Does God Give Mankind Dominion Over Animals And Nature? (genesis, church, Revelation)
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One of the reasons that I've always been suspicious of religious teachings is that it seems to place mankind on a separate level in which man has a natural right to dominate every other living thing for his own purposes. This concept has always struck me as evidence that religious teachings are in fact a kind of justification for putting ourselves on some sort of pedestal and imagining that we are the rulers of the world. There is no species in nature that has altered the world so dramatically as man. Every species of plant or animal lives within a framework of harmony in the natural world except for one, human beings. Our ability to adapt to any environment has allowed us to spread all over the earth and our technology has given us the power to completely alter the natural world. This is particularly obvious in modern times and as our technology continues to become more sophisticated and complex we are driving countless species to extinction as we continue to advance into rainforests and other environments in which species that we might not even know about continue to go extinct. Here is my question. Does anyone believe that mankind really has the authority to dominate the natural world based on any religious belief?
I had a post a while back about humans being "aliens" to this planet. I find it kind of funny how we don't bring nothing but destruction, while animal kingdom fits right in and balances nature.
Put humans into extreme situation along with animals, which one would survive?
Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
Now some people interpret this verse to mean that man can do anything he wants to animals and it's ok because God said so. For example, the Amish are famous for operating puppy mills and keep the animals in absolutely deplorable conditions. They see the dogs as being equal to any other kind of "crop" that they would raise to make money and therefore don't have a problem with treating the animals the way they do. I, of course, disagree with this kind of thinking. Animals that we have domesticated for use as pets need to be cared for humanely because they are innocent and obviously cannot care for themselves. I believe animals that we use for food such as cows, pigs, ect. need to be treated humanely...that's why I am against putting cows on factory farms, for example. This is one of the reasons we don't purchase our milk from the grocery store. We buy it straight from the farm...and I believe it's a lot healthier to boot, but I digress .
You mention man's ability to adapt to any environment and our ability to alter the natural world. I agree that this is not always a good thing. I think it comes down to greed...if mankind can find some way to intrude upon nature (or God's creation, as I would say) or alter it in some way in order to make a buck, he will do it.
So bottom line, yes I believe that man is supposed to have dominion over all other living creatures as the Lord has commanded...that doesn't mean, however, that I think we've (humans) done an outstanding job with the responsibilty we were given.
One of the reasons that I've always been suspicious of religious teachings is that it seems to place mankind on a separate level in which man has a natural right to dominate every other living thing for his own purposes. This concept has always struck me as evidence that religious teachings are in fact a kind of justification for putting ourselves on some sort of pedestal and imagining that we are the rulers of the world. There is no species in nature that has altered the world so dramatically as man. Every species of plant or animal lives within a framework of harmony in the natural world except for one, human beings. Our ability to adapt to any environment has allowed us to spread all over the earth and our technology has given us the power to completely alter the natural world. This is particularly obvious in modern times and as our technology continues to become more sophisticated and complex we are driving countless species to extinction as we continue to advance into rainforests and other environments in which species that we might not even know about continue to go extinct. Here is my question. Does anyone believe that mankind really has the authority to dominate the natural world based on any religious belief?
I'm just thankful to be at the top of the food chain
Me too, Ilnc
Seriously Montana, yes I do believe we have dominion over the animals, maybe the word dominion sounds like we are to dominate, but I think we are meant to be caretakers of the earth and all that is in it, including the animals, and vegetation..Every thing has a purpose in nature and the preservation of our world..I think we are just taking it serious now that we can see the destruction our greed has already brought us..We were talking about the majestic and powerful bald eagle in another thread..Not so many years we were down to a precious few and now we have seen an amazing come back with them and some other animals that were on the nearly extinct list
If I may, I'd like to insert a quote from Agent Smith, of The Matrix....It seems to fit here.
I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had, during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you aren’t actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with its surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we... are the cure.
If I may, I'd like to insert a quote from Agent Smith, of The Matrix....It seems to fit here.
I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had, during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you aren’t actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with its surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply, and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we... are the cure.
Funny, I was thinking of this exact same scene as I read the original question.
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