Where do we draw the line?

Question

Where do we draw the line between life that is considered valuable and life that is not held as valuable or not considered a life at all?

Seems to me that things like sport hunting, medical/cosmetic testing on animals, and the destruction of the environment is completely wrong - I don't believe that we are superior to the rest of nature. I wouldn't say that we have to be fruititarians, but do you think we can do as we please with the natural world?

The Bible says that we are stewards of the Earth, what does that mean to you Christians? What do other religions say?

Answer 1

I think that the things you have mentioned are completely unacceptable. I am Pagan, I believe that the earth gives me life, physically, mentally, and spiritually, and that is something that deserves respect.

Answer 2

What is this 'we' you speak of? I know a lot of people who hunt for food and for fun and if we don't hunt since natural predators are removed, we have to take their place or be over run with what ever breeds the fastest. Its been said that Australia was a verdant land before somebody took rabbits there without hunting them...so hunters are the real stewards, doesn't that truth sink your boat? Odd thing about religion,it doesn't really apply to much real life except to help us deal with others unlike us, and the average religous person wants to hate others unlike them, for instance, non-hunters vrs. hunters, conservitives vrs liberals, christians vrs heathens, and educated vrs, the illiterate. Exactly what good is any religion when nobody follows the precepts of that religion? And by the way, its not can we, its we have to, and the sooner the idiots and bleeding hearts understand the imperitive, the sooner we will manage the world the right way.

Answer 3

It's easy to ask the question, but not easy to answer.

We have enough on our hands dealing with exceptions to the rule against killing humans! Abortion, war, death penalty, etc.

I am not a vegetarian. Like many other of God's creatures I eat meat. But I do agree that we should set limits - waste and cruelty are to be avoided as much as possible. And we need to treat the environment with care.

Oddly enough, I would guess that the leading cause of death for the vast majority of living creatures is BEING EATEN!

Answer 4

Money, Money, Money that's what is mainly about. Everything you mention is for money. If plastic surgeons would not operate on someone, they'd loose money. If no one used cosmetics or did medical research on animals, the cosmetic and drug industries would loose money. If no body hunted, the hunting stores and ranges would loose money. It's all about money, not a sense of superiority. Christians won't answer because "they don't know", the truth is that money controls everything, and everyone is reaching for that dollar and not for God, I don't believe in God anyway.

Answer 5

Is the whole world that delicate? Life seems to fluorish in some of the most hostile environments. People endur so much that I don't buy the argument that the world isn't strong.