Blog 4- the ethics and reverence for life & lifeboat ethics

 Kohak says, “At the core of all meaning and all value are not individual lives, but rather life as such, a harmony of lives.” In this first section, the Ethics and Reverence for Life, Berman states that religion is at the root of desacralizing nature.  I think that that maybe would have been valid in the time of Isaac Newton, but I don’t think that it is relevant today. I think this because the Catholic Church holds nature in high esteem and is valued as a beautiful part of God’s creation. The creation story is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. After every day God said that what he created was “good”. In addition, many religions honor St. Francis and value what he did in regaurds to his relationship with nature. 

Muir believes that God “did not create the world to serve humans but for the intrinsic goodness of the creation itself.” Coming from a religious stand point, I believe that to a point animals were created for humans. But, as I said in a previous blog, I believe that animals are to be treated with respect and love. We shouldn’t use animals needlessly or excessively. Also, I think it is a great thing that Muir is the person responsible for natural parks which serve as a place of preservation for nature.

Schweitzer ends this section with a strong emphasis on respect for all living things. I fully support this. One of my favorite quotes is from Dr. Suess,” A life is a life no matter how small.” I think this quote illustrates perfectly what Schweitzer was trying to portray. Just because humans are larger creatures, we still have the responsibility to care for all life. “Good” humans have a duty to care for all nature. He gives an example of saving a worm from asphalt by placing it in the grass. I believe that if we all took great care in doing the little things with great love, the world would change. In closing, I think that a balance between anthropocentrism and biocentrism is what is really needed. If we balance the importance of humans and nature, and hold each on an even scale concerning respect, I think that we would not be in the crisis that we are in now.