As Earth Day 2005 approaches, I feel it relevant to note that the seeming majority of Christians invariably insert a specific caveat whenever quoting passages from the Bible which condemn the taking of life. Perhaps you know of the caveat to which I refer. It’s the italicized word in the following sentence: “God says we do not have the right to take human life.”
Considering the consistency with which caveats such as this are used specifically by so many Christians, I must assume that there is some level of consciousness to this population’s bias against every other kind of life on this planet, and I must call it for what it is: hubris. Self-importance. Anthropocentrism. And I assert that it is from this dogma that the environmental devastation of our day sprang ironically to life.
Since the beginning of history, we humans have been grasping at anything and everything we could in order to hold onto the precious and most convenient belief that “God loves us best.” Of course God loves us best. That’s why He made the Earth the center of the universe and commanded the sun and every other heavenly body to revolve around us.
Throughout history, we have quoted Biblical passages to “prove” that Christians were superior, men were superior, whites were superior, that slavery is sanctioned by God (the Bible tells me so – see Lev. 25:44-46). Now, knocked again and again off of our progressively shorter, self-fashioned pedestals by scientific facts and our own gradual, albeit reluctant, evolving consciousness, we stand at the last bastion of self-asserted superiority as we nonchalantly imply with our anthropocentric little caveat our God-given right to take the life of any non-human on this planet in any manner and for any self-serving purpose we desire.
That is the religion of anthropocentrism, and it is a religion I cannot support. My God is the creator of all life on Earth, and the lover of all creation. And the religion that would have my respect would cry out against the grievous harm and blasphemous atrocities we commit against all other life on this planet for the sake of human greed.
But what do I hear from those who purport to love God the most? A silence which betrays a total lack of respect for the rest of His creation. Silence, as we clear-cut the rainforests so that we can eat more hamburgers. Silence as we massacre baby seals so that we can wear their pretty fur. Silence as we destroy the Alaskan wilderness so that we can keep our SUVs.
Silence as we force-feed mass quantities of new and improved mountain-fresh scented laundry detergent to rabbits in laboratory tests while the byproducts pollute our rivers and streams. Silence, as we cram three hens into a 12 square-inch cage and starve them for two weeks to enhance egg production. Silence, as we drift net the oceans so that we can go to Red Lobster after church on Sunday for the bargain “All-You-Can-Eat” shrimp buffet.
But here is the proof that a just God does exist: As we destroy every other life form on this planet, every other Godly creation in order to feed our insatiable appetites and egos, we destroy ourselves as well.
The more we learn about this planet, the more we realize that all life on it is interdependent. God made it that way, and He did it so that if we gave in to the temptation to worship ourselves (which is what we do when we call ourselves the only life form worthy of consideration) we would be damned by the behaviors emanating from that belief system to ultimately suffocate in our own wastes – a fate so awful that the fires of hell can’t hold a candle to it – and a fate that is beginning to manifest as we prepare to celebrate Earth Day 2005.
Only when we prove capable of controlling ourselves, of learning to live in harmony and with respect for the rest of creation, and of committing ourselves to fixing the mess our anthropocentric self-indulgences have made of this planet can we justify our claim to superiority. That requires the kind of temperance and humility that the Bible advises in select passages.
Unfortunately, since they do not pander to our sense of entitlement and self-importance, those passages are rarely quoted and even less frequently heeded. Tell me where those principles are being preached, and I will call myself a member of that religion.
April Kung may be reached at aprilekung@yahoo.com.