Kill Tilly? For the Bible Tells Us So . . .

Reactions to the tragic death of SeaWorld orca trainer Dawn Bracheau by a killer whale named Tillikum have ranged from anger at aquariums for keeping "Tilly" penned up to blaming Bracheau for wearing a pony tail that the whale mistook for a toy or food.

Now a top official of the American Family Association has weighed in, arguing that according to the Bible, Tilly should have been killed the first time he was involved in the death of a human back in 1991 -- and that Scripture mandates the 12,000-pound orca must be put to death now.
Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the AFA, a vocal conservative Christian lobby, noted that among the many injunctions in the legal code laid down by Moses in the Book of Exodus is this passage:

"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)

Fischer's take: "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." (In 1999, a man who sneaked into Tilly's aquarium at night was found dead, apparently from drowning and hypothermia.)

But as Fischer also notes, the next verse says that "if an ox was previously in the habit of goring people and its owner, though warned, would not keep it in; should it then kill a man or a woman, not only must the ox be stoned, but its owner also must be put to death."

Fortunately, Fischer's biblical literalism has limits, and he recommends only that the family of Dawn Brancheau "sue the pants off SeaWorld."

That seems like the right target and punishment, and one that's not likely to draw as many protests as a campaign to kill SeaWorld officials, or Tilly, who SeaWorld says will be kept alive and well.

Besides, as Dan Burke at Religion News Service points out, "How do you stone a killer whale . . .?

"Pretty hard to throw things underwater, I've found. And what about all those nice whales in the Bible, like the one that let Jonah crash in his stomach for three days, and Moby-Dick, and Willy?"

Perhaps Moses just wasn't thinking far enough ahead.