Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Tiller

I just saw Rachel Maddow's latest comments on the murder of George Tiller, and I was very saddened to learn that a member of Operation Rescue was in contact with the accused killer, and might even have provided Tiller's whereabouts to him (not knowing what he had planned, she says). Maddow was only too eager to highlight this link, and to point out that Operation Rescue (based in Witchita) maintains a "Tiller Watch" on its website.

Though I don't agree with their overtly religious approach to anti-abortion activism, I do believe the people at OR are doing good work and are decent people. They always condemn violence towards abortion providers, as I do - it's batshit insane. In my opinion, they don't encourage this sort of thing in any way. I hate to see them dragged into Tiller's murder because of one member's contact with the accused.

Tiller might have been a distant relative, BTW. I've known that for years and it's pretty awkward. But that's not why I condemn this kind of violence.

4 comments:

The Zombieslayer said...

I did a little research on Tiller but this is one of these issues that I hate talking about. The one thing I will say about abortion - I hate this issue more than any other, because no matter how you feel about abortion, it simply is not possible to have a rational discussion. All sides get all emo when it comes up. I've lost friends over this stupid issue and had relatives not talk to each other for months because of abortion.

So, I avoid the topic like the plague. If I ever got elected, I'd probably abstain every time an abortion vote came up.

Cowardly? Sure. Whatever. I'd prefer to save my fights for something I find more important (and keep my friends).

S.M. Elliott said...

Yeah, it's one of those issues. My grandmother was very prickly about it because my mom wouldn't join her in being all happy about his death - and he's her relative. So I can't blame you for keeping your distance. You have to pick your fights.

IMO, abortion debate has NO place in politics. It's a personal/health issue that needs to be dealt with on those levels. Laws won't change anything.

For me, people's beliefs about abortion aren't a deal-breaker when it comes to friendships or respect. I know there are good, extremely smart, extremely well-intentioned folks on both sides. My only real deal-breakers are racism and lying (not little white lies, either; I mean whoppers that can be spotted from a distance).

tshsmom said...

I choose not to be related to that branch of the family. They're a bunch of pretentious snobs.

As for George? Grandma is the ONLY one that insists we're related. The rest of the family isn't so sure. I'm hoping that Grandma's paranoia over George will die with him.

You already know that I'm with ZS and you when it comes to this topic. The only way we'll ever stop abortion is through education and better birth-control methods. Standing toe-to-toe screaming at each other, bombing clinics, and murdering doctors will never change anything.

BTW, it looks like Tiller's killer was a conspiranoid.

The Zombieslayer said...

Yeah. It's not a deal breaker for me either, but someone always has to bring it up. I've learned not to say anything, because both sides start foaming at the mouth once the A-word gets released.

I can't really think of a deal breaker for me. Liars, yeah, I guess so. Thieves, child molesters. But beliefs? Nah. Weird thing is I get more pissed about homophobia than racism, even though I'm not white. I don't know why. I'm just weird like that.

Maybe it's because gays and lesbians have always been really nice to me, nicer than straight people of any race.