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LA Religion & Spirituality Examiner

How is killing a doctor saving a life?

June 18, 10:26 PMLA Religion & Spirituality ExaminerKevin Masterson
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It really is disturbing that the contestants on “American Idol” have gotten more attention & concern than the recent murder of Dr. George Tiller.  Now he is just a distant memory of the atrocities of so-called “Christian” extremists.  To them, his murder is a triumph of “good over evil.”  I ask you how can taking a life be considered “ordained by God” just because you don’t agree with someone else’s beliefs?

 

Let me start off by saying that I don’t think that men have any right to discuss the topic of the choices that a woman makes in regards to her body.  Our job is done in couple minutes in the process.  So that is my disclaimer.

 

What always amazes me when the topic of “pro-life vs. pro choice” comes up is that the real issue is never addressed. BIRTH CONTROL.  Sex eduction is still somewhat taboo in this couintry & we were in the 21st Century the last time I checked.  If birth control & sexual education were more readily available, there would be less of a need for abortion.  Look at what Jane Fonda is trying to do in Georgia-adolescent pregnancy prevention. It is dealing with the problem at the inception. That's a real Christian "mission" & one I can get behind 100%.

 

I’ve never been one to get really behind a “cause”. I’ll support things I believe in, but nothing is ever that black & white.  My experience of most people who get so into a cause-albeit religion, politics, etc,  is that they are often very lost & are trying to define themselves by their “cause.”  They feel that by forcing their beliefs on someone else that somehow gives their life meaing. How can any logical, sane person think that “Jesus’ is telling them to go out & kill a doctor because they don’t like what he practices?  They can’t. 

 

I do have some very personal experience with this topic & most “Christians” will be surprised by my view..  My dad was a doctor.  He was also a very devout Catholic as was his first wife.  She’d had problems when she gave birth to my older brother. She was advised not to have any more children as there was a history of problems in childbirth in her family.  The church didn’t advocate birth control, so the only options were prayer or abstinence.  She became pregnant a third time. My dad knew that she she would most likely die if she had the baby. He went to his priest who told him it was “God’s will” & nothing could be done.

 

He faced a real moral dilemna.  Abortion was not legal at the time, but being a doctor he could have found a way to help her safely terminate the pregnancy.  They chose to trust the church & as a result he lost his beautiful wife at a very young age.  His heart was broken & he never really stopped missing her. He eventually met my mother & had more children. They had a great life together, but I still cannot imagine the grief that he, my brothers & his wife’s family carried. 

 

Christians would tell me that it was “God’s will” & that I would not be here if that hadn’t happened. I guess I see it differently. I would have just been born in another body.  How is causing people to suffer “in the name of God”  a “holy” thing?

 

Doctors like George Tiller don’t want to” kill babies” no matter what Bill O’Reilly & other newscasters on FOX News say.. They are there to help women when they are in need, when their lives are at risk, when they have to make a very heartbreaking decision to save themselves. A close friend of mine had to have a late term abortion years ago, as the fetus was severly deformed & had no chance of survival.   She said that people didn’t understand the loss as she hadn’t given birth. But it was no less devastating for her. Recently someone else very close to me was faced with a similar choice & chose to carry the child to term. She had my full support too as I respected her choice. Sadly her son was stillborn. There was pain in both choices.

 

I don’t think that we should be shooting other people what to do just because we don’t agree with what they are doing. How is that Christian?”  It is time that this issue is a non-issue. The people that make it an issue don’t really care about the issue, they just know that it is divisive so it can keep people from joining together & helping each other with other pressing problems.

 

God Bless George Tiller for having the courage to stand up for what he believed in. May he rest in peace.

 

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