it takes a village to raise a killer

A somewhat-insightful but inconsistently-applied piece-- on individuals and community, applied to the shooting of George Tiller-- by syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman in the C-J...

It is believed that the shooter acted alone. Surely, that's true. No one else was standing beside suspect Scott Roeder when he allegedly murdered Dr. George Tiller in the sanctuary of his church. But...

The pro-life community reacted with shock. No doubt. But where was the shock at the fringe groups they forgot to disavow?...

Pro-life leaders denounced the murder. So they did. But how inconvenient that some of their own "stars" seemed less than mournful....

Yes and no.

First, one could complain about her choice of "stars" within the pro-life movement. I don't see the Left pinning eco-terrorist groups on environmentalists, ACT UP or NAMBLA on homosexual groups, and so on. It is not exactly the height of tolerance to claim that the fringe is the norm-- or that the norm is responsible for the fringe.

Second, a larger critique would be that the Left does the same sort of analysis and blame-shifting on other policies. To take the same example, pro-choicers try to dismiss connections of abortion to eugenics, racism, euthanasia, etc.

Third, more broadly, the Left is rarely aware of the secondary consequences of the policies it advocates in the economic realm. (They're better on social and military policy.) They act as if welfare policy is unrelated to creating more dependency. Is the individual responsible or is the community responsible for passing such laws. Well, both. Often, the Left excuses both instead.

But Goodman's point is still valid. As a teacher and a parent, it is haunting to know that I am, in part, responsible for what is done with my teaching. It is important that people realize their culpability as both leaders and followers.