NCJ Number
147417
Date Published
1993
Length
347 pages
Annotation
This book conducts a case study of the bombings of three abortion clinics in Pensacola, Fla., on Christmas Day in 1984, including a detailed account of the trial of the four perpetrators.
Abstract
The authors conducted interviews with local activists on both sides of the abortion issue. They attended the trial and interviewed local religious fundamentalists, personnel of abortion clinics throughout the United States that have experienced arson or bombing, and persons who have been tried and convicted of those offenses. The bombings were perpetrated by four young men who were arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced. These bombings and related events are examined as a case study of religiously motivated political action. Perpetrators identified themselves with Gideon, the Old Testament slayer of those who sacrificed first-born infants to the pagan god Baal. Placing anti- abortion violence in the context of social movement theory, the analysis focuses on the violent wing of the anti- abortion movement. The authors' conclude that persons disposed toward religiously motivated violence tend to be working-class males under age 35 who are socially isolated from countervailing attitudes. Part of the analysis addressed the fundamentalist Christian community's response to the bombings. Religious fundamentalists, the authors advise, will continue to use violence as a method to counter perceived evils such as pornography, homosexuality, sex education, equality for females, and prayer in public schools. Chapter notes, a 233-item bibliography, and a subject index