The Coming Bloodbath
In a couple weeks, I may have the opportunity to do some prairie dog shooting. In retrospect, this post would more appropriately be titled, "The Coming Gut-bath." Anyway, I'm really looking forward to it (if it works out.) It raises an interesting philosophical/theological issue.
I don't have a problem with waging wholesale slaughter on vermin population. They are a nuisance to the people who own the land where I'll be. They are by no means in danger of extinction. And they're a lot of fun to shoot (they explode quite violently.) But some people do have a problem with hunting that doesn't result in meat-eating or hide-tanning.
I don't. This argument is largely a byproduct of the clash between a Christian worldview and a Darwinian worldview. I believe that God created the human race as something special. I don't believe in evolution. Genesis talks about man being made master over the animals. So, if you need to do some housecleaning on the ranch (i.e. kill a few hundred rodents), no problem. That said, I think that mastery over the animals comes with a responsibility to be good stewards. I also believe in being as humane as possible.
Believe me, they don't feel anything.
Anyway, those who oppose prairie dog hunting (or hunting in general) are likely to be of the ilk that believes that we humans are nothing more than the highest level of a random evolutionary process. As such, what right do we have over prairie dogs, deer, or indeed insects?
The biggest hole in that argument is this:
If we are nothing more than the most evolved animal, what responsibility do we have to anyone or to anything? If this (existence, life, the universe) is all a random and non-determined event, there is no God. And if there is no God, how can we possibly establish “right and wrong? Without God, everything is completely meaningless. Who cares if I kill every animal on the planet?
But there is a God. And He never said it was wrong to kill prairie dogs.
I don't have a problem with waging wholesale slaughter on vermin population. They are a nuisance to the people who own the land where I'll be. They are by no means in danger of extinction. And they're a lot of fun to shoot (they explode quite violently.) But some people do have a problem with hunting that doesn't result in meat-eating or hide-tanning.
I don't. This argument is largely a byproduct of the clash between a Christian worldview and a Darwinian worldview. I believe that God created the human race as something special. I don't believe in evolution. Genesis talks about man being made master over the animals. So, if you need to do some housecleaning on the ranch (i.e. kill a few hundred rodents), no problem. That said, I think that mastery over the animals comes with a responsibility to be good stewards. I also believe in being as humane as possible.
Believe me, they don't feel anything.
Anyway, those who oppose prairie dog hunting (or hunting in general) are likely to be of the ilk that believes that we humans are nothing more than the highest level of a random evolutionary process. As such, what right do we have over prairie dogs, deer, or indeed insects?
The biggest hole in that argument is this:
If we are nothing more than the most evolved animal, what responsibility do we have to anyone or to anything? If this (existence, life, the universe) is all a random and non-determined event, there is no God. And if there is no God, how can we possibly establish “right and wrong? Without God, everything is completely meaningless. Who cares if I kill every animal on the planet?
But there is a God. And He never said it was wrong to kill prairie dogs.
posted by M1Thumb at 10:20 PM
2 Comments:
Just a quick question- did you chat with my Ann Coulter prior to writing this? See chapter 1 of her new book: Godless. I quote from page 4. The core of Judeo-Christian tradition says that we are utterly and distinctly apart from other species. We have dominion over plants and the animals on the Earth. God gave it to us, it's ours- as stated succinctly in the book of Genesis. Liberals would sooner trust the stewardship of the Earth to Shetland ponies and dung beetles. All their pseudoscience supports an alternative religion that says we are an insignificant part of nature. Environmentalists want mass infanticide, zero population growth, reduced standards of living, and vegetarianism. The core of environmentalism is that they hate mankind. Everything liberals believe is in elegant opposition to basic Biblical precepts.
Our religion says that human progress proceeds from the spark of divinity in the human soul; their religion holds that human progress is achieved through sex and death.
We believe in invention and creation; they catalogue with stupefaction the current state of our diminishing resources and tell us to stop consuming.
We say humans stand apart from the world and our charge is Plant Earth; they say we are part of the world, and our hubristic use of nature is sinful.
We say humans are in God's image; they say we are no different morally from apes.
We believe in populating the Earth until there's standing room only and then colonizing Mars; they believe humans are in the twilight of existence.
Our book is Genesis. Their book is Rachel Carson's Silent Planet, the original environmental hoax.
I say, obliterate on. A huge part of stewarding the world is conservation. Praire dogs are not in threat of extinction (see South Dakota, NW Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, and I assume Wyoming). There is certainly enough of those worthless little buggers to go around.
A further observation to put forth. My dad remembers growing up in Nebraska in a time when people were worried about the extinction of whitetail deer. Now, we have them living IN TOWNS across the nation. Praire dog on, my friend, praire dog on!
Well written! No, I didn't consult with Coulter. I must hang my head in shame at the admission that I have not read her book. After all, I link to her sight. Thanks for your support!
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