Monday, June 1, 2009

Terrorism and Judgment

I know that this is a blog about scootin' but there is a quick topic I need to get off my chest. On Sunday, May 31 a local man was gunned down in the foyer of a local church while he was serving as an usher for a church service. One shot to the head and he was dead almost instantly. Unfortunately, there may be many people who may rejoice at this event. There are probably more people that have reacted in horror about what happened. The church is less than a mile from our home. We heard the sirens but did not know what had happened until a couple of hours later. The reasons for the crime are still unclear as this is being written. The murdered man was both hated and loved. Many of those that hated him based their hatred on religious beliefs that what he did for a living was sinful. Those that respected and appreciated him knew that he provided certain services that were generally unavailable to many women. I reacted in horror when I saw what happened to the World Trade Center. I had a similar reaction when the Federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed. This event, so close to my home, will also stay with me for a long time. It's not that I was in any personal danger from any of these events that bothers me. Rather my thoughts center around that it is potentially a sad reflection on society. For some reason, some people think that they have the right to take matters into their own hands and end the lives of other people who they may disagree with for religious or other reasons. The man that was murdered was a medical doctor that provided abortions. Regardless of where you stand on the abortion issue, this man probably did not deserve to have his life ended in this manner. This murder does not rank up there with the level of terror experienced by the people affected by the terrorist acts in New York City and Oklahoma City, but one similarity is that an individual decided that they were justified in performing a terrible act that ended the life of another person. I have always thought that this kind of judgment ought to be reserved for some kind of higher authority. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

2 comments:

  1. Excellent post on this. I would re-consider one small thing..."probably did not deserve to hav his life ended in this manner." NO. There is in my view no "probably" about it. He absolutely didnt deserved this. And everyone ought to come out opposed to these sort of tactics!

    As you indicate, regardless of whether one agrees or disagrees with him and how me practiced medical care, no one has the right to execute another. This man belonged to a family, friends, community, profession, and to this human race. No one has the right. No one. Sorry for preaching. But this has touched many people, myself included.

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  2. Sharon,
    You are right. It's a really sad day here.

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