richard_dawkins_-_the_god_delusion

296 THE GOD DELUSION
living in Britain who openly announce themselves as bound only by
Islamic law, not by the democratically enacted laws of their adopted
country.
In 2003 Paul Hill was executed for the murder of Dr Britton and
his bodyguard, saying he would do it again to save the unborn.
Candidly looking forward to dying for his cause, he told a news
conference, 'I believe the state, by executing me, will be making me
a martyr.' Right-wing anti-abortionists protesting at his execution
were joined in unholy alliance by left-wing opponents of the death
penalty who urged the Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, to 'stop the
martyrdom of Paul Hill'. They plausibly argued that the judicial
killing of Hill would actually encourage more murders, the precise
opposite of the deterrent effect that the death penalty is supposed
to have. Hill himself smiled all the way to the execution chamber,
saying, 'I expect a great reward in heaven ... I am looking forward
to glory.' 128 And he suggested that others should take up his violent
cause. Anticipating revenge attacks for the 'martyrdom' of Paul
Hill, the police went on heightened alert as he was executed, and
several individuals connected with the case received threatening
letters accompanied by bullets.
This whole terrible business stems from a simple difference of
perception. There are people who, because of their religious convictions,
think abortion is murder and are prepared to kill in
defence of embryos, which they choose to call 'babies'. On the
other side are equally sincere supporters of abortion, who either
have different religious convictions, or no religion, coupled with
well-thought-out consequentialist morals. They too see themselves
as idealists, providing a medical service for patients in need, who
would otherwise go to dangerously incompetent back-street
quacks. Both sides see the other side as murderers or advocates of
murder. Both sides, by their own lights, are equally sincere.
A spokeswoman for another abortion clinic described Paul Hill
as a dangerous psychopath. But people like him don't think of
themselves as dangerous psychopaths; they think of themselves as
good, moral people, guided by God. Indeed, I don't think Paul Hill
was a psychopath. Just very religious. Dangerous, yes, but not a
psychopath. Dangerously religious. By the lights of his religious
faith, Hill was entirely right and moral to shoot Dr Britton. What