Aborting the Sniper

Michael Bray 24 October 2002

All are breathing easy in Bowie, now that John Allen Muhammad is in custody. Some of the terminations were performed close to home. Guatamalan Sarah Ramos, aborted while sitting at a bus stop, was the cleaning lady of the sister-in-law of one of my parishioners. That same parishioner was late for her morning run, the very morning the thirteen-year-old student was shot at the entrance of Tasker Middle School. Mary Anne lives adjacent to the woods by the school, and her usual route was a bike path which passed within a few yards of the sniper’s perch. Her delay that morning may well have been providential.

Gratitude. Thanksgiving. Those who were spared ought well to give praise to the one in Whose holy hands their life is preserved from the demands of justice.

And so, now that the killing is over, my daughters and son can return to their respective soccer games, cheerleading and football activities. We are grateful to be alive.

When the destroyer of innocent human beings was caught, there were some strange reactions. Valerie Strauss, staff writer for the Washington Post reported on the response of Jennifer and James Tyson, a black couple from Upper Marlboro, who “were not convinced police had found the sniper because the two arrested men were black.” James Tyson said,”That’s very surprising.  Most serial killers are not African-American.” (Washington Post, October 24, 2002)

Incredulity in the face of patent truth is born of a stubborn unbelief. The root cause of unbelief is Godlessness.

It is a violent thought, but most of the folks in my neighborhood have forsaken any efforts to understand this fellow’s alternative life style. Efforts to understand the root causes of opinions so – uh, how about – “diverse” as that of the sniper have given way to a priority concern for their own survival: His safety and his problems be damned! Get him dead or alive.

The aborting of my fellow citizens has now taken place in locations closer to us than the nearest “women’s health” facilities – our very back yards! – yet these ex-utero terminations haven’t occurred nearly as frequently. About twelve of our fellow citizens have been shot without warning. That is twelve in the entire region of Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. with an aggregate population of 13 million. At this rate, we have, at this time, less than a one-in-1.3-million chance of getting shot by a sniper.

Would that the womb children had such odds.