Pro-Life & Anti-Intervention

I was unsure what to think as I read the story of a man shot and killed Sunday morning, May 31st as he attended church. A man gunned down during the service as his wife looked on as she stood in the choir.

This man was similar to many Americans in a number of ways. He had a loving wife, children and a collection of grandchildren. The difference was this man was named George Tiller and he made a living as an abortion doctor in Wichita, Kansas. I felt a unique sensation as I continued to read the article. For the first time in a while I wasn't sure how I felt about the death of another human being.

And admittedly, at first, it didn't bother me a single bit.

As a socially conservative, liberty-minded Christian I reflected on the story of a man I've never met, from a town I've never been to, and my initial thought was as clear as it was harsh. I felt no sympathy for a man who chose "abortion doctor" as his profession.

A man who fit my definition of a murderer had been removed from a society that had suffered because of his actions against those unable to defend themselves. A man who operated one of only three clinics in the nation that performed abortions 21 weeks after conception was no longer going to be operating on these children.

I felt no remorse for this man and wondered why I should feel sadness of any kind for a man who committed his life to this practice. I questioned how the taking of his life was different than the removal of any criminal who had brought judgment upon himself due to his actions.

I told myself that to see an injustice continue and do nothing to stop it was the ultimate evil. As a nation we have waged war in the name of ending slavery, stopping genocide, and preventing the death of innocent civilians. The rationalization of using force to stop murder is not new, and has often been used as justification for armed conflict.

Nations throughout history have marched their citizens into battle to remove tyrants or to ensure their self-preservation -- even if that meant the accidental killing of innocent civilians.

It is not enjoyable, it is not desirable, it is simply the course of action necessary to protect those unable to protect themselves.

I believe George Tiller shared many similarities with the men and groups we as a nation have fought against in the past. He represented the same call to arms our leaders have used as they sent soldiers thousands of miles away to stop the murderous tendencies of men unwilling to yield to the natural rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And as I considered these circumstances, I wondered what made this situation all that different.

From a Civil War connected to the institution of slavery, to a European theater associated with ending the Holocaust, to involvement in a war torn Bosnia claiming to stop ethnic cleansing, the United States in particular has a long history of waging war in the name of preventing the mistreatment of the innocent. Over the past few years this dogma has been extended to the Middle East and most notably the current occupation of Iraq.

Today we find ourselves involved in conflicts that share many of the same motives and justifications as the battles we have fought in the past. As some continue to hold to the belief that war must be waged in order to end the murder of Iraqi civilians put to death under a brutal dictator, we see the unraveling of an argument that for many was never whole to begin with.

I flashed back to U.S. intervention over the years and conflicts waged in the name of stopping murder. I grew uneasy at the realization that more Iraqi citizens had died after the involvement of the United States than were murdered by the regime the U.S. went in to remove.

Before the ink had dried on the morning paper, a number of leaders in the conservative movement were quick to condemn George Tiller's murder and distance themselves from it.

Especially confusing was the reaction from some in the pro-life movement condemning the attack and reiterating the value of life at every stage. I remembered these same politicians and organizations spending the past half dozen years calling for the invasion of Iraq in order to save innocent lives and ensure the self-defense of the United States.

While many identifying themselves as pro-life fight to end the murder of the unborn, they support the inadvertent killing of those in other countries as a necessary evil that comes with our national security.

Though they are intent on defending the lives of unborn children, they offer no apologies for constant bombings along the borders of places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- bombings that result in the death of innocent children every week.

And while some promote the invasion of nations across the globe in the name of defense, they make no attempt to defend the killing of those who perform medical abortions. No one in the pro-life movement will openly defend the murder of George Tiller, despite those whose initial reaction was similar to mine.

Claiming we must do whatever is necessary to stop murder in a country thousands of miles away brings only difficult questions. Claiming we must use those same tactics to stop murder in our own nation brings impossible ones.

I recall my feelings in the spring of 2003 as I watched and cheered as U.S. tanks rolled through the streets of Baghdad and tore down statues of a brutal dictator. I recall coming to know Christ as my savior in the summer of 2003 and feeling twinges of uncertainty, as it appeared U.S. forces would remain in the country until the multitude of criminals were captured, no matter the cost.

I recall questioning the enthusiastic support my conservative colleagues still echoed in the fall of 2006 as it became clear the strategy would now be to remain in the country indefinitely and bring infrastructure to the war-torn nation. I recall clinging to the last remnant of hope in the winter of 2006 as the U.S. death toll in Iraq surpassed those killed on September the 11th.

And as my position began to soften and then solidify at the other end of the spectrum I struggled to come to terms with the talking points that conservative and pro-life leaders continued to voice. To know of an injustice and yet allow evil men to perpetuate murder was itself the greatest injustice. The United States had an obligation to end the taking of innocent life by those who would practice evil.

