Comfortably Numb

That's pretty much how I feel about the execution of late-term abortion provider Doctor Tiller, who was gunned down early today inside the Reformed Lutheran Church in Wichita, where he served as an usher with his wife watching on while seated in the church choir.

The whole thing leaves me cold. Forgive me if I find it hard to summon what most might consider the proper outrage at such an allegedly brazen act.

It's not because he was an abortion provider, even a late-term abortion provider. It's because he was obviously corrupt. He thought it was beneath him to follow Kansas Law, which states that late-term abortions might only be provided in the case of grave risk to the mothers life, or if the possibility exists the process of childbirth could cause her permanent physical harm. Even at that, Kansas law states plainly there must be a second professional opinion in concurrence with the first, and this must come from an independent source.

Tiller ignored all of this, granting late-term procedures to women who claimed severe depression, a clear-cut violation of Kansas Law, and not on a mere handful of occasions but innumerable times. He found himself brought up on charges for this, and for deriving his required second opinion from a man whom prosecutors charged was little more than a private employee of the doctor. He was cleared of all charges in a trial that was marked more by political maneuvering and demagoguery than the actual pursuit of justice.

Tiller liked to claim he was following his conscience. Well, maybe so, but I have a sneaking idea his was for sale to the highest bidder, and what bruising might have been self-inflicted to his ethical spirit he managed to soothe with the balms of gracious, selfless giving to the coffers of then-Governor Kathleen Sibellius-who it seemed was one of Tiller's staunchest supporters and defenders.

Sibellius is now of course the Director of The Department of Health and Human Services, appointed to that position by Obama, who early in his career as an Illinois state Senator opposed the Infant Born Alive Act, and so who now of course, as President, feigns outrage at the doctor's murder. Well, at least he is ideologically consistent.

There could be more to the story. As of the last time I checked, the name of the gunman, apparently apprehended by police en route by automobile after having escaped the scene of the crime, has not been released. This could be an indication of suspicion of conspiracy.

If it is a conspiracy, as opposed to this one individual acting alone, then it is a remarkable thing that the killing took place inside the Reformed Lutheran Church. It would seem to be more practical foe the killer or killers to wait until the doctor was entering, or exiting, the church. It almost seems like the time and place of the murder was in and of itself some kind of message sent to the congregants, and to the nation, and to the left-wing of the country who support Tiller's work and mission. The killer wanted an audience. Not just any audience, but a gasping gallery of Tiller's friends, associates, and relatives. Especially, his fellow Christian parishioners. It would not be too much of an exaggeration to regard it potentially as an act of terrorism.

Yet, make no mistake, Tiller was no martyr. He was a mercenary, plain and simple. It won't be long, regardless, before he is held up as a martyr for the supposed "reproductive rights of all women".

This could well be a pivotal moment in what could become a prolonged civil war, one that is usually fought with words, from the bench, the legislative chambers, and the streets. Due to the nature of the controversy, a profound debate about the meaning of life, and when it begins, and when it is proper to end it, it seems only natural that it might, from time to time, become violent.

It is a war fought on both sides with prolific amounts of funding. Tiller had massive reservoirs of financial and political supporters, as did those who opposed his practice. There are on both sides always, like in all wars, the supporters, protesters, demagogues, and those who provide the cannon fodder. Oh, yes, and there are the pawns, the nameless soldiers who die on countless battlefields, whom we all so love to eulogize, and whom we then conveniently forget. We never really think that much of those we claim to fight for either. That's because we're not really doing it for them. We are doing it for us.

It always gets our attention, though, when one of the high-ranking brass takes the hit, because its such a rarity. Well, Tiller was a high-ranking official of sorts, one of the ones who called the shots and set the pace and the agenda. No pawn, he. Perspective is then warranted.

After all, some might point out that, for all the flaming rhetoric, this is not a war that has cost many lives. On the other hand, some might claim it has indeed cost several hundreds of millions of the lives of those who were helpless to prevent their fate, who had no say in the ultimate decisions Tiller arrived at by whatever process.

One can only hope his heart was in the right place when he did so. Right about now, a lot of Kansas churches, like those across America, are doubtless doing something maybe most of them rarely do-a considerable amount of soul-searching.