Why George Tiller Matters

A letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer this Sunday suggested that the murder of abortionist George Tiller should receive less attention than the killing of Pvt. William Long outside of a recruitment center a day or so later. This letter is nothing more than an attempt to distract from one of the main problems facing this country-the continued threat of religious fanatics to civic society and individuals.

The letter writer, Robert Pallies, claims that the murder was inspired by the "hateful" rhetoric of the anti-war movement. (Hmmm...I always thought it was pro-war rhetoric that was considered hateful.) However, the anti-war movement has nowhere near the power of the anti-abortion fanatics. As mentioned in a previous post on this blog, Tiller had previously been the target of prominent media conservatives such as Bill O'Reilly. Pvt. Long had received no such targeting; he was in many respects the victim of a random attack by a maniac.

Perhaps the conservatives want to distract people from the fact that their movement is increasingly spawning violent extremists. They want us to ignore the fact that these extremists wish to impinge on everyone else's rights. We shouldn't let them.