| Matthew 5:9 |
| "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." |
| 06/08/09 - Church security: the protection of life - all life |
 |
 |
 |
|
Last week Dr. George Tiller, the late-term abortion doctor, was shot and killed in his church in Wichita, Kansas. The Christian Security Network issued a Press Release on this, as we do on all issues relating to the Christian community, security and emergency incidents and issues. In the statement and last week’s newsletter I said, among other things, that this was a tragic shooting. Many people took offense to this and made it a point to e-mail us all the “evils” that this doctor committed in killing babies through his abortion practice and basically stating that he “got what he deserved”. The last time I checked, Christian don’t take the law into their own hands, judge someone and kill them, especially while they are in the place that we hold so dear to us – the church. A Pastor once stated in a sermon I was at: “ We are most like a beast when we kill, most like a man when judge, and most like Christ when we forgive”. When evil threatens us directly, we defend ourselves. Our job is not to debate what this doctor has done in his life; the ultimate authority now, God, is judging him. Any loss of life is tragic. The ironic thing was that I had just arrived home when I heard of this shooting after giving an all-day seminar in the Chicago area, where there were a couple fellow Christians from Wichita Kansas. In our seminars and other training that CSN conducts, we talk about levels of risk churches and other Christian organizations face. During this part of the seminar we talk specifically about people and/or circumstances that create a greater risk and liability to the organization. We talk specifically about controversial issues like gay rights, abortion, creation and other highly charged emotional issues. Whether pro or con, if the church takes a high profile stance or has a high profile or controversial person in their congregation, they have a greater risk level than your average church. This shooting in Kansas exemplified exactly what we stress and that is the church has to be ready to deter, prevent, and respond to situations like this. The fact that this doctor not only regularly attended this church, but also acted in a volunteer capacity as an usher, put him and the rest of the church in jeopardy. This church was very fortunate that the gunman only targeted the doctor and did not decide to take out his anger or whatever motives that drove him to this on the rest of the church members present. As with all incidents such as this we again hear people say “I can’t believe someone would do this in a church”. Why wouldn’t this gunman do it in a church, it was the “soft target” where he could “succeed” in what he wanted to do. He could not carry this out at the abortion clinic because, by news account, the doctor had “fortified” it, as he did his home. He couldn’t get the doctor at other times because he had a bodyguard and a bulletproof automobile. So again, the church is predictable, offers no resistance, and has no deterrents in place – why not carry this out in a church? And the fact that members of the church had stated that they had seen this gunman in the church before confirms what we teach – that in about 80% of the time an offender will visit (or gather intelligence) before they carry out the act. This gunman knew exactly what time to come, where he could find the victim, and the fact that the victim wore a bullet-resistant vest (because he shot him once in the head). This was a planned out attack as far as I can tell. But why this church would not have taken greater precautions we may never know, but hopefully if nothing else we learn from this experience that incidents like this can and will happen again and again in the church. No one should ever state, “I didn’t think it could happen here”. In Christ, Jeff Hawkins Executive Director |
