This is a follow-up to my last post ‘A Tale of Two Stories’. I generally don’t like to use other people’s work in my blog. But, as I troll mostly conservative websites, I sometimes come across writing which is much better at articulating my beliefs than my own words are. People who write these articles are paid professionals who have the ability and time to research the facts. I have the time to read the articles. I hope you don’t mind me occasionally passing along this information.
The following is an excerpt from Ann Coulter’s piece in Human Events.com. (I find her abrasive in person but I appreciate her writing.) She is comparing the liberal-left’s reaction to Muslims after 9/11 with their reaction to pro-lifers in the wake of the Tiller murder.
According to recent polling, a majority of Americans oppose abortion -- which is consistent with liberals' hysterical refusal to allow us to vote on the subject. In a country with approximately 150 million pro-lifers, five abortionists have been killed since Roe v. Wade.
In that same 36 years, more than 49 million babies have been killed by abortionists. Let's recap that halftime score, sports fans: 49 million to five.
Meanwhile, fewer than 2 million Muslims live in America and, while Muslims are less murderous than abortionists, I'm fairly certain they've killed more than five people in the United States in the last 36 years. For some reason, the number "3,000" keeps popping into my head.
So in a country that is more than 50 percent pro-life -- and 80 percent opposed to the late-term abortions of the sort performed by Tiller -- only five abortionists have been killed. And in a country that is less than 0.5 percent Muslim, several dozen Muslims have killed thousands of Americans.
But the killing of about one abortionist per decade leads liberals to condemn the entire pro-life movement as "domestic terrorists." At least liberals have finally found some terrorists they'd like to send to Guantanamo.
Tiller bragged about performing 60,000 abortions, including abortions of viable babies, able to survive outside the mother's womb. He made millions of dollars performing late-term abortions so gruesome that only two other abortionists -- not a squeamish bunch -- in the entire country would perform them.
Kansas law allows late-term abortions only to save the mother's life or to prevent "irreversible physical damage" to the mother. But Tiller was more than happy to kill viable babies, provided the mothers: (1) forked over $5,000; and (2) mentioned "substantial and irreversible conditions," which, in Tiller's view, apparently included not being able to go to concerts or rodeos or being "temporarily depressed" on account of their pregnancies.
A couple of points here: I’ve heard the number of Muslims in America could be as high as three million, for some reason we don’t know for sure. Second, she makes the point that the liberal-left (wrongly) condemns an entire segment of people based on the death of five people over the course of several years. Good. We shouldn’t judge an entire group of people due to the actions of a handful who identify themselves with that group.
I do not personally know (at least I don’t think I do) any Muslims. Nor have I read the Koran. I don’t know what drives these people or what they truly believe. But I would be willing to bet if I met a Muslim on the street today, except for the clothing, I would have no idea what that person’s faith is. Similarly, how would I be able to identify a pro-lifer?
I believe most Americans,regardless of religion, condemn the cold-blooded murder of their fellow human beings. I think most Americans hold strong beliefs about various things but would never dream of taking someone’s life to prove a point. I also think there is a small segment of the population given to fanaticism. These people are willing to go to extreme measures for whatever cause they sincerely believe in.
As we watch the moral decline of our culture; as we listen time and again to our president say we are not a Christian country; as we grit our teeth and live day to day with the outrageous display of disregard for human life all around us; I wonder. How much more can we as reasonable people ‘live with’ before we can’t take any more and turn to vigilantism? What will be the tipping point which pushes us to use violence in an effort to claw our way off this slippery slope we have created? The Bible says in the end times there will be bloodshed. We are seeing that now.
So, what to do? Well, if you are a Christian, do what your Lord told his disciples to do – watch and pray. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, not some fanatic who believes he is doing the Lord’s work. We do what is allowable within the law of God and man. But mostly, we share the good news of peace and joy that can only come from a personal relationship with Jesus. God’s love can heal many a wounded heart. Let’s be that message of love.
6/3/09
A Tale of Two Stories
I want to share with you two breaking news stories written in very different style. Both stories were written for straight news venues as opposed to commentary. This distinction is important to keep in mind because I think we all come to expect certain wording in news stories versus editorials. We expect our news stories to be mostly fact driven not emotionally driven. Once presented with the facts, we expect to make up our own minds regarding the moral implications of each story. If I know for certain I am reading (or listening to) commentary I am free to agree or disagree with the writer’s point of view. Emotionally charged style or language in a straight news story, used solely for the purpose of inflaming the senses or building readership, is repugnant to me.
