The responses yesterday on the network news to the Tiller murder Sunday ranged from outrage not just by the this act but the years of stalking, bombings and the roughly half dozen other murders to responses by those who are pro-life and claim to be against such acts of violence.
Abortion has been legal in the U.S. for 36 years although many states have certain restrictions in place. Abortion is legal in the majority of the world's nations. It is not legal, or is very restricted, in many Muslim countries in the Middle and Near East and in Africa. Parts of the Caribbean are also not as liberal as most of the Western World.
The factors which were in play leading to Dr. George Tiller's death are many. But there is little doubt that those who run the anti-abortion movement know full well that given enough time and enough rhetoric, it doesn't take much to set up a mentally deranged lunatic to pull the trigger or plant the bomb.
Scott Roeder, the suspect in the assassination of Tiller, has a long history of involvement with fervent fringe groups like Kansas Unorganized Citizens Militia. Roeder also belonged to a group called One Supreme Court. As is typical, these people are opposed to pretty well all forms of a government, believe they don't have to pay taxes and in Roeder's case, shouldn't have to register their vehicles. Roeder's ex-wife and his brother say he has for years displayed the known symptoms of mental illness.
Which gets to the point.
People like Bill O'Reilly and Randall Terry know damn good and well that when they continually (as O'Reilly did nearly 30 times in the past few years) call the doctor things like "Tiller the Baby Killer" or that he had "blood on his hands" then the Roeders of the world are just one more vitriolic statement away from snapping.
Frank Schaeffer is an author and filmmaker who made the leap from being a part of the bizarre, ultra-right, evangelical world to a sane and serene place called political and religious moderation. He has authored a recent book "Crazy for God" which chronicles his life as the son of the late evangelist and pro-life fanatic Francis Schaeffer, founder of a religious movement called L'Abri. Schaeffer the Younger was on MSNBC last night and was adamant that while those in the pro-life movement were quick to condemn the murder of Tiller that behind closed doors they are exultant.
It makes sense. In my estimation, a large number of these wingnuts don't really give a shit about the sanctity of life. Not in the abstract they don't. Their movements are about power....political, social and personal power. If they truly cared about this, they would be putting a huge effort and money into contraception programs. But even that subject unveils further insanity. A big part of the pro-life movement is made up of people from devout Catholics to fruitcakes like the Duggar family who believe contraception is evil and that God wants us to reproduce like a bunch of goddamn jack rabbits. Condoms, the pill, IUDs and getting your tubes tied are a one-way ticket to hell and damnation.
It is also about power over other people. In the case of abortion, those people are women. Bible banger groups, with very few exceptions, subjugate women to an inferior status either within their own structure or in the world they would concoct for the rest of us. No to female clerics in our church or mosque. Your body is not yours, it's God's. You are on this earth to squeeze out a bunch of babies, keep the house clean and your mouth and mind shut.
God speaks to these assholes and commands them to kill abortion doctors, infidels and anyone who is different than they are.
For nearly a decade we have seen radical religious dirt bags murder, whether en mass or, in the case of Tiller, one at a time. There is no difference between crazy Christians or mad Muslims. For that matter, virtually all religions have their share of insanity.
Remember what Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the late atheist, said. “Religion has caused more misery to all of mankind in every stage of human history than any other single idea.”
Nearly eight years ago that was born out at the lower end of Manhattan, in Virginia across the Potomac from Washington D.C. and in a farm field in Pennsylvania.
It also was born out Sunday in Wichita, Kansas...and in a fatal twist of irony....in a church.
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