I’ve read the dueling diaries on Daily Kos the last day or so over whether or not Scott Roeder, accused of killing George Tiller, is a Christian. It’s hard to make a credible argument that he’s not. Not only does he profess to be a Christian, his attitudes and actions up to the point of this murder were actively supported by Christian organizations.
George Tiller was a Christian as well. So, as a matter of record, am I.
I certainly understand (in fact I share) the urge by Christians to put distance between ourselves and this murder and the person who committed it. But for Christians to pretend the murder of George Tiller had nothing to do with Christianity as taught in a significant number of churches is not only absurd, it denies our personal responsibility to address the problem.
Is it fair to paint all Christians with the brush of the hate-mongers who have terrorized abortion clinics and their employees? Of course not, no more so than it fair was to paint all Muslims with the brush of 9/11.
On the other hand, there’s no doubt that the motivation for George Tiller’s killing, and all the violence he endured prior, came directly from the teachings of some Christian churches and faith-based organizations. Christians can’t absolve ourselves from dealing with this issue by saying "The accused killer isn’t one of us."
Christians can’t make this someone else’s problem. It’s our problem.
Nearly everyone condemns the murder itself. But let’s look instead at the root problem: the rhetoric of judgment, condemnation and outright hatred that emanates in almost palpable waves from the Christian right. It’s not limited to the abortion issue. It’s directed against the LGBT community with equal vigor. It’s directed against the Muslim community, and is prominent among torture defenders. We’ve seen it directed against President Obama both during the elections and since inauguration...The fear and hatred that showed up at Republican rallies; that didn’t seem to faze Sarah Palin, herself a member of the Christian right, but took poor John McCain aback, were born of the same source: the Christian right.
For 30 years now, moderate and liberal Christian groups have hung quietly back while the Christian right has pushed aggressively forward and made themselves the face and voice of our faith. Every time the rhetoric escalates into some sort of physical attack, we hear from moderates and liberals condemning the violence. But where are those voices in condemnation of the language of anger, hatred and fear that foments the violence?
We are our brother’s (and sister’s) keeper – and we’ve allowed the hateful rhetoric to continue unchallenged for too long.
If you are a Christian and you feel ashamed to have the name of Christ associated with this murder and the decades of terrorist activity that led up to it, then DO something with that shame. If it angers you that the right has the temerity to ignore church/state separation and call this a "Christian nation," then turn around and condone torture, DO something with that anger. If you cringe every time you hear Christ’s name used to justify the denial of gay rights, or discrimination against transsexuals, then DO something with that feeling.
Find a place to become active personally in pushing back. Pressure your pastor and your denomination to be more active, more vocal: not just when violence happens, but every day. Do something, anything besides putting your head in the sand and pretending it has nothing to do with you. It does. Don’t just hope this problem will go away by itself.
It won’t.