Both stories deal with murders, but in very different circumstances. One murder is getting nationwide coverage ad nausea. The other murder I would not know about save for talk radio. (Your access to this venue is being eroded you know. More about that later.) Both murders deal with issues very personal to me. Look at the language in the first story. The writer chose to heavily quote a left-leaning doctor who uses extremely inflammatory rhetoric. This comes from something called ‘The Colorado Independent’.
Late-term abortion doctor decries Tiller killing: ‘This is a fascist movement’
By Ernest Luning 5/31/09 5:11 PM
Hours after the Sunday morning shooting death of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller in Wichita, Kan., a Boulder physician — who says he could be the only doctor in the world still performing the procedure — said Tiller’s assassination was the “absolutely inevitable consequence” of decades of anti-abortion fanaticism.
“I’m profoundly sad and I’m furious and I think the American people need to understand that we have a fascist movement in this country,” Dr. Warren Hern told The Colorado Independent on Sunday. “We don’t have to invade Iraq to find terrorists. They’re right here killing abortion doctors.”
“Every doctor that does abortions has been under an assassination threat for decades,” Hern said. “The anti-abortion movement message is, ‘Do what we tell you to do or we will kill you,’ and they do. This is a fascist movement.”
Hern laid blame for Tiller’s death at the feet of the anti-abortion movement’s encouragement of violence against abortion providers and the Republican Party’s “exploitation” of the extremist rhetoric.
“Dr. Tiller is dead by an anti-abortion assassin, and this is the absolutely inevitable consequence of 35 years of anti-abortion fanatic rhetoric and intimidation and assassination violence and exploitation by the Republican Party of this movement,” Hern told the Independent.
Hern, who described Tiller as “a good friend of mine,” said he doesn’t “know of any other doctors in the world doing late abortions like I am.” The Boulder Abortion Clinic, run by Hern since he founded the practice in 1975, has as its motto “Specializing in Late Abortions for Fetal Disorders”.
Wow. This guy sounds pretty unhinged to me. Of course he used words like ‘fascism,’ ‘fanatic,’ ‘rhetoric,’ and ‘assassination’. This language is used frequently by those who seek to justify their actions in the face of strong moral opposition. Was it also quoted prominently by a news organization trying to sway public opinion? Or was this organization simply trying to draw more traffic to its website? I don’t know.
But to be fair, the very day of his killing the National Right to Life Committee condemned the murder of Dr. Tiller (who was nick-named Tiller the Baby Killer for his prolific practice.) You certainly would not know that from this piece.
Here is the second story from CNN.com:
Suspect arrested in Arkansas recruiting center shooting
(CNN) -- An Arkansas man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting at a Little Rock military recruiting center that killed one soldier and wounded another, authorities said.
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad -- a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe -- faces a first-degree murder charge and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act, Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said. The terrorist counts stem from the shots fired at an occupied building.
While authorities continued to investigate a motive, Thomas said Muhammad is a Muslim convert and, based on preliminary interviews with him, investigators believe there were "political and religious motives" in the shooting.
Military officials initially believed the shooting was a random act, but Thomas said police believe the shooter acted alone "with the specific purpose of targeting military personnel."
The soldier who was killed was identified as Pvt. William Long, 24, of Conway, and the wounded soldier is Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, Thomas said.
Ezeagwula is in stable condition and expected to recover, the police chief said.
"I'm relieved there's a suspect in custody," said Capt. Matthew Feehan, commander of the center.
Feehan said seven other recruiters were in the building, but nobody else was injured.
Thomas said police recovered three guns from Muhammad's black Ford SUV: an SKS semi-automatic rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and a pistol.
The victims were just out of basic training and had not been deployed, said Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis, commander of the Oklahoma recruiting battalion that oversees the Little Rock recruiting center.
Melvin Bledsoe of Memphis, Tennesee , who was listed on the police report as Muhammad's father, declined to comment, referring questions to Little Rock Police.
The soldiers were part of a recruiting program called "hometown recruiting assistance," Artis said. Under the program, recruiters have the soldiers tell their stories to potential recruits. It's a volunteer position taken while soldiers are visiting or based back in their home region, Artis said.
The FBI has opened an investigation into the incident, said Steven Frazier, spokesman for the agency's Little Rock office. "Based on what we find, we will determine whether there is any federal jurisdiction to prosecute," he said.
