not nearly enough
From hilzoy:
“I am strongly pro-choice, but I think it is perfectly possible to be opposed to abortion on principled grounds, and I think that it would be an enormous mistake to conflate all people who are opposed to abortions with either Dr. Tiller’s killer or the likes of Operation Rescue. That said, large elements of the anti-abortion movement have never done nearly enough to distance themselves from the violent and/or crazy parts of their movement. I hope they start to now.” [emphasis added]
Me too.
Should we have expected Muslims to distance themselves from the 9/11 attackers?
Did they do enough to do so?
Is the expectation that the Muslims should have done so an example of fundamentally misunderstanding the dynamics that exist and, as such, an attitude that makes stuff worse rather than makes stuff better?Report
I hope they start to now.” [emphasis added]
I personally plan to distance myself from anyone I know who’s planning violence….oh wait, I don’t know anyone who’s planning violence. In fact, I’ve never known anyone who was pro-life and planning violence. In a nation of 300 million people, are pro-lifers really held accountable for everyone who shares their opinion? What kind of ‘distancing’ needs to be done, and by who? Every pro-life group has condemned the murder. It seems to me the only value in these calls for distancing is trying to assign some sort of blame to the pro-life movement – and I deny the initial charge. What is it, precisely, that people are pro-life are supposed to do to prevent 100-150 million people from not doing the things movement leadership has always said they should not do? And what could they have done to prevent this?Report
Which is a good point, John. However, I think that it’s not simply a matter of who we “distance” ourselves from but also the type of language we use, the type of programs we support, etc. Obviously most pro-lifers are good people who are very kind and not at all violent. But some of the loudest groups ruin it for the rest (as is so often the case) and the alliance with anti-gay-rights causes (in my humble opinion) hurts the pro-life cause as well.Report