In a message dated 9/6/03 5:33:02 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> But there *are* circumstances under which I *would* kill. Just not > religiously motivated ones. My own survival, and that of my children, > would be the prime motivating factor in any killing I did. >
Not that I agree with this point of view, but...
I imagine Paul Hill would say, if you saw a man about to shoot a child, would you shoot him to save that child? And if so, what is the difference between shooting a man about to shoot a living child and shooting a doctor about to perform an abortion?
The obvious difference is, abortion is a legal medical procedure (whether or
not you agree that it SHOULD be legal, under every state law, it IS) and
shooting a doctor is murder. But that's a legal argument, not a moral one. For me,
the moral argument is, a man with a gun about to kill someone is a clear and
immediate danger, and perhaps cannot be stopped by any other means. A doctor,
even one preparing to enter an abortion clinic to perform an abortion, is not
at that moment a threat to anyone. He can be argued with. Killing him in order
to stop him from doing something later is not responding to an IMMEDIATE
threat. That's a huge difference.
<for purposes of discussion>
In this case, however, I suspect that Mr. Hill and those who think and feel like him feel that they have already argued at length with abortion doctors in general and perhaps with that doctor in particular and have concluded that no amount of further arguing will dissuade them from performing abortions. Or they might point out also that by the above logic the guy who operated the gas chamber at a Nazi concentration camp was not an immediate threat when he was having breakfast at home in the morning, so would one have had to wait until his hand was actually on the switch that would drop the cyanide to be justified in shooting him?
</for purposes of discussion>
Note that the above is only for purposes of discussion, and is not presented as representing the actual views of anyone participating in this discussion.
-- Ronn! :)
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