I don’t see this called a hate crime. I don’t see the words ‘Muslim extremist’ here. I don’t see the word ‘assassin’ here. And I’ll be willing to bet the words that are here will be the last we see on this story. Could it be because the person murdered was in the military? I’ll let you make the call.
What I can plainly see is the difference in style between the two stories. I hope as the line between news and commentary becomes increasingly blurred, you will be able to plainly see the difference as well.
Both stories deal with murders, but in very different circumstances. One murder is getting nationwide coverage ad nausea. The other murder I would not know about save for talk radio. (Your access to this venue is being eroded you know. More about that later.) Both murders deal with issues very personal to me. Look at the language in the first story. The writer chose to heavily quote a left-leaning doctor who uses extremely inflammatory rhetoric. This comes from something called ‘The Colorado Independent’.
Late-term abortion doctor decries Tiller killing: ‘This is a fascist movement’
By Ernest Luning 5/31/09 5:11 PM
Hours after the Sunday morning shooting death of late-term abortion doctor George Tiller in Wichita, Kan., a Boulder physician — who says he could be the only doctor in the world still performing the procedure — said Tiller’s assassination was the “absolutely inevitable consequence” of decades of anti-abortion fanaticism.
“I’m profoundly sad and I’m furious and I think the American people need to understand that we have a fascist movement in this country,” Dr. Warren Hern told The Colorado Independent on Sunday. “We don’t have to invade Iraq to find terrorists. They’re right here killing abortion doctors.”
“Every doctor that does abortions has been under an assassination threat for decades,” Hern said. “The anti-abortion movement message is, ‘Do what we tell you to do or we will kill you,’ and they do. This is a fascist movement.”
Hern laid blame for Tiller’s death at the feet of the anti-abortion movement’s encouragement of violence against abortion providers and the Republican Party’s “exploitation” of the extremist rhetoric.
“Dr. Tiller is dead by an anti-abortion assassin, and this is the absolutely inevitable consequence of 35 years of anti-abortion fanatic rhetoric and intimidation and assassination violence and exploitation by the Republican Party of this movement,” Hern told the Independent.
Hern, who described Tiller as “a good friend of mine,” said he doesn’t “know of any other doctors in the world doing late abortions like I am.” The Boulder Abortion Clinic, run by Hern since he founded the practice in 1975, has as its motto “Specializing in Late Abortions for Fetal Disorders”.
Wow. This guy sounds pretty unhinged to me. Of course he used words like ‘fascism,’ ‘fanatic,’ ‘rhetoric,’ and ‘assassination’. This language is used frequently by those who seek to justify their actions in the face of strong moral opposition. Was it also quoted prominently by a news organization trying to sway public opinion? Or was this organization simply trying to draw more traffic to its website? I don’t know.
But to be fair, the very day of his killing the National Right to Life Committee condemned the murder of Dr. Tiller (who was nick-named Tiller the Baby Killer for his prolific practice.) You certainly would not know that from this piece.
Here is the second story from CNN.com:
Suspect arrested in Arkansas recruiting center shooting
(CNN) -- An Arkansas man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting at a Little Rock military recruiting center that killed one soldier and wounded another, authorities said.
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad -- a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe -- faces a first-degree murder charge and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act, Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said. The terrorist counts stem from the shots fired at an occupied building.
While authorities continued to investigate a motive, Thomas said Muhammad is a Muslim convert and, based on preliminary interviews with him, investigators believe there were "political and religious motives" in the shooting.
Military officials initially believed the shooting was a random act, but Thomas said police believe the shooter acted alone "with the specific purpose of targeting military personnel."
The soldier who was killed was identified as Pvt. William Long, 24, of Conway, and the wounded soldier is Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, Thomas said.
Ezeagwula is in stable condition and expected to recover, the police chief said.
"I'm relieved there's a suspect in custody," said Capt. Matthew Feehan, commander of the center.
Feehan said seven other recruiters were in the building, but nobody else was injured.
Thomas said police recovered three guns from Muhammad's black Ford SUV: an SKS semi-automatic rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and a pistol.
The victims were just out of basic training and had not been deployed, said Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis, commander of the Oklahoma recruiting battalion that oversees the Little Rock recruiting center.
Melvin Bledsoe of Memphis, Tennesee , who was listed on the police report as Muhammad's father, declined to comment, referring questions to Little Rock Police.
