Let me tell you one thing: whoever it was that shot George Tiller as he entered church this morning was no Christian. (That person has been identified as Scott Roeder, a member of Operation Rescue, by at least one local news outlet.)
I'll leave it to other, more knowledgeable commentators to say how the rhetoric of Operation Rescue and other right-wing organizations may have created the atmosphere necessary for such a crime. Sara Robinson and Fred Clarkson have covered that ground pretty well. I'll pass as well on the question of whether Tiller's assassination constitutes domestic terrorism. I think it does, but I'm not qualified to make such assessments.
No, I'm just here to say that one thing: violence against abortion providers is completely and utterly at odds with Christian belief and practice.
No one who believes that scripture forbids murder and heeds its command could kill a man in cold blood.
No one who believes that abortion is murder and takes Hebrew scripture seriously could believe that it values the life of an adult male and the life of an unborn child equally.
No one who believes that vengeance belongs to God could practice vigilante justice.
No one who believes that Christ counseled us to love our enemies and claims to follow his example could gun a doctor down.
No one who believes that Christ told his followers to sheath their swords could pick up a weapon and do what Scott Roeder is believed to have done.
No one who hears the good news of God in these words could practice violence against an unarmed opponent:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Let me say some things very clearly. I am not a pacifist. There is a time and a place for the use of force to protect innocent life. But never outside the law, and never, ever as a premeditated act against a defenseless individual. Sinking to the level of violence for the sake of intimidation, no matter how high the stakes are believed to be, is completely outside the gospel.
Second, there is nothing unacceptable with believing that abortion is wrong. Good people can and do disagree on the issue. I'm not thrilled with the forms of this belief that are aimed at controlling women or limiting their choices, but as a moral proposition, it is not by itself offensive.
I don't even have a problem with people organizing to outlaw abortion. I disagree with them, and will fight them tooth and nail, but they have a right in our democracy to act - peacefully, legally - on their beliefs.
What they do not have a right to is violent action. Not in the name of Christ.
Now, I know that some of you will claim that I am making a "no true Scotsman" argument. I am not. It's true that terrorist violence does not fit with my understanding of Christian behavior. It seems to me to be aberrational, indeed a perversion of the Christianity that I know to be "true."
But my point is not to mount a defense of Christianity or Christians. It is simply to say two things.
First, liberal Christians myself are as much a target of people like Scott Roeder as abortion providers are. In fact, George Tiller was both: one of three doctors in the nation to provide late-term abortions and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a liberal mainline denomination.
Sara Robinson writes about the consequences of violence perpetrated on the first class of persons:
anti-choice terrorism is now just two assassinations away from completely ending late-term abortion in America. Violence has won out -- over the will of the people, over the courts, over the horrific logic of medical necessity. And whenever terrorists win, democracy has lost -- and is lost.
But what she says next is just as compelling:
First Knoxville, then this. Sherilyn Ifill once made the point that lynchings typically occurred on courthouse lawns as a symbol that the mob had overridden the authority of the state and taken justice into its own hands. So what does it mean when right-wing terrorists start gunning down progressives in the pews of their own churches? Two events do not a pattern make -- but if this keeps happening, it'll be clear that there's a message being sent.
...
The fact that this shooting occurred in a church (again) suggests that this tactic is now being tried out on more closely related faith groups whose views don't comport with the fundamentalist party line. As Dave has often pointed out, bringing violence to houses of worship is usually an overtly eliminationist act. They are trying to terrify liberals by making us feel at risk and unsafe inside our own spiritual sanctuaries -- the very places we go to feel the most security and peace. This is terrorism, plain and simple -- Christian fundamentalist terrorism, committed by people Sam Smith has started referring to as "Jesus's Jihadis."
They only get that way when they are allowed to claim, uncontested, the mantel of God's representative. They think they can say and do whatever the hell they want to carry out the divine mandate they have been given. Even if it means shooting to death a fellow Christian as he walks into church on a Sunday morning.
Screw them. Screw them and their self-righteousness, their moral clarity, their thuggishness and their bullets.
I will never concede to them the title "Christian." Not exclusively. Not until Jesus himself comes back and tells me that everything I ever read in the New Testament was wrong. Not while there are lives at stake.
Update: It's late, and I'm not going to get sucked into a defense of everything Christianity has ever done. Read the freaking story, people.