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Two days of shootings prompts debate: How do we deal with extremists?

 

Dr. George Tiller, a frequent target of extreme anti-abortion groups, was gunned down by alleged assailant Scott Roeder Sunday morning in the foyer of his Wichita church.  If the allegations are correct, Roeder is a man filled with a wicked delusion of righteousness that somehow permitted him to rise above the laws of the nation and impose vigilante justice on his fellow man.  The excellent investigative work of Little Green Footballs has uncovered an alarming pattern of comments Roeder has made to extreme anti-abortion websites that fall just short of making blatant threats against Tiller’s life.  His association with the known radical right-wing group known as the “sovereign citizen movement” as well as his appearance on an Anti-Defamation League watch sheet of those active in militias are also well-documented by that web site.  No information has been found to suggest that Roeder was not acting alone.

 

Privates William Long and Quinton Ezeagwula, soldiers performing duties at a Little Rock, Arkansas Army/Navy recruiting center, were struck by assault rifle fire when Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad (a.k.a. Carl Bledsoe) is alleged to have opened fire from his vehicle while driving by.  Pvt. Long died as a result of his wounds and Pvt. Ezeagwula was critically wounded but is expected to make a recovery.  According to CNN.com, early interviews reported have led police to believe that Muhammad was acting on his own but with the express intent of targeting military personnel.  Little Rock police told USA Today indicated that Muhammad implied that his motive for the shooting was a hatred of the American military.  It was also disclosed that he had made a recent conversion to the Islamic faith.  From the USA Today article:

The two men had different targets, different motivations, but they shared a twisted sense of purpose; an ethical Möbius strip that defies sane comprehension.  And still, there have been many moments of disgust in the hours since Tiller’s shooting, time spent reading comments on Twitter and blogs of all political stripes.  Some pro-lifers openly rejoice in the commission of cold-blooded murder, others  quietly condemn the taking of a life in this way but claim that a practitioner of late-term abortions had it coming and they are glad he’s gone. 

 

The vast majority, though, have proclaimed (as do I) that Roeder’s actions are an abhorration, and run counter to the religious beliefs that underlie the anti-abortion opinions of many people.  Even more disturbing are the hordes of those who identify themselves as pro-choice and have taken an opportunity to label all pro-lifers as murderous extremists.  Painting the entire pro-life movement with broad brush strokes of charger red will never allow us to achieve President Obama’s promise of ending the politics of division.

 

A statement from the President on the murder of Dr. Tiller – his was offered Sunday at 3:12 p.m. – was required.  His statement echoed themes from the address to Notre Dame’s 2009 graduating class.  From the White House website:

It is true that the most high-profile anti-abortion groups have too frequently allowed the rhetoric of vigilantism to be tolerated in their ranks, and I say that as one who is an opponent of unregulated abortion, abortion-on-demand, and specifically late-term abortion.  Furthermore, I have heard far too many voices in these past days that seem comfortable with the kind of anarchy that descended on that Wichita church, without any recognition that same concept of selective observance of the law would then require justifying the actions of the Little Rock shooter as well.  It is profoundly disturbing. 

 

It is up to each individual to understand where the line between civil disobedience and anarchy exists.  Roeder and Muhammad failed to draw that philosophical line properly, and any who saw their chaotic intentions beginning to coalesce and did nothing to help them take a different course are culpable in the tragedies that ensued.  In that sense, I believe President Obama’s response is a just one, to call upon sane elements within the pro-life movement to vociferously and passionately define the acceptable boundaries of conduct, ways of communicating the message that do not give a false sense of community to those who would commit murder in the name of protecting life. 

 

It is shameful, however, that Obama did not take a moment Monday to issue an equivalent statement of moderation to elements within the American Muslim community who might claim solidarity with the Little Rock shooter.  Hatred of America has been inculcated throughout extreme strands of the Islamic religion, and Obama should recognize a raging problem on his hands, especially if unchecked extremism is going to be his criteria for reacting to these kinds of tragic shootings.

 

Is this a sign that President Obama considers quieting the debate over abortion more important than sending a message to the America’s Muslim community that it must be vigilant in weeding out would-be homegrown jihadists?

 

In a week, this entire episode will have been replaced by some other crisis, or crises.  But if we fail to find our sense of balance and decency as a nation - a respect for, and a willingness to listen to, opposing views – we will have polluted the waters of the aquifer from which our republic is nourished.