Bomber for babies

With all the attention on the Muslim suicide bombers and terrorism, it's valuable to me to hear of another religious fanatic willing to kill for his cause.

See article pasted below.

On the surface cases like this are great for feelings of moral superiority of the average reader. Most all of us can look face-to-face with an unrepentant murderer and claim we're against that. And, unlike many murder cases, like O.J., we have the satisfaction of a confession to close our heart to his suffering.

On the other hand, I wonder if perhaps such characters, expressing their hatred so openly, so full of self-righteous anger, if he could become a martyr for other would-be executioners still on the fence.

On first reading, certainly cases like this are cases where I think the death penalty is best applied. Self-confessed murders can be safely killed and the world will no longer need to deal with his insanity.

But I have to agree with the life imprisonment as a better punishment. God works in mysterious ways, at least to the living, and so as long as we can keep him from killing others, I prefer giving him the chance to yet be a teacher for the world. I mean we'll letting him continue to have a choice, whether to repent or not.

He is a "living experiment" on how individuals account for their actions. I accept the "road less traveled" in this case is for him to reflect on his morality and come to a different conclusion than the one that lead to his actions.

Overall I have more appreciation for someone honest and open in his hatred, than someone who tries to "be judge" and desire no accountability for his decisions to a greater power.

I'm not saying he "wanted to be accountable", but given society forced it on him, he might have continued to maintain his innocence despite all evidence. Instead he took the power offered, the public stage to present his views. So that helps us be sure we were right, and helps him offer his politics.

Of course Christianity of Jesus says "He who is without sin may cast the first stone." Jesus offered lots of challenging advice. I guess in this case, that would support imprisonment over death.

For me the interesting question is how the prolife supporters view this man. Of course there's 100 million opinions perhaps, but overall I wonder will he be viewed as a crusader for God's justice? Will people seek him out? Perhaps if he's gifted, and he sounds not without intelligence, he could write a book about his actions and views. I wouldn't have anything against such a book being written, not because I'd agree with anything he'd say, but because again it's an open challenge to society and he's got nothing left to hide. Of course, I'd assume it would be illegal for him to profit from book sales.

I ought to be more sympathetic to the police officer killed and the maimed nurse. Yes, I ought to be sympathetic about many horrors committed against people I don't personally know. In this level, I'm with the murderer, the monster, seeing it as a political act, rather than a personal one.

There is a truth that if enough people were willing to kill to prevent abortion, that it would most surely have an effect on abortion. Of course most of all it might have an effect of moving it underground - same thing as it being outlawed. And I guess some of that has already occured, with the number of abortion clinics available greatly reduced. Certainly were I a doctor who performed abortions, I'd have some fear for my life, and I'm not sure I'd stick with it, if another option opened for me to serve.

I wonder - If I was prolife, AND I wanted to talk with this man, if I wanted to learn from him, would that make me partially responsible for his actions? (Or someone else who may follow?)

The "moral" approach it seems to me would be to play his game in reverse. In order to be "good" I am forced to condemn his actions, and ideally keep him from communication from anyone who would support his agenda.

You could say he is a "prisoner of war", because he has declared war on Law and Order. Maybe the term is meaningless for citizens. He's ready to start the revolution on a single issue, and trash all goodness on the unlikely belief that the world will be a better place when he's done.

For me, I might imagine being a revolutionary, but I have a hard time imagining the outcome. Even if I thought legalized abortion needed to be stopped, I ultimately don't believe I can kill enough people to stop it. I don't know how killing people will teach those I don't kill to play by my rules. Ultimately the only successful revolution is one that is willing to kill everyone who isn't 100% behind your cause.

There are times and places where I can imagine killing may be necessary, even actions that knowingly risk killing people who did not deserve to be killed.

I suppose I could get myself into a real revolution. I basically surrender the abortion issue because ultimately it is a self-destructive act. Basically, I'd rather have dead babies, than crack babies, or abused babies, or neglected babies. I surrender saving babies unless I'm willing to devote my life to saving babies that are not aborted.

My imagined revoltion would probably be more of the Indiginous People sort. Where "The Machine" or "The Beast" (if you like christian cult language) of greater culture tries to take away or destroy something held sacred by a smaller group of people trying to defend what they have.

The small defending themselves against the strong is the only noble battle. Of course I'd as much prefer the "Nonviolent resistance" experiment of Ghandi or MLK. Dying can be heroic, but killing never is.

