Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Yesterday, I had a graduation party. At one in the afternoon, my grandpa walked in. "Did you hear what happened at ten o'clock this morning?" he said. "Dr Tiller was shot dead in church."

That was anything but what I expected to hear. I still can't believe they killed him.

What makes people think that it's okay to kill a man because they don't agree with his choices, actions, or decisions?

Three days ago, on May 29th, Pharmacist Jerome Ersland shot a robber who had entered his Oklahoma City pharmacy with a gun. Ersland then chased a second robber from the pharmacy. No one disputes his right to do this: it was clearly self-defense. Until Ersland returned to the store counter, retrieved a second gun, and shot the unconscious teenager five more times, killing him.

They're still arguing that it's self-defense. They say he was so pumped with adrenaline and the desire to protect himself and his customers that he couldn't rationally realize the extent to which he was using the gun. They say the pharmacy was robbed before, and Ersland was justified in protecting himself.

Justified. What a word to use. Because when we say that any man is justified in playing judge, jury, and executioner against a lawbreaker, we imply by association that any man is justified in playing judge, jury, and executioner against any other man.

Dr George Tiller provided what he believed were helpful and valuable resources and health care for women. Whether or not you consider abortion moral or even necessary in some cases, you must consider his courage. His clinic was bombed repeatedly during the Summer of Mercy, the summer I was born, and at one point, he was shot in both arms. Yet he continued to do what he believed was the right thing. He provided abortions, one of the only doctors to do so despite the threats and injury, and he undoubtedly prevented many, many backstreet abortions from taking place: backstreet abortions that would have not only killed but been incredibly painful to the fetuses who would experience them. While it can be argued that abortion is wrong, it must be agreed that Tiller was self-sacrificing and courageous.

There is no doubt that many of Tiller's patients weren't the most moral people in the world. Some used abortion as a means of birth control. Some abortion patients are prostitutes, some are rape victims, some are psychologically injured and all of them have grieved. He made a sincere effort to do what he believed was right: to help every woman, despite the choices she'd made.

I'm not here to argue the ethics of abortion (although, for the record, I am pro-choice and six months into an unplanned pregnancy with a baby I will most likely give up for adoption). I'm here to argue the ethics of killing a man because you don't agree with his ethics.

We allow any person to defend himself. That's okay. Self-defense is okay. But when playing executioner of a burglar is hailed as heroism, we give the go-ahead to the common man to play executioner to any man whose beliefs, decisions, or actions can be disagreed with.

As long as killing a man, any man, even a criminal, is seen as heroic, people will be convinced that killing a man, any man, even a self-sacrificing or courageous man, can be seen as heroic.

This should not be the mentality of Americans today. Killing is not heroic. Acting despite the threat of death is.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

Last night, the American Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spoke at my high school graduation, and I was really impressed. I hope to have video up soon, because his speech was worth listening to.

When he started the speech, I was afraid it was a little pessimistic- Mr Gates said that he "waited--no, begged--" for his own high school graduation speech to be OVER so he could finally get his diploma, and didn't really remember what was even said in the speech, and had no delusions that he would do any better in our minds decades from now. I beg to differ. Not only will I remember that Bob Gates spoke at my high school graduation (what an honor!), but I will remember him as a personable, real live human being, and his message that with perseverance, we will get past our mistakes and succeed.

Robert Gates was a wonderful speaker- he could have talked way above our heads as the Secretary of Defense, but instead, he connected with the anticipatory seniors ("I realize that I am the only thing standing between you and a good party right now").

He joked about his own shortcomings-- Apparently, while majoring in premed, he got a D in Calculus. When his father telephoned him long distance at William&Mary to ask how he could have possibly gotten a D, Mr Gates replied, "Dad, the D was a gift." And then he changed his major and moved on.

Later, after being recruited to work for the CIA, he was in training to act as a spy. Robert Gates and two other trainees were assigned to follow a woman (also an employee of the CIA) around town without being noticed. The three recruitees were so bad that townspeople called the police to report shady-looking characters stalking a poor woman. Robert Gates' two fellow comrades were picked up by police on suspension of stalking, and the only reason Mr Gates avoided being picked up was that he had lost sight of the targeted woman so long before that. But, Mr Gates moved on and became very successful as an information processor and later Director of the CIA under six different presidents.

In addition to perseverance, Mr Gates further stressed the importance of having the courage to do what is right. As he quoted President Truman as saying, "Always be nice to people who can't talk back to you."

Predictably, considering Robert Gates' position of Secretary of Defense, he encouraged us to serve our country as we go on in life. This statement, I believe, helped to honour the students from the high school who will go on, not only to enlist, but as commended and regaled members of the military-- Several of our graduating seniors received entrances to prestigious military schools, including one girl who intends to become a doctor in the Air Force.

Robert Gates really is an impressive speaker, and I am so glad, as I'm sure everyone is, that this is the man who has replaced Rumsfield. If you ever get the chance to hear Robert Gates speak, I would highly recommend it. He's worth listening to.