It’s one of the weird cognitive dissonances that I grew up with from the Christian church as a kid. They would say these things so casually, but then refuse to talk about sex or bodies. It’s just… bizarre. And took some unpacking and unlearning to get to a healthy place about bodies.
Why is body related violence so casually referred to, even in children’s books, but then they try to breeze past the weird sex stories in there at the same time.
It was just… weird. It’s still weird. I can’t help but shake my head and thank my lucky stars I got out of there when I did, right at the beginning of adulthood.
I always thought it was weird that they temporarily cut the skin off of their forehead until I was nineteen and wondered why I had a line on my genitals where the color suddenly changed. Turns out I had been circumcized as an infant.
Sorta like how everybody in America is totally fine showing kids movies where the characters violently fight and die, but God forbid they see a bare breast (like they fed on as babies).
I guess the nature of seeing breasts in movies is sexual/male gazey, and therefore not super appropriate for children. But yes, neither is extreme violence.
It's cognitive dissonance because we live in 2023 and not in biblical times. The bible is a collection of stories, written by mortal men, that seek to justify certain behaviors as "sanctioned by God". Like, why the fuck would we need to teach children about murdering hundreds of people for their dick skin? Or teach children that rape is okay as long as you marry your victim? It's because people did this shit and wanted to get away with it. The OT is literally "rules for thee and not for me".
It is more of an American phenomenon than a religious one. We're definitely a culture of "Spit in my face all you want, but don't you dare walk on the grass."
It is a community where children can straight up watch the most brutal horror movies of all time as long as there isn't too much swearing or gayness.