Posted on 06/09/2009 7:02:33 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Perfectionism and Unlimited Guilt
You ask in your essay on Dr. Gunn, "At what point do you think it would be just to use force to protect innocent life?" I ask in response: "At what point do you think it is no longer legitimate to use force to protect innocent life?" (p. 8). You seek to legitimize the theology of the lone-gunner for Jesus. I seek to ward off the theology of the anarchist revolutionary movement.
There are 50 million abortions conducted each year. Am I responsible to pick up a gun and shoot any abortionist anywhere on earth? Has God ordained me to cleanse the earth of abortionists? Your theology sets no boundaries on the use of violence. National borders have no judicial relevance for those seeking to cleanse by force the world of abortion. Evil is evil, wherever it is practiced. If the lone-gunner for Jesus has been given equality with the civil magistrate in protecting the lives of the unborn, this license cannot end at a national border. The late Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death warrant with a $5 million reward for the man who kills Salmon Rushdie. He did not place any geographical restrictions on this death warrant, nor did he place temporal boundaries. The death warrant is presumably still in force, and Rushdie is still at risk.
Where are the judicial boundaries of responsibility? Where are the judicial boundaries of violence? By removing the death penalty from the State, your theology transfers it to the lone gunner. What restricts him? His common sense? That is what your essay appealed to: "Common sense tells the individual that he should protect his neighbor from unjust harm" (p. 1). But how clearly does common sense speak in history, and how carefully do lone gunners with a sense of mission listen to it?
Your theology offers no judicial boundaries. It offers no boundaries on the sense of guilt in the hearts of men. There are unborn babies dying today, all over the world. Where does my responsibility end?
The unbounded perfectionism of your theology leads to intense guilt and the deviant behavior such guilt can produce. I am not guilty for my refusal to kill abortionists. I have not been authorized by God to kill abortionists. Abortionists are not under my God-given authority. They have not invaded an area of responsibility for which I am responsible to the point of being authorized to kill them. But I am guilty if I do nothing politically to reverse the legalization of abortion. That authority has been given to me.
Yours is a vigilante theology. Where in the Bible does God authorize the vigilante? Where in the Bible is the vigilante authorized to conduct a trial and execute its verdict?
The political reaction against vigilantism will likely prolong the legalization of abortion. Your vigilante theology, if believed and acted upon, will prolong the legalized slaughter of the innocents. Your personal perfectionism and your guilt-driven vigilantism may well result in the deaths of more babies than your victim could have performed in a lifetime. To delay the re-criminalization of abortion by just one week would allow the slaughter of almost 29,000 innocent lives in the U.S. Your act will probably delay it much longer than a week.
When it comes to responsibility for the deaths of the innocent, you are a guilty man. The blood of far more than an abortionist and his escort is on your hands, especially if you are declared innocent. If you are declared innocent, you will have imitators.
....The political reaction against vigilantism will likely prolong the legalization of abortion. Your vigilante theology, if believed and acted upon, will prolong the legalized slaughter of the innocents. Your personal perfectionism and your guilt-driven vigilantism may well result in the deaths of more babies than your victim could have performed in a lifetime. To delay the re-criminalization of abortion by just one week would allow the slaughter of almost 29,000 innocent lives in the U.S. Your act will probably delay it much longer than a week.
When it comes to responsibility for the deaths of the innocent, you are a guilty man. The blood of far more than an abortionist and his escort is on your hands, especially if you are declared innocent. If you are declared innocent, you will have imitators.
Dr George Tiller, the infamous Kansas late-term abortionist was shot to death the last Sunday of May 2009. At some point, comparisons will be made to the shooting deaths of Dr. John Britton and abortion escort/bodyguard James Barrett in the summer of 1994.
This thread series features a letter written to Britton's murderer, Paul Hill while he was awaiting trial for the killings (Hill was convicted, sentenced to death, and executed for the double-murder). The author is "Christian Reconstructionist" writer Gary North. The letter (published in book form under the title Lone Gunners for Jesus: Letters to Paul Hill) articulates a Reformed response to the question of whether the killing of an abortionist can be considered morally justified in Scripture.
Pt 1: Introduction
Pt 2: Judicial Theology
Pt 3: Murder, Defined Biblically
Pt 4: The Fundamental Issue
Pt 5: The Guilt of the Community
Pt 6: The Question of Judicial Representation
Pt 7: Community Standards
Pt 8: The Technology of Low-Cost Murder
Pt 9: Voices of Virtue
Pt 10: Perfectionism and Unlimited Guilt
Pt 11: Non-Violent Resistance
Pt 12: Caught in a Crossfire
Pt 13: Conclusion
What is the difference between that and walking past a abortion clinic where children are being attacked? Aren`t we all accomplices for doing nothing? (voting Republican is something, but not enough) Why are we not marching on Washington? Why did we allow this to happen? We are all guilty of standing by. I am not about to condemn anybody that takes it in to their own hands! They are making a huge sacrifice, are they not laying down their life for a friend? They are giving up their own life when they make such a decision.
Somebody please explain to me why we would use force to rescue a child from a knife waving murderer, but not a abortionist basically doing the same thing? In the first case the police and swat teams would be called in, possibly a police sniper even?
Is it because the Supreme court says its legal? How many men made that decision that it was legal? Probably far less than 5 people that happened to land on the court. We are allowing less than 5 evil men and women to tell us it`s alright?
No I would never do such a thing, but I am not about to condemn anybody that does take it in to their own hands! I am too much of a coward to do such a thing.
I would not be so quick to say that God/Christ will condemn these people that have taken the law in to their own hands.
If their is a difference in rescuing the child from a crazed knife waving murderer, and rescuing the child from a abortionist, I do not see it!
There is no difference, it’s relative.
Dear Friendofgeorge & Murphy:
Please check out the Lesforlife post of that Abortion Vigilante Worksheet at American RTL! The email from a qualified scholar gives a great endorsement of this resource. Can you identify the two factors that distinguish between self-defense and vigilante murder? This worksheet investigates the underlying principles!
http://www.americanrighttolife.org/news/abortion-vigilantism-worksheet
From: Ronda Chervin
Date: Sat, Jun 6, 2009
Subject: thank you for ARTL’s vigilantism worksheet
To: Office@americanrtl.org
Dear friends, I just read Abortion Vigilantism Worksheet. I am a pro-life professor of ethics. I plan to use this in class. It is the best thing on this subject I have ever read. I just want to thank you profusely for devising it.
Shalom, Dr. Ronda Chervin
______________________
Her bio: Ronda Chervin received a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Fordham University and an MA in Religious Studies from Notre Dame Apostolic Institute. Ronda converted to Christianity from a Jewish, though atheistic, background and has been a Professor of Philosophy and Theology at Loyola Marymount University, the Seminary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and Franciscan University of Steubenville. She is an international speaker and author.
-Bob Enyart
http://KGOV.com
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