Mourners gather for a candlelight vigil at a park in Lawrence, Kan., Sunday, May 31, 2009. The vigil was for Dr. George Tiller who was shot to death earlier in the day. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The nation has had several days now to react to the slaying of Dr. George Tiller. I have wanted to write about it, an examiner of Faith and Family would be terribly remiss to ignore this story, but what needed to be written did not immediately present itself to me. So I've tracked the fallout on Twitter and waited. What I've found there is blatant and obvious, but its predictibility is what is interesting and requires examination. Here is a sampling over a 3-hour period two days after the murder:
KellyHK Dr. Tiller's assassination is nothing short of a terrorist act directed at all women and prochoice medical providers.
@mendedcrackpots I'm strongly pro-life, but strongly condemn the murder of Dr. Tiller and any celebration thereof
Whiscash Dr. Tiller was a cool guy.
lunarobverse ...& even Xtian groups that are condemning the suspect's actions, still profess nothing but hate for Dr. Tiller. Seeds have been sown.
rbos16 the man that killed Dr. Tiller is no more innocent, they are both killers so what was the point, it solves nothing
lexisnexus I feel a bit sorry for the man who murdered Dr.Tiller.What must he have been thinking,or maybe not thinking.I'm just sorry for all involved.
GayPatriot: Why does it seem like liberal mouthpieces (esp on NBC) are more upset about Dr. Tiller than about 9/11/2001?
DonaldUSAFan Dr.Tiller "The Baby Killer" would not of gotten shot and murdered,if the Justice System would of done it's job and put him in jail for life
RachaelSawyer Adding my name to Planned Parenthood's Open Letter Response to the Murder of Dr. Tiller got emotional. "My heart goes out" seems literal.
buzzflash: Dr. Tiller's fight was against back-alley, unsafe abortion. The right-wing's fight is against the law.
c187 So that Christian Fundamentalist Terrorist that killed Dr. Tiller, will not face the death penalty in KS. WTF?
The Twitter-verse is filled with claims of domestic terrorism, saving more babies in the long run, of a war on women and reproductive rights, the culpability of Bill O'Reilly and Christianists and the FBI.
Meanwhile, in the mainstream media, Gov. Sarah Palin holds fast to her pro-life stance and condemns all political acts of violence, Frank Schaeffer apologizes for his involvement with radical pro-life groups in the past, and O'Reilly tries to save face.
And all sides use the language of war and war and war.
Everyone is trying to answer the ultimate questions forever asked in these circumstances: "Why?" and "Who's fault?" and "What do we do about it?" Remarkably, these are the same questions children ask when they are somehow wronged. We are all of us like our kids--often out of control, cruel, clueless, spiteful, easily hurt, looking for a hug. We hardly know how to handle events like Dr. Tiller's murder as adults. What in the world do we tell our kids?
War journalist Chris Hedges offers us a clue in his bestseller War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning:
"But in mythic war we imbue events with meanings they do not have. We see defeats as signposts on the road to ultimate victory. We demonize the enemy so that our opponent is no longer human. We view ourselves, our people, as the embodiment of absolute goodness. Our enemies invert our view of the world to justify their own cruelty. In most mythic wars this is the case. Each side reduces the other to objects--eventually in the form of corpses."
From what Twitter and the media channels reveal, it should be obvious that Hedges is on to something. In the second part of this series, we'll hopefully find a way to rehumanize ourselves and each other in the wake of passion and to teach our kids how to do the same.
Comments
great quote. looking forward to part 2!
Caleb, I am also looking forward to part two! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
"Each side reduces the other to objects." This is so very true and, I believe, why so many Christians come across as hypocrites.
How true, Caleb. When emotions strike, take your antagonist out to lunch and ask about their family. See how much of the anger is left.
Thank you, Caleb. What a great reminder of the humanity we all share. Christ modeled that for us in His interactions with the tax collectors, sinners, lepers, Samaritans and others. Perhaps it is time we took His lesson of human-ness more to heart and stopped being like the Pharisees who hid behind their religion to shield themselves from the humanity of those whom God asked them to love.
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