Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Law and Order / Politics / Woods Tennessee Christian Right Leader Finds Life Lesson in Tiller's Murder
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Jun 3, 2009 at 9:37 AM
With respect to the murder of Dr. Tiller, at one time abortion was seen as an evil, and those who performed them were subjected to criminal prosecution. But with the decriminalization of abortion, our society began to see more abortions. Many saw and felt the tension between the law and their moral convictions. Over time, those who grew up with abortion legal and common no longer had a moral sense that it was wrong. And if not wrong, then why would any particular type of abortion, like partial-birth abortion, be wrong? On the other hand, when the law allows something as horrific as partial-birth abortion, some perhaps begin to lose their respect for the law and, taking that disrespect to its final conclusion, it becomes justification for breaking the law, taking the law into one's own hands--vigilante justice against persons like Dr. Tiller. This is not to justify Dr. Tiller's murder, of course. But we might serve ourselves well if we asked ourselves if there is something here to be learned by what we see going on. And if so, set about applying the lesson. Lest we become only civilized barbarians.Fowler also decries what he sees as growing political violence in this country. Not surprisingly, he names liberals as the culprits, pointing to critics of Loews Vanderbilt's Islamophobe symposium and "homosexual activists" in California who he claims have been guilty of harassment and vandalism, respectively. Of course, Fowler adds: "Do not misunderstand, we are not comparing harassment and vandalism to murder." What would give anyone that idea? Fowler doesn't mention any of these other cases of abortion-related violence.
Comments (7)
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Not only is Fowler an extremist, he's just plain creepy. He would like to be the one handing out the Dixie cups full of Kool Aid.
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This is not to justify Dr. Tiller's murder, of course. But we might serve ourselves well if we asked ourselves if there is something here to be learned by what we see going on. And if so, set about applying the lesson.
"Fer all you'n's who think murderin' someone is a real lemon, here's some tasty, tangy, sweet lemonade I've fixed up for myself. Try some!"
I don't agree with this guy at all. I am a Christian, and a Conservative. I think abortion is murder, but you don't stop murder by more murder or saying those type of things. Fowler is way out of line for saying these things.
Abortion is too complex a decision to just say "it's murder" or "it'a a choice" so the sooner people quit trying to make it simple, the better.
Human, according to the Biblical account of God breahing life into Adam, begins at birth - and, at least according to Jewish Law, the "complete body of rules and practices that Jews are bound to follow, including biblical commandments, commandments instituted by the rabbis, and binding customs" - even demanding the so-called "late-term abortion" (there is not any recognized medical procedure by this term):
Abortion:
http://www.jewfaq.org/sex.htm#Abortion
"Jewish law not only permits, but in some circumstances requires abortion. Where the mother's life is in jeopardy because of the unborn child, abortion is mandatory.
An unborn child has the status of "potential human life" until the majority of the body has emerged from the mother. Potential human life is valuable, and may not be terminated casually, but it does not have as much value as a life in existence. The Talmud makes no bones about this: it says quite bluntly that if the fetus threatens the life of the mother, you cut it up within her body and remove it limb by limb if necessary, because its life is not as valuable as hers. But once the greater part of the body has emerged, you cannot take its life to save the mother's, because you cannot choose between one human life and another."
The Bible does not specifically prohibit abortion: abortion is not once explicitly prohibited in the Ten Commandments; abortion is not once explicitly prohibited in the 613 Old Testament laws attributed to Moses and others; abortion is not once explicitly prohibited by Jesus or by his disciples in the New Testament. The best that Tennessee Right to Life and its cultish followers can cough up from the Bronze Age is to apply a literal translation of Semitic poetry (more specifically, assuming literal meaning to allegory or poetic "wild exaggeration".
What is perhaps unrealized about Tennessee Right to Life and the Tennessee Right to Life endorsed members of the Tennessee General Assembly is that these Tennessee Right to Life cultists do not merely believe that "life begins at conception", but rather, "...that life begins at or even before conception", implying that the use of contraceptives and birth control is just as evil (in the view of Tennessee Right to Life) as abortion.
But you will not readily find this information at the Tennessee Right to Life index page, but instead, you will need to view the site map for this anti-choice group and find the TRTL hidden "Biblical Quotes" web page:
http://www.tennesseerighttolife.org/human_life_issues/human_life_issues_biblical_quotes.htm
As Christians, we all find abortion hard to deal with. However, Jesus said that "the greatest command was to love." To villify, pass judgement, and be completely self righteous against women who have to make this choice is not loving and compassionate. I am disappointed that more Christians haven't stood up and said ENOUGH. Enough of the violance, Enough of the protests, enough of the villification of women. At its heart, the Right to Life movement does not respect life. Because it should respect the life of the woman, just as much as the life in the womb.
