I wish you all could see the posts on my friends’ Facebook pages today. One of them is the wife of a pastor at the Wichita church where Dr. Tiller was shot yesterday, and the other is a member of that congregation.
Every single comment (EVERY. ONE.) is about love and peace, and none (NOT. ONE.) mentions abortion at all.
There are a lot of divisive, difficult issues wrapped up in Dr. Tiller’s story, and Christians (being human) will naturally disagree about the rights and wrongs of it all. True Christians, however, will work hard to look past the disagreements and focus on loving all the people affected by this. I’m watching love in action as I obsessively refresh my Facebook feeds, and it’s balm to my heart after the comments I’ve read in many news stories about the shooting.
There are suggestions out there today that people should donate to pro-choice organizations in support of Dr. Tiller, or to pro-life organizations in support of nonviolent abortion protests. Those are both completely valid responses, as far as I’m concerned.* For my part, I think I’ll be donating to the church that will need to minister simultaneously to the family, friends, and supporters of Dr. Tiller and to members of the community who disagreed with him but still decry his killing.
*I’ve edited this part several times, and I’m still not satisfied, but here goes: I can live with the contradictions of a middle-of-the-road position better than I can live with the what-ifs of an all-or-nothing approach.
