As you have probably already heard, an armed man recently entered the Lutheran-Reformed Church of Wichita, KS, and shot and killed Dr. George Tiller in response to his practice of performing late term abortions. When I heard the radio news report, I had conflicting thoughts about what had happened. On the one hand, the armed man acted lawlessly by murdering a man who was practicing something that is not forbidden by US law. On the other, Dr. Tiller was responsible for the surgical murder of thousands of unborn children. As wikipedia notes, “he was the medical director of a clinic in Wichita, Women’s Health Care Services, one of only three nationwide which would provide abortion after the 21st week of pregnancy (known as late-term abortion).”1 Both acts were a violation of the sixth commandment but the first almost seems a fitting end for one who had such a disregard for the lives of so many infants.
As I said before, my thoughts are convoluted right now. The media (as usual) is focusing on the recent murder with little or no thought to the thousands of children killed by the doctor himself over the last thirty-odd years. Ans so, I can understand why some would make the following comments about the issue.
We on the anti-child killing side of the issue should adopt the strategy of the Obama administration. Obama says he wants to see a reduction in the number of abortions. So we on the other side should say we would like to see a reduction in the number of abortionist that are killed. Of course this is absurd. Or maybe we should say “though I would never kill an abortionist, or encourage someone to do so, who am I to say that people can’t.” That too would be absurd as well. We on the anti-child killing side do not follow the logic of your insanity. If we did maybe then you would have to come up with some new cliche’. Or maybe you would simply have to admit that you really don’t respect life. We condemn Tiller and his killer. You only condemn Tillers killer not Tiller the killer so who is the fool? Though I don’t condone what Tillers killer did I am happy that Tiller the killer will never be able to kill again.2
As I have been thinking about this issue, one thing is very clear. The ultimate answer to this and other ethical dilemmas is the gospel. Most people in our country do not have the mind of Christ about these issues. Because they have not been regenerated, born again, and transformed, they will never have God’s mind about the issues. Therefore, it is our duty as Christians to proclaim the gospel so that those with darkened minds may be enlightened. Sadly, Dr. Tiller no longer has that opportunity.
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1 “George Tiller.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 2 Jun 2009, 15:06 UTC. 2 Jun 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Tiller&oldid=293957459.
2 Comment made about Bonnie Erbe’s article George Tiller’s Murder Is Our Fault
