Elizabeth Scalia has an article at First Things Bonhoeffer, Long, Tiller, and Assassination. I read it once (not following the hyperlinks), read the comments, and was about to read it again when I realised I was simply over my head.
The murder of Tiller by Roeder is merely the jumping-off point for a discussion of what actions, by what people, under what circumstances, are justified when peaceful means have been unsuccessful. Disturbing in both directions, as both the justifiers of great wrong and those who refuse to justify wrong against greater wrong leave us with blood on our hands either way.
2 comments:
AVI,
Wow, that was a great article ... thanks for the link.
It has been a long time since I read Bonhoeffer, but I think I remember disagreeing with the idea that a political assassination during a time of war was the same as a murder. After all, that is the point of war (as Limbaugh says) to kill people and break things.
I can understand the frustration which leads to this type of action, an unjust law which leads to even greater injustice ... and the small people in the government itself are to frightened for their own petty reasons to air things to the public at large. What can a person on the street do?
As the system of justice becomes more about the system and less about the justice, justice reverts back to the people whom it is supposed to serve ... i.e. vigilantism. Unfortunately, that type of justice usually degenerates to revenge.
Buz
Looks like The Anchoress is attracting a larger, more erudite audience with her move to First Things. I followed the site for years until Fr. Neuhaus died but since then I haven't found time. (He was without peer with his ability to skirt the edges of nearly every subject, finding language to explain even the most unacceptable opponents without violating the Magisterium.) I rarely leave comments at her site any longer as our views seem to have crystallized in very different directions.
I'm not intimidated by convoluted discussions because my own views are simpler to grasp. Since I don't expect them to become normative for everyone else they might be easier to consider for whatever alternative ideas they may offer. If the abortion issue and its variants are still important to you, here are a couple of links respectfully offered for your reading.
Dr. George Tiller (1941-2009) is the post I put up following his assassination. Too many links to drill into unless you have more time than most people, but I wanted to capture them all for my own future reference.
Speaking to the Candidates About Choice is a blogpost from Cecily Kellogg, a blogger/writer whose banner describes her as "a foul-mouthed liberal, feminist, fat, recovering alcoholic, wife woman and writer." (Don't claim she didn't warn anyone.) The post was published in March last year, as the election was in progress and tells her abortion story, making reference to a couple others.
Looking abortion in the face is a Salon article form 2005.
And finally, here is a link to a professional photographers' ministry that came to my attention. To my knowledge they have no position regarding abortion, but the link is important enough to be passed along in any conversation regarding the issue.
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