Grieved and Concerned About George Tiller

I'm processing my thoughts and concerns regarding the murder of abortionist George Tiller this morning in Wichita, KS. My heart is so grieved for the Tiller family. As a pro-life leader I believe emphatically that all human life is sacred, unique and precious to God. My prayers go out to the Tiller family during this tragedy.

I'm thankful that when God called me into the pro-life movement that He first established that my posture would be rooted in the prayer movement. Nobody knows the story yet about who this shooter is or what his motivation was. My guess though is that what happened this morning to Mr. Tiller will demonstrate what can happen when the struggle against injustice lashes out unprotected by prayer.

We are not easily reduced to prayer. We who grope toward praying today are like a city gutted by fire. The stuggle against injustice has exacted from us an aweful cost. In a similar period with similar struggles, Camus wrote, "There is merely bad luck in not being loved; there is tragedy in not loving. All of us, today, are dying of this tragedy. For violence and hatred dry up the heart itself; the long fight for justice exhausts the love that nevertheless gave birth to it..."

Unprotected by prayer, our social activism runs the danger of becoming self-justifying good works, as our inner resources atrophy, the wells of love run dry, and we are slowly changed into the likeness of the Beast.

-Walter Wink, Engaging the Powers, p. 297-298

By "changed into the likeness of the Beast" he means to be transformed into the very thing that you set out to overthrow or counteract. In the case of the pro-life movement, it is imperative that we maintain an approach that comes from prayer, love and compassion. The act of abortion is so completely and unredeemably violent that it can only be opposed in the "opposite spirit".

Pro-life leaders have been quick to respond publicly today by denouncing this violent act. I'm only slightly consoled that the media is reporting the fact that this doesn't reflect the vast majority of people in the pro-life movement. I have a great concern that this will be used by the pro-abortion agenda and related political leaders to stifle pro-life voices even as we begin debates over the next Supreme Court Justice and health care reform.

No one should profit politically from this great tragedy.