth.
The danger, I believe, comes from constant bombardment of a very narrow set of ideas.
A media culture that allowed us to hear and consider a broader and more diverse set of views first of all would help us understand one others’ perspectives better, and maybe discover their ideas have some merit. I would hope that our conversation, relationships with others who differ from us, and maybe even some of our decisions would be improved.
So ultimately I advocate more free speech not less, in spite of being troubled by many of the hostile, rancorous, divisive things some on talk radio and TV spew so often. I think that kind of speech has a lot to do with the increasing level of rage and fear I’ve noticed for the last twenty years or so.
What I would like to see is a trend toward civility, where we discuss our disagreements without being nasty to anyone and where we strive to be open to one another’s personhood, and speak our disagreement gently. In other words, discussions where the Golden Rule is the norm.
I’m thinking mainly of social pressure and persuasion to change the tone. It’s heartbreaking to hear the ugly tone and shrill accusations on some of the airwaves – especially since I’m old enough to remember a time when that was very rare.
…OR Sue… Maybe Roeder was always a bad seed to begin with; no one wants to admit they were foolish enough to marry a complete loony tune, so they rationalize away behavioral indicators so they can better themselves in their own eyes… People do that all… the… time. It’s human nature. My favorite quote from any news scene where they interview the neighbor or the guy who just off-ed himself along with his family is “He was such a gentle quiet man and a great neighbor…”. That’s rationalization. That’s a quote from someone who chose not to see the signs
As for the media, when some Americans refuse to see the mistakes of the rest of the world and continue down a path that will ultimately damage the nation, those that recognize the foolishness tend to get a little uppity. In nearly all the media circles you’re allowed to speak your mind on anything as long as it agrees with their version of the Politburo. Otherwise they seek to stifle you through marginalization, misreporting and lying by way of omission. It takes a keen eye and a lot of time to see it, but as someone degreed in Radio and Television (and an ardent news hound) it’s blatant and constant; as well as annoying; especially when people who aren’t paying attention tend to raise an eyebrow when I speak. The eyebrow drops however when I prove what I say.
That being said, I have never heard anyone in the media on any station anywhere talk about how it would be good to go out and kill regardless of reason. If you want to talk about the media and it’s thinly veiled attempt to socialize America, then you have hit the nail on the head. If you’re talking about the media espousing hate and murder, then maybe you need to watch the news a little more. I mean no offense and I hope none is taken; it’s just that I don’t see it because it’s not happening.
He was a crack pot, end of story, lock him away.
Hi Robb,
Certainly no offense taken. I mostly agree with you here. I’m reminded of C.S. Lewis on this. Day by day people make choices that bring them closer to God, or farther away.
Whole segments of American society’s interests and voices are excluded and ignored by the huge conglomerations that own most of our radio, television, and print media. That systematic exclusion impoverishes our collective understanding, leads to poorly informed political decisions from our vote to legislation, and makes it easier for extreme voices to weaken ties that bind our diverse people into one nation.
For instance, during economic downturns lately we seem to hear a lot from pundits who participate in the stock market and we hear some of their stories. But largely absent from commercial media are the stories of the working class and the impact of this downturn on their lives and their families.
Unionized labor’s points of view (which overlap but are not necessarily identical to working-class Americans everywhere) are heard from much less than their numbers in the private sector would suggest. In fact, they are very rarely included in news stories and often are introduced when they are with words that marginalize their concerns.
We constantly hear from the Christian right, but what about the voices of the Christian left and mainstream Christians?
Then there were voices excluded in the run-up to the Iraq War. Public opinion surveys showed over two-thirds of the American public opposed to that action. But a study showed that on the major networks out of 186 interviews in the two weeks around Colin Powell’s speech to the United Nations, only 3 were of those who believed war with Iraq was the wrong action for our nation to take.
It’s hard to have a healthy democracy without a healthy media environment. I happen to believe enlightened self-government is such a good idea that it must have originated with the God who loves each one of us.
Since noticing these worrying trends, I’ve been studying these issues myself (in fact my concern about this has led me to begin a master’s program in journalism) and I believe the complex web of corporate interests of the media conglomerates are pushing the lies by omission, marginalization and misreporting. For instance, NBC’s ownership by GE, which has a subdivision that makes equipment for the military, just might have influenced the way they covered the run-up and the war. Their profit motive was not self-disclosed or self-examined.
And fanning the flames of controversy brings more eyeballs and sells more products for their advertisers so the corporate-controlled media spends much time fostering heat and minimizing light and reason.
In the mid-90s I heard talk on the radio that approached advocating violence, on one of the stations carrying Rush Limbaugh’s show. A guest host on a rant talked about the need for guns because they wanted to be ready to go to Washington and take our country back from liberals in Congress.
I can tell you that rant, along with the widespread and constant references to everything wrong and evil in America coming from Democrats and liberals ratcheted up my level of alarm considerably.
Constant demonization of the Tutsis on the radio has been documented to have had much to do with the genocide in Rwanda.
Violence on television and video games has been shown in numerous research studies to be related to an increase in the number of violent acts by children and youth. Maybe not a sole direct cause but certainly a contributing factor.
Angry and violent rhetoric (rhetoric that discounts and degrades the humanity of anyone person or group), unchecked, uncountered and untempered, is harmful to the spirits of those who are fed that diet and to society which is impacted by those who are immersed in that unwholesome world.
When that kind of rhetoric comes from those who proclaim themselves as Christians, I cringe. Their theology is so wrong just based objectively on what the Bible and New Testament say. They keep people away from Christ by misrepresenting who He is. Polls showing a drop in the number of Americans who say they are Christian cannot be unrelated, don’t you think?
I feel the privilege and responsibility both of living in a country where the government is of, by, and for the people, and of following God who calls us to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. I take that seriously and want to make the effort to be part of restoring us, building bridges, promoting reconciliation between us and with God.
As for Scott Roeder, he was and is loved by God who died to redeem him. He is redeemable. And who are we to say he is unworthy of God’s love and infinite efforts at redemption and restoration. Did God throw David away after he committed adultery and caused Uriah to be slain (violating two of the Ten Commandments)? Did He put Cain to death after Cain murdered his brother? Consequences yes. In Cain’s case, exile but protection by placing a mark on him. He gave, and so we are to give, chances to turn, repent, and be transformed and restored.
Roeder denied that oppurtunity to Dr. Tiller, but that does not cancel Christians’ obligation to work for God’s purpose of redemption and reconciliation of all Creation. Or so it seems to me.
If you’re pro-choice on abortion, then don’t complain about my view justifying aborting unborn gays, lesbians and transexuals. I’m pro-abortion in some cases such as if it can be predicted an unborn baby will be deformed, transexual or gay-then go ahead and abort them. But I understand view of pro-lifers regarding abortion as murder. While I’m neutral on abortion, in justness to pro-lifers they believe abortion is killing a baby. If they decided to make abortion illegal, then I would not care 1 way or another.