The Nature of Nature

Here, is a link to an important contribution on the subject of climate change.

It's not at all a surprise that people take sides based on their preconceived notions. We often want to agree with those who agree with us.

And it's not a surprise, if one takes the time to think about it, that some of us humans like to think of ourselves as being outside of Nature, rather than examples of a currently surviving species, named, by our own scientists, Homo Sapiens, Sapiens; who are, by definition, a part of Nature, not outside of Nature, no less and no more.

More simply and directly put, our species is so very stuck on itself that we act like gods, and then create God in our own image to justify our actions.

Early members of our species told tales of Creation in their attempt to understand that which was not and which is still not understandable at this stage of our evolution. The biblical Book of Genesis is a wonderful example. It has two creation stories; one has God creating the world, including the flora and the fauna, followed by the creation of Adam and Eve. Another has Adam created first out of dirt and Eve created next from Adam's rib. At it's best it is poetry, but clearly it is not science.

Genesis 1:26 includes words written by member(s) of our species, who lived several millennial ago: "Go and subdue the earth". This was early evidence that some of us think of ourselves as outside of Nature, as godlike, perhaps because we wanted to think of ourselves as children of God, hoping to find direction and meaning as we looked for from our physical father, the male in charge of us, who trained us, disciplined us, and hopefully cared enough about us to teach us how to live and survive in a dangerous world.

In our own time this has become "Go and rape the earth", a very small step from subdue, and might be explained away by those who like to follow the injunction of our ancestors, as merely a semantic difference.

Our ancestors were in need of trying to understand the mystery of existence. They saw Nature in the raw, the survival of the fittest, and with their evolved powers thought that their God has given them dominion over all other creatures.

Those of our current species who continue to use their power over others, for their own selfish gain, like to quote the Bible, while all along knowing that they do so to justify their actions.

Those of our species, long ago, who created stories in their attempts to understand, and which ultimately were written down after perhaps eons, had no benefit of the science available to us today. They killed animals and uprooted plants for survival. No criminals there. In fact, as recently as a few hundred years ago, American Indians praised and worshipped the Great Spirit for what they were given, and thanked the buffalo for their sacrifice.

Yet, today, there are still examples of our species who defend their rape of the earth, in spite of, and with the full awareness of today's science. Some of these rapists like to cite Genesis to justify their actions. These are the real criminals.

The advantage we think of ourselves as having, which might also be so disadvantageous as to cause our own extinction in time, is that we, as our own scientists who study our brains tell us, are aware that we are aware; thus the Sapiens, Sapiens parts of what they call us. The repeat of the word is not a redundancy, nor an accident. It is intentional. Loosely translated it says that we are aware that we are aware, an evolutionary result of our coming out on top in the survival of the fittest process, what we label Evolution, and which we resort to naming it Nature.

Like the label, The Big Bang, it's still the best we can do when we come up against the limits of our evaluational ability to understand.

But those who rape the earth, with, but in spite of, the full availability of earth science, and who claim that they are just following the Biblical injunction, and even saying that God has directed them to do so, should be accused of and indicted for crimes against humanity, and tried in the legal system that they have so purposefully and intentionally stripped of decency and justice.

Naming names: Bush II, Cheney, Feith, Wolfowitz, Perle, and all their neo-con cabal courtiers. This is not to be seen as an extensive and complete list.

If the abuses and torture at Abu Graib, Guantanamo, and secret other prison sites are reminiscent of Nazi camps, even in the slightest way, those who authorized such should receive no less justice as those who were subject to the justice system at Nuremberg.

Leanderthal, Lighthouse Keeper