Friday, June 05, 2009

#193: Outraged and Disappointed.

I was originally going to spend this entry talking about the history of Tauy Creek to celebrate the one year anniversary of Tauy Creek.com but instead I'm going to talk about what has been going on in the news lately regarding the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who performed late-term abortions legally. It's during news stories like this that I am glad that I just blog about a mediocre comic strip and post silly stories because as much as I would love to be a journalist, news like this is never a good thing. Reading the stories in the newspaper, people post comments praising the shooter and calling him a hero. Websites honor other people who attempted to kill abortion doctors and people get so sure that now those doctors are cowering at the feet of Jesus Christ begging for forgiveness. Do they not realize that the 9/11 hijackers are also considered heroes in their countries for what they did? I also believe that while God is a vengeful being, I also believe that he is forgiving. People on Earth need to stop trying to figure out what God would do and just let Him do His work. I'm pretty sure there are more important things for us humans to do.

I'm not saying that Dr. Tiller should become a martyr for what he did--I don't agree with late-term abortions either except in extreme cases--but he provided a service to women who had no other options. He could've stopped at any time, he knew what he was getting himself into. Dr. Tiller did not wake up every day smiling and going "I wonder how many babies I'm going to kill today". Unfortunately at least one person woke up every morning going "I wonder how many babies Dr. Tiller is going to kill today". Roe v. Wade went into effect in 1973 and that made abortion legal and that the mother may terminate the pregnancy at any time up until the fetus becomes viable (able to live outside the womb, even with artificial aid. It's legal. Get over it.

People are in an uproar over Tiller terminating those pregnancies but I'm seeing very few people complain that Scott Roeder also took a life--a living, breathing, outside the womb life--outside of a church. He could've hit another person, a child during his quest for justice. Why does no one care about that?

I live in Lawrence, Kansas, one of the few progressive communities in Kansas and the shooting of George Tiller brings Kansas into the news once again but, as usual, it paints us as an unprogressive state. Ever since the Kansas school board outlawed evolution--which I have a story about--Kansas has been an embarrassment to our country. Evolution, Fred Phelps, George Tiller, Phill Kline, Sam Brownback--it seems like when Kansas would take a step forward, it would inevitably take two steps back. Since I live in such a liberal town, a vigil was held downtown for Dr. Tiller and while there was a part of me that wanted to go, just to watch, I know that there's a nutcase out there that will want to hurt the people that were honoring that man.

Dr. George Tiller provided a service to women who had no other options. There were only two other doctors who performed those kind of services. Soldiers put their lives on the line everyday protecting this country during a war fewer and fewer people are supporting; those doctors also put their lives on the line helping women that no one else will. For about a year now, I have getting more and more disappointed in what our country is doing, we are no longer the America we used to be and unfortunately we are now a country of everything we hate.

But what do I know? I just blog about a mediocre comic strip and write silly stories.

Dr. George Richard Tiller
1941-2009

~Brian