Why Christianity Abhors This

A reader writes:

I am an associate pastor for a church just outside of Wichita. I’ve lived here all my life and am well-versed in the daily vitriol aimed against Dr. Tiller as well as the ridiculous verbal assaults against anyone who questions the morality of abortion. As a pastor I was appalled at the total depraved act of violence perpetrated in a house of worship, a place where family and friends gather to commune with God and one another.

Church is a place where God’s love and grace is freely given and to hear of an individual’s assault on that grace is extremely disheartening. I have come to the conclusion that the Christianists' aim is the simple denial of God’s grace to anyone who may have a broader vision of the love of Christ.

Do they not understand that each day that Dr. Tiller lived was another opportunity for grace to prevail? For some that grace may have meant he saved the life of a woman needing access to a safe abortion, to others perhaps that grace would’ve been his own turning away from his practice. But the point is whenever we presume to be the gatekeepers of God’s love and grace, we ourselves are turning away from God. I grieve for the family, the church, and the community left to make sense of this unjust action and were witness to a heinous attempt to deny grace.