This was the image that brought me up short. Just totally stopped me in my tracks. It is from episode 3.02 The Price of Work.
I saw it first from one of the Sneak Peeks that Freeform put out prior to the release of the episode. Motherland: Fort Salem Season 3, Episode 2 | Sneak Peek: Raelle Makes a Promise | Freeform – YouTube
To be honest, a dramatic Raylla scene like that would usually have my mind elsewhere, but this was the image that just stopped me completely. There is a really clear image of this, but there is a second sticker underneath that reads LIGHT ‘EM UP.
It just stopped me in my tracks for two reasons, one was the subconscious resonance with bumper stickers from a previous era – the notorious Florida bumper stickers of ‘kill a queer for Christ’ (a toxic sentiment consigned to the dustbin of history and a stain both on Florida and on the Christian groups behind it). The other reason it stopped me is because I am Christian – I know this ‘theology’ exists, but it does not speak for me.
One good thing about having a theology degree is that I understand there is toxic material in the Bible if you simply take things out of context. With almost 35,000 verses you could probably find one verse that fitted most views, which is why you can’t just take a few words and justify killing a whole group of people.
The Camarilla do just that. They have taken Exodus 22.18 as a defining symbol of their movement. The Camarilla army have it on their jackets as we first see in 3.05
When the Camarilla army invade Fort Salem in 3.10 we see it on all their uniforms. They do not want justice, they want to use the Bible to justify their desire to kill witches.
We first see these specific references in the Not Our Daughters protests in 2.4.
The protestors are making it clear that they do not want their daughters tested, but they want witches executed in line with so called ‘biblical truth’. We see these ‘biblical truths’ used again and again by Alban Hearst and the Camarilla as they try to justify their actions.
We see this in 3.5 when Hearst has broken in to the hotel where Abigail, Tally, Scylla and Adil are being kept prisoner by the Marshall and the Council of the Great River. Hearst quotes Job 4.9, saying ‘By the blast of God, they perish. And by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed’ as he prepares to kill them. Hearst is even quoting from the Epistle to the Hebrews as he is at a drilling site to poison the Mycelium.
Use and misuse of the Bible run throughout Motherland Fort Salem. Interestingly, the only character who can be seen as actually using the Bible in a way that Jesus would recognise is Raelle. (That discussion is for another time.)
But let’s examine what Exodus 22.18 is actually all about.
16And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
17If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
18Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
19Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
20He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
21Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
This is one sentence, that even within its own context about restitution for actions, does not carry a lot of weight.
A big problem for the people of Israel was that they had to remain distinct from their neighbours, as a separate people of their God. That led to all sorts of dietary laws and worship codes. Many of the neighbouring cultures practised divination, seeking oracles of the future, communicating with the dead and casting spells. These things were seen as unacceptable to God’s people. Seeking to know the future by divination was seen as denying faith in God to control the future. Communication with the dead and casting spells were using a power other than God’s and would be understood as hostile to God. So the people of God were not to do such things because they denied God.
In the universe of Motherland Fort Salem, the irony is that this situation is reversed. Work is seen to come from the gift of the Goddess, the Mother Mycelium. The different larynx and ear structures are a direct gift from the Mother. Witches would understand that when they are doing work, that they are using the gifts of the Goddess, not rejecting them. Theirs is an act of faith, not an act of rebellion or heresy.
But, in the Motherland universe, there are changes and we cannot honestly say that the Bible of that universe is exactly the same as the Bible in our universe. Maybe it says more things about witches that might make the Camarilla feel their views are justified. But people will always find a way to use religion to ‘validate’ their own views and I am sure the Camarilla are no different.
I know that too many killings have happened in the name of religion and in the name of Christianity. Too much hate, when the message of Jesus was about loving neighbour. Will images like the one at the start of this blog continue to unsettle me – yes, and they should. Honestly Christians have to do better.
That is one of the things that I actually love about Motherland, that it does challenge me and makes me uncomfortable at times. We should never stay in our comfort zone too long, or we forget that we need to grow. So, I keep this image on my desktop to remind me of that.
ReturntoFortSalem 