2010
The Huffington Post reported this week that “the American Family Association, a religious right group, is urging that Tillikum (Tilly), the killer whale that killed a trainer at SeaWorld Orlando, be put down, preferably by stoning. Citing Tilly’s history of violent altercations, the group is slamming SeaWorld for not listening to Scripture in how to deal with the animal.”
Apparently, the Bible should be referred to in cases such as this:
Says the ancient civil code of Israel, “When an ox gores a man or woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner shall not be liable.” (Exodus 21:28)
“However, the group is going further and laying the blame for the trainer’s death directly at the feet of Chuck Thompson, the curator in charge of animal behavior, because, according to Scripture,”
But, the Scripture soberly warns, if one of your animals kills a second time because you didn’t kill it after it claimed its first human victim, this time you die right along with your animal. To use the example from Exodus, if your ox kills a second time, “the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.” (Exodus 21:29)
I submit to the AFA that it is now 2010, not 610 B.C.E. when the Yahwists were busy stoning everybody who disagreed with them. Can we at least pretend that 3,000 years have gone by?
I hereby name the American Family Association nithings. Let them stand shamed and condemned before all for their vile and reprehensible behavior.
