The news, once again, is filled with reports of violence in America.  A doctor was shot and killed while attending church service; and, two American soldiers were shot outside a military recruiting office.

There are approximately 45 murders committed in this country every day, so the news is always filled to one degree or another with violence.  These two, however, are getting more coverage than the others over the last couple of days, and the coverage is as sad as the events it reports.

The first involves the slaying of a doctor who performed late term abortions.  He had been attacked and shot in the past for performing those abortion, and the clinic where he worked has been the site of regular protest.  His name was George Tiller, and those who protested his clinic and work, and some television personalities who covered his story, referred to him as “Tiller the Killer.”

The suspect in his slaying was a regular protester in front of the clinic where Dr. Tiller worked. In fact, the day before Dr. Tiller was gunned down at his church, the suspect in his slaying was chased off from another clinic he tried to vandalize.

Of Dr. Tiller’s murder, leaders in the anti-abortion movement have said it was “justified.”  “George Tiller was a mass murderer and horrifically, he reaped what he sowed,” Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry told reporters.  Operation Rescue is an anti-abortion organization.

In essence, the message is that Dr. Tiller got what he deserved. This has been the charge of those who oppose abortions and many right wing political commentators.  Abortion procedures remain legal in America at this time, and yet there are those who support to one degree or another the commission of murder, which is against the law in America now and forever, to “discourage” the practice.

The second slaying involved the unprovoked killing of one soldier and the wounding of another outside a military recruiting office.  A man with “political and religious motives” drove up to two young men in uniform who had recently completed their basic training and opened fire.   Their names are William Long, 23, the young man who died, and Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, who was wounded and reported to be in stable condition.

The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, reportedly had been under investigation by the FBI before the shooting after having traveled to Yemen to study jihad, or “holy war.”  He had not been a demonstrator or protester at the recruiting office, and in fact indicated to police he was just driving down the road and happened to see two soldiers in uniform.

No organization has stated the soldiers had it coming to them, or that the shooting was “justified.”  No left wing political commentators have suggested they got what they deserved.  No hate-filled rants have appeared attempting in any way to explain away this murder.

These are distinctions worth noting, distinctions with very great differences, and they are as sad as the murders themselves.  They speak to the heart and soul of people, and they speak to the probability that more murders and violence will follow.

On the one side, we have those who take what seems to be glee in the death of one man; on the other, respectful silence, or at least the expression of sorrow in the death of a young man in uniform.  On the one side we have those who presume spiritual superiority and a working familiarity with God’s thinking; on the other, those who take exception to the taking of life.

Yes, yes, we all know those who believe abortion to be the taking of life.  Yes, yes, we all know that extremists in that evangelical world claim to know God’s business on earth, a knowing that gives them the right to take a life in His name.  God will reward them for their actions.

And, yes, yes, we all know that extremists in the Muslim world also claim to know God’s business on earth, and knowing that gives them the right to take a life in His name.  God will reward them for their deeds as well.

These news stories are both the same, and not.  Death is death, and neither the doctor nor the soldier are here to debate the points.  Both were killed by men who believed they were acting on God’s word, notwithstanding the fact each hears those words in very different ways

But let’s not think for a moment that the left and the right look at each event in the same way, for they do not.  One side considers the doctor’s killing as deserved, while neither side sees the death of a soldier to be justified in any way.  One side will vilify the victim who was a doctor, while both sides will honor the victim who was a soldier.

Neither man deserved to be killed.  Neither killer had the right to take a life.  We live in this world, not the next, and this world’s laws have to prevail while we’re here.

There will be approximately 45 killings in America today.  These were from the last two days.  Distinctions and differences, each, depending on your political and religious point of view, and yet each of the killers were “men of God.”