Yo, Operation Rescue, if you abhor vigilantism take this shit off your website.
Today Dr Tiller’s family said that his clinic will be closed permanently, a victory for gunman who shot him execution style in his own church nine days ago. Operation Rescue is the outfit that made Tiller the poster boy of right-wing extremist killing fantasies yet it’s leader Troy Newman told the New York Times:
“Good God, do not close this abortion clinic for this reason. Every kook in the world will get some notion.”
And yet the Operation Rescue website still has multiple icons running across the top denouncing Tiller’s clinic. One boasts “Undercover Investigation Stings Tiller.” WTF? I don’t think you want to be talking about stinging a man who took a bullet to the brain last week. You raised a lot of money over the years by demonizing an individual who is now dead because a man with a history of mentally illness took your message as a license to kill.
I’ve got dear friends who are Pro-Life and I understand and sympathize with the cause. But if you’re really worried about “kooks” then it’s time to do the right thing and wipe the shit (no other word for it) off your website. Make up a colorful button saying “We’re Sorry, We don’t condone this” or “Stop the Kooks / Not this Way.” Hell, I’ll be happy to donate my own design services pro-bono to create a 124x124 pixel buttons for you to use. Just take it down.
While we’re at it, why not consider donating this year’s proceeds to the groups working on the issues of violence and mental illness? Seriously. Show you care.
Religion and politics collide in an ugly brew again with the shooting death of Dr George Tiller in the lobby of his Wichita church this morning. Tiller’s long been protest target for anti-abortion activists and has been shot at before. My prayers go out to his family and church. I’m also sending some prayers for the the principled nonviolent activists on both sides of the abortion debate who’s sincerity is sudden up for grabs (FWIW, Operation Rescue has denounced the killing). Both sides have their judgmental wing-nuts, fringes that polarize debate and have held effective policy hostage.
What this shooting “means” in the larger cultural sense will likely shift when we find the identity of the man who pulled the trigger. Was it someone who knew Dr. Tiller or who had a family member who was seen by him? A violent half-crazed individual who wanted to do something violent and high profile and wasn’t particularly motivated by politics? Was he active in any anti-abortion group? Was he acting alone? Is he an active church-goer himself and if so, what kind of church and what kind of preacher delievering what kind of message? Let’s hope this doesn’t get all get any uglier than it already is.
