Perhaps I might have persuaded you that you were headed in a terrible direction. In all likelihood, though, you would not have taken me seriously. I say this because you were excommunicated by your church, and you did not take that seriously........The reports say that you ran. If correct, then you did not act as a man of courage would have acted. You did not act as one who believed in some elevated principle. You shot and ran. This indicates to me that you knew in your heart that you act was, biblically speaking, an act of murder rather than the God- authorized defense of a just cause. A man defending a just cause does not run. He commits his act of civil rebellion in the name of a higher law and then submits himself to the sanctions of the state for having violated state law....
....The intent of the passage [Deuteronomy 21:1-9] was to show God does not hold a community or a society guilty for the acts of an individual that are immoral, if the community takes appropriate actions to suppress the action. That is, if the community passes laws against the practice, and seeks to enforce these laws against the practice, and bring sanctions against those who violate the law, then that society is not brought under the judgment of God....if societies do not acknowledge this by seeking to suppress illegal acts, God does bring judgment against them. This is why God sent the prophets before the people and before the kings: to warn them. By violating God's law, the people risked bringing the entire society under the direct negative sanctions of God....
Tiller's murderer was most certainly a coward. And Tiller's pastor and congregation will most certainly be held accountable for Tiller's own murders, in Heaven.
At some point, I knew comparisons would be made to the shooting deaths of Dr. John Britton and abortion escort/bodyguard James Barrett in the summer of 1994. For that reason, I've begun posting a thread series featuring a letter written to Britton's murderer, Paul Hill while he was awaiting trial for the killings (Hill was convicted, sentenced to death, and executed for the double-murder). The author is "Christian Reconstructionist" writer Gary North. The letter (published in book form under the title Lone Gunners for Jesus: Letters to Paul Hill) articulates a Reformed response to the question of whether the killing of an abortionist can be considered morally justified in Scripture. Parts 1 - 3 have already been posted; part 4 will be posted tomorrow.
Pt 1: Introduction
Pt 2: Judicial Theology
Pt 3: Murder, Defined Biblically
Pt 4: The Fundamental Issue
Pt 5: The Guilt of the Community
Pt 6: The Question of Judicial Representation
Pt 7: Community Standards
Pt 8: The Technology of Low-Cost Murder
Pt 9: Voices of Virtue
Pt 10: Perfectionism and Unlimited Guilt
Pt 11: Non-Violent Resistance
Pt 12: Caught in a Crossfire
Pt 13: Conclusion
I think you and the author you are quoting are missing the logical progression. First, Tiller’s executioner risked his life to end the life of a monster, who in any sense of justice received justice by the executioners hand. If one believes in Natural Law (God’s Law basically) one realizes that those who violate with such preponderance (over 60,000 babies killed by this monster)and are not held accountable by the government, are justifiably held accountable by those who have the courage to act and risk their life. This was validated at Nuremberg after World War II when prosecutors wracked their brains on how to charge men who murdered thousands could be charged with a crime when the act was legal within their country.
In regards to Tiller’s executioner being a coward because contrived evidence that because he ran he “knew” he violated God’s law...that is flawed and presumptuous.
Indeed, running was an act of trying to save oneself from the punishment from an unjust system that allowed these murders to be “legal”.
I know that I do not have that kind of courage, I would not trade my life for an abortionist. But, this man did. So, you say he also had to give up his natural tendency for self preservation as well to validate his courage? Makes no sense, think about it.