What Abortionist Killers Believe
What are the beliefs that motivate extreme anti-abortion activists to murder the doctors that perform abortions? My friend and colleague Jon Shields provides careful answers to a question that usually provokes little more than partisan rhetoric.
Jon, now a professor at Claremont McKenna, recounts the influence on the extremist movement of violent activist Michael Bray.
There is little in Michael Bray’s early life to suggest that he would become the spiritual leader of the violent fringe. At Bowie High School in Maryland, he was a football player and state wrestling champion. He was an Eagle Scout. Following in his father’s footsteps, he earned a spot at the U.S. Naval Academy.
But Bray dropped out of the academy and hitch-hiked across the country seeking adventure and direction. In Orlando he attended a Baptist tent revival and began thinking seriously about a life of faith. His search for God included flirtations with Mormonism and the Conservative Baptist Association. Under the influence of Schaeffer’s writings, however, Bray was drawn to major figures of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, especially John Calvin and John Knox.
Calvin emphasized the biblical doctrine of predestination, that God determined who would be saved and damned before the creation of the world. Not only are the “elect” chosen by God for salvation, but, according to Calvin, they should also govern. Only public officials, however, could legitimately use force to punish crimes.
Knox disagreed. He suggested that any member of the elect, not just public officials, could use force to achieve God’s justice…Knox’s teachings convinced Bray that “it was appropriate for the godly man to take the law into his own hands, because his hands were the tools of the Lord.” Indeed, Bray actually “came to believe John Knox was speaking to him across the centuries, telling him that it was his duty as a Christian to fight abortion by any means necessary.”
Bray soon began orchestrating clinic bombings, for which he would serve time in prison. In 1984 he and his impressionable protégés Michael Spinks and Kenneth Shields (no relation to the author) helped set an annual record for bombings that stands to this day. Abortion facilities were bombed in six cities in the Washington, D.C., region. These early attacks, however, were successfully timed to avoid human casualties.
As they say, read the whole thing.
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4 Responses to “What Abortionist Killers Believe”
Yes, religious fanatics believe they are doing God's will. They see the laws of man as subordinate to God's law.
They're also generally crazy and don't see that their actions go against the code of personal behavior God handed down the ten commandments.
Many people, if they believe they are right, will look for any justification for their actions. I think it's a human trait. I know I sometimes dig my heels in if I think I'm right. Fortunately I don't go around killing people who disagree with me. But the trick is to know when I'm standing up for principal or when I'm just just being obstinate. I think human principals everyone should support are justice and equal rights for all.
[...] Random Feed wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWhat are the beliefs that motivate extreme anti-abortion activists to murder the doctors that perform abortions? My friend and colleague Jon Shields provides careful answers to a question that usually provokes little more than partisan rhetoric. Jon, now a professor at Claremont McKenna, recounts the influence on the extremist movement of violent activist Michael Bray. There is little in Michael Bray’s early life to suggest that he would become the spiritual leader of the violent fringe. [...]
He seems like a mental patient who simply happened to become obscessed with Religious Right extremism. He's not typical or indicative of the Religious Right, hence is unpredictable. Same as with the Holocaust Museum gunman.
The only thing few people are commenting on (that I've asked about rhetorically before) is if the farther-left activism in Washington since Obama was elected may be adding stress to people like these, given what some have said about Obama even before he was elected.
Obama has taken no actions demonstrating that he is listening to “farther-left activism” or taking drastic steps so it's hard to see how that would be adding stress. On the other hand, the reams and reams of hysterical right-wing commentary about how to date everything's okay but in the future Obama MIGHT do so sure would raise the stress level. As an average American with an average amount of contact with the Religious Right and its talking points, he certainly seems typical to me: “God told me I get to force everybody to do things what I think is His way and anybody who disagrees is Satanic and hates America.”