Thank You

Many thanks to those of you who commented here as well as via email, gchat, and in person about what I meant by worshipping life. I was talking about the way the Civilized worship human (and that usually means middle class or upper-middle class U.S.) life, disregarding the lives of other people and definitely the lives of the plants and animals that serve us and die for us. My friend Will asked pointedly why I'm not a vegetarian yet. It was a good question. The truth is that most of us needlessly kill animals even if we are vegetarians. Whenever we are not mindful of what and how we consume - whether it's food, textiles, electronics, gasoline, other energy - we are disrespecting the earth. Why we should respect the earth (or creation, or the Creator, or the Tao) is the topic of another post, I suppose. It's something harder to argue on the grounds of logic. There's a major moral component to it. Of course, there's the utilitarian idea backed up by some 20th century economists that says that what's good for others is often good for us. So nice for science and psychology and philosophy to catch up with what is for some a fundamental life principle.

In short:
- Be mindful of what you do. Even if you only pick fallen fruits and nuts, you're still killing some of the grass you walk on. Life feeds on life in a cycle. Respect that cycle.
- Read my tirade on love and war at my other blog.
- Consider reading Derrick Jensen's Endgame. Start with the Premises. Argue with them. Sit with them a while. Pay attention.
- Love.