Pro-Life Activist Gunned Down in Michigan

[Theben]

Haven't we been saying that since '73? We're all survivors.

You guys say a lot, if it ever makes sense it'll be news.

[Ben Kenobi]

was that bk food? or else i cant really figure out wtf your talking about.

He's saying its a good thing them durn prolifers got shot, 'cause they've been put in there place. They should all fear for their lives if they protests.

Move along, nothing to see.

[Theben]

As per usual, BK gets it all wrong again.

[Dinner]

bk food!!!

Does it have a lot of nuts in it?

[a.kitman]

your eating it, why dont you tell me?

[Elok]

He received plenty of threats. I don't really see why you are so reluctant about this, but I'm glad to see there are some real Christians here on poly.

Look, I like you elok, but you are really starting to make me wonder. Ozzy's hardly a fanatic but he got it.

He's a martyr only in the commonly used political sense, ie a dead body being used to conjure pity for political points. This fellow was a pro-life activist, which is a position generally favored by Christians but not intrinsically Christian itself, and he was killed by a loon more or less out of the blue, IIUC. Classing him with people who were tortured, imprisoned and executed, refusing all the while to recant their beliefs, is ludicrous.

[Wezil]

Martyr-lite

[OzzyKP]

I don't like that the guy had to die, but now maybe the 'pro-lifers' will wake up and realize it can happen to them also.

Now maybe the 'pro-choicers' will realize they have violent thugs on their side too. Yet unlike the pro-lifers who universally condemned the shooting of Tiller it seems all the pro-choicers I know have shrugged this off or somehow used this murder to make further attacks on pro-lifers.

Or, in your case, make further threats against pro-lifers.

I'm not with BK on the whole martyr issue, since religion didn't seem to be a factor in this shooting, but I think this case does demonstrate which side is the more compassionate.

[Elok]

Martyr-lite

Even that's generous. His was an O'Douls among martyrdoms.

[Blaupanzer]

It's sad he was killed, and sad that some idiot felt he "had" to kill him. He's hardly a martyr in the Christian sense, but many political causes call people killed while advocating their cause "martyrs." For the anti-abortion advocates, this incident gives them a name to throw back at the many names pro-choicers invoke as proof that people will die for their cause. The irony of the Pro-life person killing another is lost here, but I fail to see why the atheist would not understand the concept of "martyr." Most of the people here are not close-minded (except for Ben and Asher towards each other ).

[Straybow]

[Q=Asher;5673381]That's the kind of **** I'm talking about. You cherrypick who you consider to be a Christian when it's flattering to you only.[/Q] I don't. Jesus did. I don't know if this Jim Pouillon guy was or wasn't a Christian. If he's a martyr, it is a pro-life martyrdom rather than a martyr of Christ.

FWIW, a person who exhibits true Christian values would support universal healthcare. You're clearly one of the many.

Not at all. It is easy to commit other people's money and labor and claim that you are doing a good thing with it. That isn't what Jesus said to do, that is what the socialist progressive wants us to do.

Christianity is about what you do with your money and labor, and who has command of your soul. "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried."

Second, we have universal healthcare. Emergency rooms are obligated to treat all who enter. The indigent can find government-funded hospitals and charities for non-emergency, non-elective treatment of most ailments. A person who exhibits true Christian values would support charities, again with his or her own money and labor.

[Ben Kenobi]

This fellow was a pro-life activist, which is a position generally favored by Christians but not intrinsically Christian itself

It is intrinsically Christian. That's the whole point, Elok. The gunman admitted that he shot Jim not simply because he was there, but because he was prolife, and because he was annoyed at him preaching the gospel to other people.

And, no, he's not a martyr in the political sense. I know you have martyrs in the Orthodox church, so what is so hard to accept that a man who was killed while proclaiming that all of mankind is in the image of God, and this includes the tiny babies inside their mother's womb. He is a martyr the same way St. Peter and Paul were martyrs, killed for their faith.

Now, I have a question for you, elok. What do you consider 'intrinsically Christian'?

[Ben Kenobi]

I don't. Jesus did. I don't know if this Jim Pouillon guy was or wasn't a Christian. If he's a martyr, it is a pro-life martyrdom rather than a martyr of Christ.

He was a devout Catholic.

[Ben Kenobi]

The irony of the Pro-life person killing another

How on earth was the killer, 'prolife'?

[Lorizael]

How on earth was the killer, 'prolife'?

You have to look at the entire sentence, BK. Come on, this is basic reading comprehension.