Elle Seven
Superstar
I sometimes wonder if the question about whether God exists and/or cares only comes into question when the perspective the asker is taking is one of anthropocentrism.
From that perspective, it would be easy to query whether the Creator truly cares about humanity. If we take one that is more holistic, though, perhaps the question changes...
For example, there is a post in here about someone's child being killed by a wolf if s/he leaves him/her in the woods; I think the implication may have been if this happens, there is no God (as God did not protect the child from the wolf). To whomever posted that initially, I apologize if I misinterpreted your words. Nonetheless, it presents an interesting issue which is worth pondering. In this hypothetical situation, if the wolf kills the human child and eats him to sate his appetite, does this prove there is no God? After all, wolves, as I understand it, are carnivorous and, thus, seek flesh to consume. Humans would mourn the death of a child who met her end in the jaws of a wolf, no doubt...any child who dies so helplessly, honestly. Yet, would they mourn for, say, a fawn who met her end in that same way? A baby rabbit? I mean, when the average person sees dead baby deer on the side of the road (or maybe that sight is just common where I am), is it likely s/he feels sorrow in any degree? Perhaps not, and that makes sense, as we are not related to wildlife and, honestly, as humans, we eat both as well.
However, when the wolf kills these creatures, do we then attribute that to the absence of God? After all, the ego-less canine is literally only acting in alignment with his nature and instinct, all embedded within him through his genetic heritage. That being said, a deeper question would be why are there certain animals even created or those which eventually evolve to survive off the flesh of other animals at all. Why is there a system on this planet where one must kill and consume another in order to sustain his own life? This, I think, would lend a deeper, more uncomfortable and unconventional view of how God "is".
Then again, that question might not be as simple. The coloring of the answer might be different, depending on how the asker feels about death or what s/he even deems to be alive in the first place. For instance, while the wolf might kill a fawn and eat it, the fawn only needs to eat greenery to sustain its life. It does not need to draw blood from another animal but, still, it must take life from vegetation, which was once rooted and growing from the soil...is this problematic as well, or does it not count because blood was not involved? Is the life of flora to be just as valued as that of fauna? When people cut their grass, do they care how it makes the grass feel...or do we see plant life as a less intelligent and aware as animal life? In the end, the fawn still had to take its life from flora, as a predator then took its life for the same reason. There are just so many ways to look at it, I think.
As humans, we kill what we like and eat it and most of us do not question it. I mean, is it common to cry over the slab of steak or rack of ribs on our plates when we get that pleasure? Do we stop to think about the mother cow or mother pig which was slain to give us those delicious cuts of meat or the likely children they likely left behind? Probably not. Ironically, though, we will say Grace and thank the Creator for providing us with the remnants of the cow and pig which was once living...as if we were the one's who put in the actual work of slaughtering the animal and fabricating its corpse. Do we look at our actions against other animals and then ask, if there is a God, why does It allow us to act this way...or do we only ask this question when natural circumstances of life come to affect us personally in a negative way?
There is a guru I saw on YouTube (his name escapes me) who, to paraphrase him, asserts many of the ills of mankind cannot be cured...not totally, until we start to have regard for all life, not just human life. So, for example, while we may decry abuse against certain groups within the human race, as long as we still hold, in our psyches, that, collectively, some lives are worth more respect than others, we are still missing it.
So long as we see all that happens in life through the prism of the left and not the right, I think we will always have these types of questions about the nature of the Creator.
From that perspective, it would be easy to query whether the Creator truly cares about humanity. If we take one that is more holistic, though, perhaps the question changes...
For example, there is a post in here about someone's child being killed by a wolf if s/he leaves him/her in the woods; I think the implication may have been if this happens, there is no God (as God did not protect the child from the wolf). To whomever posted that initially, I apologize if I misinterpreted your words. Nonetheless, it presents an interesting issue which is worth pondering. In this hypothetical situation, if the wolf kills the human child and eats him to sate his appetite, does this prove there is no God? After all, wolves, as I understand it, are carnivorous and, thus, seek flesh to consume. Humans would mourn the death of a child who met her end in the jaws of a wolf, no doubt...any child who dies so helplessly, honestly. Yet, would they mourn for, say, a fawn who met her end in that same way? A baby rabbit? I mean, when the average person sees dead baby deer on the side of the road (or maybe that sight is just common where I am), is it likely s/he feels sorrow in any degree? Perhaps not, and that makes sense, as we are not related to wildlife and, honestly, as humans, we eat both as well.
However, when the wolf kills these creatures, do we then attribute that to the absence of God? After all, the ego-less canine is literally only acting in alignment with his nature and instinct, all embedded within him through his genetic heritage. That being said, a deeper question would be why are there certain animals even created or those which eventually evolve to survive off the flesh of other animals at all. Why is there a system on this planet where one must kill and consume another in order to sustain his own life? This, I think, would lend a deeper, more uncomfortable and unconventional view of how God "is".
Then again, that question might not be as simple. The coloring of the answer might be different, depending on how the asker feels about death or what s/he even deems to be alive in the first place. For instance, while the wolf might kill a fawn and eat it, the fawn only needs to eat greenery to sustain its life. It does not need to draw blood from another animal but, still, it must take life from vegetation, which was once rooted and growing from the soil...is this problematic as well, or does it not count because blood was not involved? Is the life of flora to be just as valued as that of fauna? When people cut their grass, do they care how it makes the grass feel...or do we see plant life as a less intelligent and aware as animal life? In the end, the fawn still had to take its life from flora, as a predator then took its life for the same reason. There are just so many ways to look at it, I think.
As humans, we kill what we like and eat it and most of us do not question it. I mean, is it common to cry over the slab of steak or rack of ribs on our plates when we get that pleasure? Do we stop to think about the mother cow or mother pig which was slain to give us those delicious cuts of meat or the likely children they likely left behind? Probably not. Ironically, though, we will say Grace and thank the Creator for providing us with the remnants of the cow and pig which was once living...as if we were the one's who put in the actual work of slaughtering the animal and fabricating its corpse. Do we look at our actions against other animals and then ask, if there is a God, why does It allow us to act this way...or do we only ask this question when natural circumstances of life come to affect us personally in a negative way?
There is a guru I saw on YouTube (his name escapes me) who, to paraphrase him, asserts many of the ills of mankind cannot be cured...not totally, until we start to have regard for all life, not just human life. So, for example, while we may decry abuse against certain groups within the human race, as long as we still hold, in our psyches, that, collectively, some lives are worth more respect than others, we are still missing it.
So long as we see all that happens in life through the prism of the left and not the right, I think we will always have these types of questions about the nature of the Creator.
