Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

Your mother has been telling this to you since you were a little kid, taking revenge on the girl who stole your sucker by bopping her on the head. Or some variation of that reaction. It's still true today.

I read the newspaper during lunch today; something fairly rare for me, since I usually am absorbed in my latest book on my lunch break. But, the newspaper was just sitting there, begging for me to read it. The front page story was, of course, the article about the death of Dr. Tiller, one of the few doctors in the United States who still performed late term abortions. He was shot at his church in Wichita yesterday.

But, of course, this wasn't really what interested me. It was a quote from an antiabortionist (and forgive me, but I forget who, exactly it was), saying something along the lines of, "the baby killer now resides in Hell, where he belongs." Now, I don't care to debate abortion right now. I don't really care right now whether you are pro-life or pro-choice.

Rather, what strikes me about this quote is that this antiabortionist thinks it's morally right to have killed this man because he did an evil in this person's eyes. Now, obviously, this isn't the type of evil that would be punished by the justice system (at least, for now), so people are more likely to want to take things into their own hands. After all, this is how rulers get assassinated (corrupt or not).

Still, it goes back to the old mantra: two wrongs don't make a right.

What purpose did this killing achieve? Really? In two weeks, as horrible as this crime was, it'll likely be forgotten. And people are going to react against the person who did the killing, regardless of their views on abortion (for the most part, anyway; the members of the Westboro Baptist Church were among those who supported the killing). Regardless of what anyone thinks, Dr. Tiller did help people, albeit in ways that many would consider immoral. So, what is the point in killing him? What's the point of shooting him in a house of worship, of all places?

I guess I'll never understand.

- to strike as with the fist or a stick; hit

- the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end the pregnancy

- the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end the pregnancy

- to kill suddenly or secretively

- guilty of having dishonest practices; lacking integrity

- of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical

- a word or formula chanted or sung like a prayer or an incantation

- although; even if