Human life and animal life

Do you consider humans to be the pinnacle of creation? The Bible tells us that we are the stewards of creation, that we have dominion over all other living creatures. I feel as though this early Christian belief has influenced our attitude towards nature and our perceived place in it. We feel as though we are entitled to do to the earth as we please.

The essence of this argument is summed up in the visceral reaction of many people to this question:


Is the life of an orangutan more valuable/just as valuable as the life of a mentally retarded human child. Who would you save from a fire? Why?

 

i believe everything on this earth is of equal value

 

Given the choice, would you rescue an ant from a fire or your best friend?

 

humans seem to be the only animal [on earth] that can ask this type of question.

a coyote doesn't ask if he is the pinnacle of creation before he takes down a deer.

i'm just trying to make the small point that every species does as it pleases. we happen to be the most destructive one though. a decent amount of us would prefer to be less destructive to the environment...but to what extent.

we are both using excess electricity to power a computer that we don't really need. and lights in the house instead of a fire.

it's kinda just what we are, as humans. we fuck shit up. i personally try to only fuck things up a little though. when i go camping i leave with very little trace of ever having been there.

 

As it pleases? I don't know if that is the right word.

And no, a coyote might not ask itself if it is the pinnacle of creation, but do humans take down deer with their sharp teeth and strong muscles?

 

Every plant and animal has a job to do.

 

Maybe he meant, "as if its at our disposal" ?

I like the general concept of his post though.

 

Genesis 1:20
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.

Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Job 35:11
Who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?

Job 38:41
Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help, and wander about for lack of food?



If you are looking at it from a biblical perspective. The animals and plants are here to sustain us, but should be respected as God's creations. Which we don't do well enough.

 

I suppose that I think that the Biblical perspective has taught up wrongfully and done more harm than good in our perception of ourselves.

 

lol of course my best friend. because ive developed a relationship with that person, cant say so for the ant. every thing has its own niche that helps keep this planet in equilibrium. thats wut i meant by wut i said. not emotional value. for example, a wolf will prolly save one of its own right?

 

Depends on who is considered amongst "ourselves" are atheists, non believers included? Not all, but many of them have little regard for nature and its preservation. I wouldn't blame it on the bible, because it focuses more on sending the message of humility, love and modesty. If someone were to extract a single statement from the bible and focus only on that one statement then I suppose it would be possible.

I blame it on Industrialization, a growing global population, man's desire to make life "easy", and the 1950's mentality.

 

I think this is a big load of shit and is one reason humans are able to justify destroying entire ecosystems in the name of development.

However, a human life is always going to be instinctively more important to another human than the life of an animal. we're social animals and we're driven to help each other for self preservation of the entire species.

 

Well, there you go. Not all life is of equal value to you.
Animals only act out of self-interest and what is best for their survival. Mostly instinctively, not conscious.

 

actually all life is of equall value, in terms of how each contributes to the ecosystem. if one thing gets out of balance, then it affects everything else, or it has the potential to.

 

In that way I can somewhat agree, I thought you meant on an individual level.

 

I don't think any life is more important than any other. I think one should try to not intentionally harm anything.

As far as saving a best friend or an ant from a fire, I still don't believe one life is better than another one in an absolute sense, however, I would save the best friend over the ant because I would be compelled to by instinct, as well as other selfish motives.

 

oh, no lol. im obviously gonna watch out for my fellow man

 

I almost respect animals more than I do many humans, but I do not believe human life and animal life are equal, though that is what the radical environmentalists would have us believe, and I know somebody is pulling their strings.

 

"as it pleases" came from your statement

seems to me like all animals do as they please. a shark eats baby seals because they are tasty. termites ruin perfectly good wood. caterpillars decimate tree populations. beavers build dams and flood entire ecosystems.

i'm not using it as justification for the things that humans do, but i can see how it sounds that way.

and no a human doesn't kill a deer with his or her teeth. not sure how that question is relevant to the discussion.
we have developed a complex neural structure that allows us to use tools. being the pinnacle of creation has its benefits

 

Is it that the human child is mentally retarded that is supposed to cause a visceral reaction?

If not, the mentally retarded aspect seems like an unnecessary qualifier, comes off as almost insinuating that the child is subhuman.

I think I'd save the human child in almost all circumstances for reasons Meliai laid out below. I'm juggling one exception where the orangutan was my pet and I didn't have any emotional connection with the child and didn't see it first, but I'm sure even in that situation if there was a variable such as a mother yelling "Someone Help, Please save my mentally retarded child" then I'd probably still save the human.