At a parish-fair stall on Orzeszkowej Street, plastic pistols and rifles appeared, attracting the attention of small children. Boys eagerly looked at the rifles and pistols. Is this a good toy for young children who attend a church ceremony with their parents?
It is possible that this is a very appropriate toy for ceremonies in the Catholic Church.
Not all of the Bible’s protagonists are saints; among them are heroic figures, but there are also those who, motivated by various considerations, use violence. It takes various forms—often the form of murder.
The Bible contains murders committed through deception:
- Cain kills his brother Abel (Gen 4:1–8).
- Moses kills an Egyptian (Exod 2:11–12).
- Abimelech and Joram kill their brothers (Judg 9:1–5; 2 Kings 21:1–6).
- The prophet Elijah kills the priests of Baal (1 Kings 18:40).
- Joab kills Absalom after he becomes caught by his long hair in the branches of a tree and hangs helplessly in the air (2 Sam 18:14–15).
- Jael deceitfully kills Sisera: “Jael took a tent peg, grasped a hammer in her hand, and, approaching him, drove the peg through his temple, so that it went down into the ground” (Judg 4:21).
- Judith cut off Holofernes’ head (Jdt 15:1–10), first asking God for help in carrying out her intention: “Give me strength on this day, Lord, God of Israel” (v. 7; see also Exod 2:11–12; Judg 9:1–5; 2 Chron 21:1–6).
The Bible also contains murders committed out of revenge:
- Jacob’s sons murder Shechem, his father Hamor, and all the men of that clan for raping Dinah, Jacob’s daughter (Gen 34:1–29).
- Solomon, David’s son, kills Amnon for raping his half-sister Tamar (2 Sam 13:8–14).
The Bible contains murders carried out as punishment imposed on the victim by representatives of a given community:
- Moses orders the worshippers of the golden calf to be killed (Exod 32:19–28), while David orders the young man who brought news of Saul’s death to be killed (2 Sam 1:15),
- Solomon, carrying out his father’s command, orders Joab and Shimei to be killed (1 Chron 2:28–34, 46).
Other categories of violence committed by biblical protagonists include:
- hanging (Joshua hangs the king of Ai and five other kings (Josh 8:20–30; 10:16–27; 2 Sam 21:1–14)
- selling into slavery (Joseph is sold by his brothers to merchants: Gen 37:23–28; see also Matt 26:47–50: Judas sells Jesus);
- abuse and torture (the martyrdom of the seven Maccabean brothers: 2 Macc 7:1–42; Stephen is stoned by his countrymen, Acts 7:54–60);
- rape (Shechem rapes Dinah, Jacob’s daughter: Gen 34:1–4; Amnon rapes his half-sister Tamar, 2 Sam 13:8–14)
King David’s career is strewn with violence. He knowingly and deliberately exposes Bathsheba’s husband to certain death (2 Sam 12:9–12), after committing adultery with her, is cruel to the Moabites taken captive (2 Sam 8:2), and just before his death orders his son Solomon to kill Joab and Shimei (1 Kings 2:5–9).
Such, then, is the “human dimension” of the Bible.
Roman Krawczyk, Violence in the Bible, Szkice Podlaskie 2005
What is your opinion on selling weapon replicas outside churches?
