Reading: Exodus 21: 28-36
Hey everyone, sorry about the delay - I got rather caught up with the start of uni.
This reading is challenging, I would love to know what you think. An ox who kills someone should be put to death, but only if it has a history of violence is the owner liable.
This is an issue that connects with our deepest emotions and fears. Humans have a pathological fear of being eaten. This is illustrated in our often irrational fear of species we think might hurt us. At the moment there is a frenzy of worry going on about sharks with probably imagined increases in numbers and changes in diet blamed for what is seen as a spate of attacks recently. Statistically it is illogical to fear sharks. You are 300 times more likely to be killed by a bee sting. Not to mention in a car crash. When people begin seriously fearing their cars I will think about excusing their irrational desire to kill sharks if that is what it takes to get them away from them.
However sharks bring up an interesting question about this passage. The example used in the Bible is an ox, a domestic animal. Does this mean the same ruling does or doesn't apply to sharks? Can the shark be blamed when we know it is a calculated risk to enter their habitat? Personally I have always applauded victims and their families mature enough to not seek revenge by demanding the death of the shark after an attack, but you may disagree with me. (I also think that the travelling behaviour seen in Great White Sharks makes it quite possible that the wrong shark would be killed anyway)
What if the animal involved in an attack happens to be an endangered species? Does that make a difference to how we feel? In the light of the Bible passage, should it?
In memory of Steven M. Wise
2 months ago
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