Pablo Escobar– Criminal or Christian?

Pablo Escobar–criminal or Christian?

Short essay about a bishop, a mass murderer, the Christian church's bioethics and the following curious question I have to ask myself:

I am going to church. I'm fond of modern theologians like Albert Schweitzer and Egon Drewermann and their bioethical standpoint regarding man and animal. As you know their theology doesn't accept the killing of animals for fun, and if it is unnecessary. Now, what shall I think of a Christian priest bringing living animals (grasshoppers) into the children's service, showing them to boys and girls, letting them hop around in church, breaking the legs of one animal, biting off the head (while the animal is alive), spitting out the head, chewing on the rest of the body, preaching with the animal's blood in the mouth: That's what "real men" do in contrast to "women"?

What shall I think of it? Is this a GOOD or a BAD church? A GOOD or an EVIL message, ethically spoken?

*

Five years ago I would have said to myself: "That is a totally hypothetical train of thought. No church does things like that on sunday, especially not in front of children. I refuse to think about nonsensical questions."

*

Today, knowing that those things happened in Denmark in Gram Kirke (Gram Church which is part of Haderslev Stift), today, knowing that the responsible bishop Niels Hendrik Arendt has accepted them, today, I would claim: "Listen more to theologians like Egon Drewermann and Albert Schweitzer! They think: To protect life is good. To destroy life (if it can be avoided) is evil.

Of course, not even Schweitzer and Drewermann with all their imagination were able to predict that a bishop would declare that the Christian has to accept the showing, molesting and killing of life in children's services…

*

Naturally, the priest, provost and bishop who declared that had many arguments supporting their standpoint. Some of them point out that there are a lot of Asian people eating insects. Maybe. But do those people bite into LIVING insects? In front of children who were allowed to see the living creatures hopping around? In Christian churches? And are those people priests who combine their biting with sexually discriminating messages regarding the difference between "real men" and "women"?

Some of them said: "These animals don't feel pain!" Perhaps they are right. But one thing is sure: Some of us humans are so humane that they do feel pain and shame about this sort of animal killer church and their theological backers!

Some of them, including the responsible priest and bishop, say: "It