I remember believing that the need to bring security to the United States, the greatest nation in the world, took precedent over anything else. If civilians were inadvertently killed it was a tragedy yes, but a necessary one in order to protect our country.

I remember believing the defense of our nation was infinitely more important than the life of a foreigner who might accidentally be killed by a bomb or bullet meant for an enemy.

I remember believing the struggle to defend life sometimes brought casualties with it and there was nothing wrong with placing another person's life at risk if it meant we could protect our own.

And then I read about George Tiller.

I recall reading the story of a man shot and killed one early Sunday morning as he attended church. I recall reading he was gunned down during the service as his wife looked on as she stood in the choir.

I recall reading this man was similar to many Americans in a number of ways. He had a loving wife, children and a collection of grandchildren. The difference was this man was named George Tiller and he made a living as an abortion doctor in Wichita, Kansas.

I recall that after reflecting on what life meant both at home and abroad I was conflicted. For the first time in a while, I wasn't sure how I felt about the death of another human being.

And it scared me.

A life that begins at conception should be protected whether that life is two months prior to birth or two months following. Such is the guiding principle behind the pro-life philosophy.

And while the drums of the pro-life movement are silent as they denounce the murder of an abortion doctor, the drums of war continue to be beaten as loudly as they ever have. The taking of life from a mother's womb is viewed as an atrocity while the taking of life in the name of national security is viewed as collateral damage.

Many who are the first to speak out and rightfully condemn the killing of an unborn child are the first to defend policies that result in the killing of children in other countries. As I continued to read about a man I've never met, in a town I've never been to, I concluded that creating a dual set of standards was not becoming.

Not becoming for a Christian, or for a defender of freedom, nor for any who claim to believe in the intellectual founding of our nation. Our founders' devotion to life and liberty through an adherence to the rule of law stands above any alternative being proposed today.

I questioned how one could condemn a doctor for performing abortions while championing an action thousands of miles away that achieved the same end.

George Tiller was shot and killed by a man who did so in the name of stopping murder and defending the innocent. By every rationalization his death was no different from the battles waged by nations in the name of protecting those they also deemed innocent.

Killing a murderer with the goal of stopping him from committing murder has no confusing elements. The action is either entirely right or entirely wrong. The excuse the situation is somehow different because the subject wears a uniform and marches before a flag is no excuse at all.

I questioned how an advocate of life could continue to support conflicts in which their government conducted bombing raids that inadvertently killed civilians, despite how pure their motives were or how many lives the bombings claimed to be saving in the end.

It is more than six years after the invasion of a nation along the Tigris, and for the first time since that day in March I am unable to reconcile my pro-life beliefs with the accidental taking of human life in the name of national security.

I have seen now what I would need to believe in order to agree with the continued policies of a government that only values life when it suits their interests. A nation that bombs foreign countries on the first day of the week and rebuilds them on the last is a nation that has lost its common sense, if it had any to begin with.

I would need to justify the actions of a nation intent on continuing its foreign entanglements in the name of self-defense, even when those policies result in the death of innocent civilians. To continue to support the intervention in the affairs of other nations, I would have to accept the inadvertent killing of people in those nations.

To support the slaying of one to stop the murder of another I would have to support the killing of those who take the innocent in their hands and remove the breath of life from their lungs. I would be forced to support the killing of a man who spent his life committing murder against an entire generation of unborn children and stole from them the opportunity to live the life God had granted them.

I have seen now what I would have to become to keep myself blind to the revelation that the defense of life goes significantly deeper than donating to a crisis center or buying a bumper sticker.

To continue to support current U.S. foreign policy, I would be forced to equate the end of murder in Iraq to the end of murder in Kansas. I would be forced to defend the killing of George Tiller.

Like the recent call to action issued by pro-life organizations and leaders, I cannot defend the murder of a man despite the crimes he inflicted on his victims. Yet perhaps unlike these same organizations, I also cannot defend the accidental killing that will continue in the name of national security in countries thousands of miles away. I have seen now the kind of person I would be forced to become, and I refuse.

I recall reading the story of a man shot and killed one early Sunday morning as he attended church. I recall reading he was gunned down during the service as his wife looked on as she stood in the choir.

I recall reading this man was similar to many Americans in a number of ways. He had a loving wife, children and a collection of grandchildren. The difference was this man was named George Tiller and he made a living as an abortion doctor in Wichita, Kansas.

I recall that for the first time in a while I feel no conflict. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I have no doubts on how to feel about the death of another human being and what it means to truly be pro-life.

For the first time in my life, my thoughts are perfectly clear..