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Monday, April 19, 2010

Endangered

CBS Sunday Morning did a piece on endangered species. They told about the sad story of the Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit who recently went extinct. They listed various fish, flies, and other flora and fauna in danger of disappearing entirely. Why is this an issue? Well, because all animals have the right to exist. (They didn't say where that right came from.)

According to the official listings, there are something like 2,250 plants and animals on the list of endangered species maintained by the United States. This list includes everything from the 'Ahakea, a plant in Hawaii, to the Zerene Fritillary, a California insect. What is going on here? What is causing this horrible condition?

Well, according to endangeredspecie.com, the primary problem is habitat destruction. Normal destruction of habitat is typically slow and species have time to compensate, but humans, especially in the last century, have managed to impact every habitat. We are the problem. "Man was in the forest!"

We are ingenious in our destruction, it seems. Some of it is by greenhouse gases or by pollution or by overuse. But we're also to blame for introducing new species to areas in which they didn't originally live. Sometimes it was recreational and sometimes it was planned, but it seems to have always been wrong. We are, then, to blame for all these woes.

What are we to do? Well, there are certainly small things that could be accomplished. You could plant trees and bushes in your yard to create habitat for animals. Of course, they had better be native or you're in danger of introducing foreign plants that could cause their own set of problems. Recycling is a good idea, although the impact on the Earth's wildlife would be small. They recommend you eat organic food to avoid afflicting the planet with pesticides and the like. But it's hard to imagine how my family's consumption could cause any effect, so it must be that it needs to be far bigger than me.

Sadly, it seems as if there is no real hope. The only chance the world has is if we humans were to go extinct. As it turns out, this is exactly the call of some on the far liberal side. One commentary out of Berkeley says,"The only real, long term hope for the eco-sphere is a massive human population collapse, hopefully leading to the voluntary extinction of the human race." No, seriously. That is the call. Edna Spector begs the citizens of Berkeley to implement a No Child policy for all residents. She hopes they will set up euthanasia clinics with people "lined up for many blocks" to die.

"Nonsense!" you say? "Extremist!" you cry? Well, of course, for anyone who believes the Bible it is, but if you are convinced of Evolution as a purely natural, unguided process that made us, it is likely the only rational conclusion. Why should we be any better than the other animals? No, no, if we are going to secularize our world, the next logical step is to exit it with dignity since we, it seems, are the problem.

6 comments:

Animal Amy said...

I don't know if you can say that all animals have a "right" to exist.

It depends how you define "right", and how you believe that someone "earns" a right.

However, the extinction of an animal species does affect the other living things in its environment and may have a deleterious affect on humans.

Stan said...

I would even say that I don't believe that animals have an intrinsic "right to exist".

On the other hand, I'm with you in that simply annihilating animal species is a bad idea. God put Man on Earth to be His representative, to govern the planet. We are supposed to tend to it, take care of it, manage it. And we are not doing that well.

We ought to do what we can to save species. And we are. My problem is when people begin putting animals species on par with or even above humans. That is a faulty sense of priorities.

Jeremy D. Troxler said...

Stan,

What I wonder about is why extinction is such a big problem for anyone who also believes in evolution? If evolution is true, if there was life on earth for billions of years prior to man, then millions of species (or maybe more) went extinct before man even evolved. Extinction is simply the result of a species not being able to adequately adapt to a changing environment.

In a sense extinction of an entire species is a perfectly natural thing to happen. The stronger species will survive, and any attempt to bring a halt to the extinction to an animal species is to stand against nature, not to promote nature.

I'm with you and Animal Amy on saving species and not just arbitrarily wiping out an entire population of animals, in fact i'd say that the Bible being true and man being endowed by God with the responsibility of taking care of the creation is the only real justification for doing so.

Stan said...

Jeremy: "In fact I'd say that the Bible being true and Man being endowed by God with the responsibility of taking care of the creation is the only real justification for doing so."

Isn't it funny that Christianity (which is often associated with "anti-Evolution") is the only genuine justification for taking care of the planet, while the most outspoken people on the topic are Evolutionists with no real support for their position?

Jeremy D. Troxler said...

Stan,

I've thought many times that in this case it may be the fault of we as believers for not being more vocal about the issue. I'm not advocating activism, but if we as Christians have the only legitimate reason for caring about the environment then it seems logical that we should be leading the charge to be responsible in being good stewards, in the name of Jesus Christ. If we as believers were more vocal, perhaps there would not be the misconception that Christians have no concern for the planet. I know personally when in situations where the enviroment and animal rights, etc. comes up I am quick to present the Biblical position and have found that many are surprised at how logical and responsible the Biblical position is on the issue.

Stan said...

I suspect there are lots of issues about which Christians are not vocal enough.