Words From An Earlier Battle for Justice

While pondering the recent murder of Dr. Tiller and the resultant litany of angry pro-abortion voices accusing pro-life advocates in this country of being responsible for the actions of one troubled man, I was reminded of a letter that had been written by a man from jail over 40 years ago. His letter went like this:

"...In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion?
Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery?
Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink Hemlock?
Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion?
We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber....
More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

Dr. Martin Luther King writing from his Birmingham, Alabama jail cell.

Now, I don't want to mislead anyone reading this that there is any way to justify the actions of this alleged killer of Dr. Tiller. Likewise, there is no justification for the attacks being waged against the good people of conscience who protest the killing of innocent babies by the supporters of abortion. Individuals must not act alone but in concert with all of society.

It is our hope and prayer that in the course of the discussions that this event has fostered, society will come to address these atrocities against the unborn for what they are.

Pray for an end to violence and for an increase in love for each other.