June 1, 2009
Godson of Anti-Abortionist Extremism Takes Responsibility for Tiller Assassination, Asks Forgiveness, Puts Big Nail in Movement’s Coffin
“The people who stir up the fringe never take responsibility. But I’d like to say on this day after a man was murdered in cold blood for preforming [sic] abortions that I — and the people I worked with in the religious right, the Republican Party, the pro-life movement and the Roman Catholic Church, all contributed to this killing by our foolish and incendiary words.“I am very sorry.”
Stunning piece from Frank Schaeffer, son of “the late Francis Schaeffer, a Reformed Presbyterian … influenced by Reconstructionism,” whose “widely distributed books and films of the 1970s and early 1980s are generally credited with providing an important catalyst for evangelical involvement in anti-abortion politics”:
How I (and Other “Pro-Life” Leaders) Contributed to Dr. Tiller’s Murder My late father and I share the blame (with many others) for the murder of Dr. George Tiller the abortion doctor gunned down on Sunday. Until I got out of the religious right (in the mid-1980s) and repented of my former hate-filled rhetoric I was both a leader of the so-called pro-life movement and a part of a Republican Party hate machine masquerading as the moral conscience of America. …
[The documentary antiabortion film series I produced and directed, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?] and companion book eventually brought millions of heretofore non-political evangelical Americans into the antiabortion crusade. We personally also got people like Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan and countless Republican leaders involved in the “issue.”
In the early 80s my father followed up with a book that sold over a million copies called A Christian Manifesto. In certain passages he advocated force if all other methods for rolling back the abortion ruling of Roe v. Wade failed. He compared America and its legalized abortion to Hitler’s Germany and said that whatever tactics would have been morally justified in removing Hitler would be justified in trying to stop abortion. I said the same thing in a book I wrote (A Time For Anger) that right wing evangelicals made into a best seller. For instance Dr. James Dobson (of the Focus On the Family radio show) gave away over 100,000 copies.
Like many writers of moral/political/religious theories my father and I would have been shocked that someone took us at our word, walked into a Lutheran Church and pulled the trigger on an abortionist. But even if the murderer never read Dad’s or my words we helped create the climate that made this murder likely to happen. …
Definitely read the rest — and distribute the link widely.
Related:
Where’s the Indignant Outrage Over the DHS Warning About Right-Wing Extremist Groups in the Wake of George Tiller’s Murder?, May 31, 2009
Surprise… Not: George Tiller Murder Suspect Scott Roeder Has A Record — And Operation Rescue Ties, May 31, 2009
LifeNews.com Tries to Set Up Scott Roeder’s Insanity Plea, Conveniently Forgets the Rest of Ex-Wife’s Remarks, June 1, 2009
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Filed Under: Choice, Christianity, Crime, Domestic Terrorism, Focus on the Family/James Dobson, George Tiller, Hate Crimes, Radical Religious Right, Republicans, Women