The soldiers were part of a recruiting program called "hometown recruiting assistance," Artis said. Under the program, recruiters have the soldiers tell their stories to potential recruits. It's a volunteer position taken while soldiers are visiting or based back in their home region, Artis said.
The FBI has opened an investigation into the incident, said Steven Frazier, spokesman for the agency's Little Rock office. "Based on what we find, we will determine whether there is any federal jurisdiction to prosecute," he said.
I don’t see this called a hate crime. I don’t see the words ‘Muslim extremist’ here. I don’t see the word ‘assassin’ here. And I’ll be willing to bet the words that are here will be the last we see on this story. Could it be because the person murdered was in the military? I’ll let you make the call.
What I can plainly see is the difference in style between the two stories. I hope as the line between news and commentary becomes increasingly blurred, you will be able to plainly see the difference as well.
6/1/09
Honor, Courage, Commitment
Sometimes it is difficult for me to write about my feelings. It takes a lot of work to sort through the range of seemingly contradictory feelings and put the jumbled mess into coherent sentences. I wanted to write about Brian going to Marine Corps boot camp for a while, but like the grey murky mist which has been our constant companion for four days, I opted for just hanging in the air. Here goes.
We deposited our oldest son at a two-star Holiday Inn in La Mesa last night. This was his first step toward leaving his past behind and facing a brave new world of the toughest physical and mental challenges ever in his life. (We figured out the hotel had a two star rating because the marines use this as one of their staging areas, and there is a constant stream of wide-eyed nervous-looking young men coming and going every few weeks.)
It is nearly eight a.m. Monday. By now, no doubt, he is at MCRD San Diego and has already had breakfast and a steady stream of screaming DI’s in his face. I imagine by the end of today his hair will be gone, his thoughts will be racing, and he will be physically exhausted. This is the beginning of what the Marine Corps calls “forming” where they take dopey, lazy, kids and turn them into useful men. You’ve heard those commercials “We get done in a few hours what most people accomplish all day.” It’s true. I thought I got up early at 5:22 a.m. Marines are up an hour before that.
My son chose the Marine Corps on his own. Of all the branches of service he said the Marines embodied the ideals of Boy Scouts the most. He said he wanted to be part of an organization that stood for honor, courage, and commitment. Someone at church asked him why he didn’t go into the ______ because it was so much easier. He said, “Mom, I didn’t choose the Marines because it was easy. I wanted to be with the best.” Wow. I get a lump in my throat even now as I write this. How many 20-year-olds do you know who talk like this? I thought I knew my son but I have to admit, I had no idea his character was so rich and deep.
I have a feeling he’ll be fine. I have a feeling he will surprise me. I have a feeling when I see him again in 89 days, and watch him proudly march in his graduation, and behold the man he has become, I’ll cry like a baby. Then I’ll turn to whoever is next to me and say “That’s MY son.”
We deposited our oldest son at a two-star Holiday Inn in La Mesa last night. This was his first step toward leaving his past behind and facing a brave new world of the toughest physical and mental challenges ever in his life. (We figured out the hotel had a two star rating because the marines use this as one of their staging areas, and there is a constant stream of wide-eyed nervous-looking young men coming and going every few weeks.)
It is nearly eight a.m. Monday. By now, no doubt, he is at MCRD San Diego and has already had breakfast and a steady stream of screaming DI’s in his face. I imagine by the end of today his hair will be gone, his thoughts will be racing, and he will be physically exhausted. This is the beginning of what the Marine Corps calls “forming” where they take dopey, lazy, kids and turn them into useful men. You’ve heard those commercials “We get done in a few hours what most people accomplish all day.” It’s true. I thought I got up early at 5:22 a.m. Marines are up an hour before that.
My son chose the Marine Corps on his own. Of all the branches of service he said the Marines embodied the ideals of Boy Scouts the most. He said he wanted to be part of an organization that stood for honor, courage, and commitment. Someone at church asked him why he didn’t go into the ______ because it was so much easier. He said, “Mom, I didn’t choose the Marines because it was easy. I wanted to be with the best.” Wow. I get a lump in my throat even now as I write this. How many 20-year-olds do you know who talk like this? I thought I knew my son but I have to admit, I had no idea his character was so rich and deep.
I have a feeling he’ll be fine. I have a feeling he will surprise me. I have a feeling when I see him again in 89 days, and watch him proudly march in his graduation, and behold the man he has become, I’ll cry like a baby. Then I’ll turn to whoever is next to me and say “That’s MY son.”
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