The great irony of the abortion debate is the fact that virtually all religious people, especially Christians, who make up the bulk of the anti-abortion crowd, believe that there is life after death. They believe that when you die, your body may go into the ground or go up in flames, but that “you”, i.e. your soul, either rises to heaven or falls to hell, depending on the kind of life you lived. Or some variation on this theme. While not religious myself, I also believe that we are souls inhabiting our bodies. So in “reality”, who we are does not perish when we “die”. I know that you may be thinking that I am going to say that this makes any death, or even murder, much less of a tragedy. Indeed, I do not believe death to be the tragedy that most people believe it is. Certainly an argument could be made that it is tragic when someone dies in the prime of a happy and successful life. But what if that life has not really even begun yet?

Let’s use an analogy. Suppose you and your spouse bought a house a few months ago. You spent a month to fix it up, have painted the all the rooms, and moved in all of your possessions. Then while you are out one day, the house catches on fire and burns to the ground. You have not only lost your home, but all the possessions you have accumulated over the years. You are devastated. This is a real tragedy. Now let’s look at a different case. You and your wife have been shopping for a new house, and have just found one you like and have put a down payment on it. But before you have a chance to move any of your possessions into the house, it burns to the ground. Same tragedy? Hardly, as in this case you will probably lose nothing, as you will get your down payment back and can simply find another house.

The point here is that who you are in reality is not your body. You are a soul inhabiting a body. The soul enters the body sometime during the pregnancy (between the 3rd and 4th month according to some spiritual authorities, which interestingly is the same time as scientists now know the fetus begins to feel pain). An abortion, therefore, simply forces the soul to seek a home elsewhere, or perhaps wait for that chosen mommy and daddy to conceive again. It is certainly not “murder”, in the sense that we usually use that word.

Calling abortion providers murderers does not solve any problems or improve the situation. What is needed is more education about sex and contraception and more access to contraceptives. Organizations like Planned Parenthood provide these services all over the world, in an attempt to prevent as many unwanted pregnancies as possible so the number of abortions can be reduced. And yet Planned Parenthood is reviled by the anti-abortion crowd. What a confused bunch of people they are.

"Vengeance is mine" sayeth the Lord. How many of the pro-life advocates give time and money to support the millions of babies already here, world-wide, who are motherless, fatherless, living in poverty and subjected to violence and abuse every day of their lives because they are unwanted? How many of these are you supporting? And if you are not, no matter what position you take, you aren't in a position to advocate further misery.

O'Reilly incites hate and often doesn't have his facts straight when he speaks. When a person incites hatred, can they really be surprised when something like the assassination of Dr. George Tiller happens? Bill will go on the air and act all shocked and appalled, but we all know he'll just be blowing smoke up our asses. Alas, the right wing hate machine will go on and on. They don't know any other way to act.

But, though I burned out on the "Law & Order" teevee franchise long ago, the question of whether a blowhard demagogue could be criminally liable for inciting a fanatic to homicide is right up their alley. The episode practically writes itself."

Yeah, they did that one already. It was a murder of a black man by a white supremacist who was a virulent supporter of a "white power" (neo-Nazi?) demagogue.

They eventually put together some evidence, arrested and indicted the demagogue, and put him on trial.

The jury found him not guilty and he walked.

I'm pretty sure the results would be the same in real-life, too.

Why, oh, why does the press continue to give free publicity to people like O'Reilly and Limbaugh? It's like Jerry Falwell all over again: he says something outrageous, and the press sees some kind of sensationalist story in it - so they all trip over each other trying to make a mountain out of an anthill.

I believe there's an old saying in Hollywood: "There's no such thing as bad publicity."

Please, oh, please, stop giving these people publicity! Thank you.

Tiller's family should sue both O'Reilly and Limbaugh for everything they've got. All the evidence is right there; they are totally complicit in Tiller's murder and might as well have pulled the trigger themselves. I'd contribute to a legal fund to support that lawsuit.

One needn't say "murder this bastard" to incite someone who is fragile and on the edge to actually kill someone. O'Reilly and others, including Randall Terry, are responsible for the death of this man. I am eagerly awaiting what Olbermann says about the whole thing tonight. I hope he is unsparing.

I seriously think we should get someone to call in on his show and tell him how terrific O'Reilly's campaign against Tiller was.

Something like, "Way to go, Billo, you're not only super-popular, but you have REAL POWER. A few years of you pointing out a baby-killer's crimes, and divine justice is carried out by one of your committed followers."

I'd be really interested to see him respond to that. If he tries to say he's horrified by the murder, the caller should give him the "Heh, yeah, I understand why you say that on teevee, but I think we all know deep down you're really *right,* and ALL baby-killers should just as well be executed."

Maybe try getting those calls through every week for a few months.