Unfortunately such fantasy puts me at odds with my society. Since I work for "The Machine", everything the machine does is in part in my name, and I am a part of the violence in the world for my cooperation. I am properly bribed to keep my month shut.

For me, I can associate more on the big stuff than the little stuff, you like forests versus babies. We can grow new babies faster than we can recover old growth forests, and MUCH faster than we can recover the fossil fuels we consume.

I'm all for the brave defending-the-homeland revolutionaries out there who don't want their lands to be exploited for oil. Money earned from oil is like money earned from gambling - it is "not ours" unless we can replace it for future generations. AND I know money power is a positive loop that can't help but be corrupting to everything it touches.

For myself, I'd move away from oil rich lands rather than fight to protect them, but some people will fight.

Admittingly I don't have the heart for revolution, for what it takes to succeed, and I don't really believe it can succeed ultimately.

I suppose a part of me lives with the Gods of Mother Nature. To see a hurricane destroy homes and kill people is horrible, but a part of me says "Go Mom!" we are most of the time arrogant and ignorant, and we think we're in control. I sort of like it when that illusion of control evaporates, even for a day, and we have to step back and reassess our ambitions and vision for what life is about.

So perhaps I see "Mr. Bomber for Babies" as such a force of nature. Ultimately he is just a tiny force, like a raindrop. Whether he precedes the storm beginning or end I don't know.

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5512631.html

Abortion clinic bomber gets life term
July 19, 2005 RUDO0719

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An unrepentant Eric Rudolph declared Monday that abortion must be fought with "deadly force'' as a judge sentenced him to life in prison for setting off a remote-controlled bomb at an abortion clinic that killed an off-duty police officer and maimed a nurse.

"Children are disposed of at will,'' the 38-year-old Rudolph said, jabbing the air in a speech that echoed a rambling manifesto he issued in April when he pleaded guilty to four bombings in all, including the blast at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. "The state is no longer the protector of the innocents.''

Rudolph's fiery statement came as his victims confronted him court, branding the anti-abortion extremist a cowardly "monster'' and recalling how their lives were devastated by the 1998 clinic bombing in Birmingham.

"It gives me great delight to know you are going to spend the rest of your life sitting in an 8-by-12 box,'' said the clinic's director, Diane Derzis.

Under a plea bargain that spared him a death sentence, Rudolph received two life sentences without parole for the Birmingham bombing. Next month, he will receive two more life terms for the deadly Olympic bombing and two other attacks in Atlanta.

Rudolph spent more than five years on the run in the North Carolina wilderness, employing the survivalist techniques he learned as a soldier. He was captured in 2003 while scavenging for food behind a grocery store.

When it was his turn to speak Monday, Rudolph angrily lashed out at abortion and the Birmingham clinic.

"What they did was participate in the murder of 50 children a week,'' he said, shackled at the ankles and wearing a red jail uniform. "Abortion is murder and because it is murder I believe deadly force is needed to stop it.''

Emily Lyons, the nurse wounded by his bomb, said Rudolph was nothing but a coward.

"When it was your turn to face death you weren't so brave again,'' Lyons said in a forceful voice, occasionally looking across the aisle at Rudolph. "You want to see a monster, all you have to do is look in the mirror.''

The bombing also killed police officer Robert "Sande'' Sanderson outside the New Woman All Women clinic. Sanderson's widow, speaking with Rudolph to her back, told the court she will "never forget the look on my son's face when I told him Sande was gone.''

"I want to tell you there is no punishment in my opinion great enough for Eric Rudolph. When Eric Rudolph leaves this earth and has to face final judgment, I'm going to leave the final judgment in God's hand,'' she said.

Seated at the defense table, Rudolph nodded in agreement.

Lyons was wounded by flying nails and other shrapnel. She has undergone 21 operations, lost her left eye and has scars on her arms and legs. She is no longer able to work.

But she said Rudolph failed to deter her or the work of the women's clinic.

"I faced five pounds of dynamite and hundreds of nails yet I survived,'' she said. "Do I look afraid? You damaged my body, but you did not create the fear you sought.''

Rudolph faces sentencing Aug. 22 in Atlanta for the Olympic bombing, which killed one woman and injured more than 100 other people, and for 1997 bombings at an abortion clinic and a gay bar in Atlanta.
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