American Family Association Blogger Bryan Fischer Pins SeaWorld Death On Lack Of Christianity: ‘Bible Ignored, Trainer Died’

American Family Association blogger Bryan Fischer blames SeaWorld trainer's death on ignoring the Bible. Says Exodus 21 should be followed and whale euthanized.

 

 The religious right will stop at nothing to explain events in terms of their myopic views of the Bible.  Well, Bryan Fischer, blogger for American Family Association, wrote on February 25, “If the counsel of the Judeo-Christian tradition had been followed,” SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau would have never died. Fischer reasoned that according to Exodus, an animal like Tilikum should have been stoned back in 1991, and if biblical law were to be followed, the owners of Tilikum should be put to death. But he's singing a slightly different tune in his follow-up post on March 5, in which he said he didn't call for the stoning of the orca, but for Tilikum to be euthanized and for holding SeaWorld accountable for "negligently exposing an employee to life-endangering risk, which he added, "will reduce the level of unhinged bloviating on the Internet." I am amazed at the hubris of the religious right in explaining natural disasters and other occurrences in terms of their interpretation of the Bible. Remember Pat Robertson's ridiculous assertion that the cause of the massive earthquake in Haiti was because of a "pact with the devil."

Here's an excerpt of Bryan Fischer's blog post:

Chalk another death up to animal rights insanity and to the ongoing failure of the West to take counsel on practical matters from the Scripture. According to the Orlando Sentinel, "SeaWorld Orlando has always know that Tillikum...could be a particularly dangerous killer whale...because of his ominous history."

What about the term "killer whale" do SeaWorld officials not understand?

If the counsel of the Judeo-Christian tradition had been followed, Tillikum would have been put out of everyone's misery back in 1991 and would not have had the opportunity to claim two more human lives. 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)

So, your animal kills somebody, your moral responsibility is to put that animal to death. You have no moral culpability in the death, because you didn't know the animal was going to go postal on somebody.

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)

If I were the family of Dawn Brancheau, I'd sue the pants off SeaWorld for allowing this killer whale to kill again after they were well aware of its violent history.

SeaWorld is apparently, however, unrepentant. Chuck Thompson, its curator in charge of animal behavior, says Tilly continues to be "a valuable asset not only from a breeding standpoint but from a behavior standpoint, too." Chuck might want to ask Dawn's Mom what she thinks about that. Thompson did add, helpfully, "I think we need to evaluate his behavior and everything that's happened up to this point." You're about 19 years too late, Chuck, and the blood of Dawn Brancheau is on your hands.

AFA is the same group that holds an annual “War on Christmas” campaign against retailers who refuse to appropriately celebrate the Christmas holiday, with Jesus Christ as their focal point. The group pushes its vitriolic social agenda during the rest of the year, including advocacy efforts on outlawing all homosexual activities. It should be noted that though some may consider this group on the fringe, in terms of the amount of influence it wields, many powerful Republican Party lawmakers and leaders appear on AFA radio programs and other events the group holds. These leaders include, Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Steve King (R-IA), Trenk Franks (R-AZ), Tom Price (R-GA), as well as Sens. Jim DeMint (R-SC), Mike Johanns (R-NE), and Sam Brownback (R-KS). (Visit: Gawker).