Via: Salon
As used in this chapter… (5) the term “domestic terrorism” means activities that – (A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; (B) appear to be intended – (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and (C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
FindLaw: Title 18 – Part I – Chapter 113B
So, that said, I think we can all comfortably agree that the murder of Dr. Tiller was a Christian act of domestic terrorism. It meets each criteria perfectly by (A) involving an act dangerous to human life – namely, murder. (B) It was clearly intended to influence the view of abortion by both individuals and government in an attempt to further the anti-choice cause. And, lastly, (C) it happened in the US.
To ice the cake, he later called the press, from jail, and mentioned more violence was coming as long as abortion was legal.
So, not only are we not charging this domestic terrorist as a terrorist (as of yet – still awaiting any federal charges), we are allowing him to call the press with threats of future violence while in custody.
As a side note for the few Christians who may read this – I call this “Christian” domestic terrorism because the motivation for the murder was rooted heavily in the terrorist’s Christian view on abortion. His strong faith was a contributing factor to his actions. In contrast, if I were to murder someone for political reasons, it would not be an “Atheist” act of domestic terrorism, as Atheism lacks an official stance on abortion that is dictated from any set of leaders or group heads. Atheists are not members of an Atheist church; there is no leading group providing a set of doctrines that we must subscribe to in order to be considered Atheists, and there are no induction ceremonies into the fold as with many forms of Christianity. We are not really a close-knit group, more a collection of individuals with a common thread that places us outside many other groups, which by default makes us appear as a group as we are the outliers in the world of organized religion.
