I like Elk more than wolves so seeing the wolves kill it makes me sad.
Watching crocodiles ambush and mangle their prey disgusts me. Seeing a python strangle and then swallow its prey absolutely disgusts me. Seeing hyenas just walk disgusts me.
I don’t feel the same way about the tiger with his prey, nor the leopard with his. The only time I feel disgust at a bear is when a polar bear has blood all over its face after eating a seal.
From my observations, I do not like it when I see lower forms of life and monsters mangle and devour animals that I believe to be better and more beautiful.
On the elk question, I can only say that when I kill a deer, or slaughter the birds I raise every summer, the only feeling is one of having accomplished what I set out to do; in the case of the deer to cull the herd that never leaves my orchard alone and put some red meat away; in the case of the birds to fill the freezer for the winter. Rooting for or against nature makes no sense, of course. But respecting it and our place in it is paramount.
If the universe came into being purely as the result of accidental workings of matter and energy, then there is nothing in the universe that cares about what happens to us.
But if the universe and the human beings in it did not come into being by accident, then there is the possibility of meaning - meaning that is not nullified by the reality of illness, pain, death, injustice and so on. Higher meaning is capable of transcending and encompassing all of those things. And the fact that we do not all commit suicide but want to live shows that there is more good than evil in human existence.
I like Elk more than wolves so seeing the wolves kill it makes me sad.
Watching crocodiles ambush and mangle their prey disgusts me. Seeing a python strangle and then swallow its prey absolutely disgusts me. Seeing hyenas just walk disgusts me.
I don’t feel the same way about the tiger with his prey, nor the leopard with his. The only time I feel disgust at a bear is when a polar bear has blood all over its face after eating a seal.
From my observations, I do not like it when I see lower forms of life and monsters mangle and devour animals that I believe to be better and more beautiful.
"Earthquakes don't kill people. Their possessions do."- Japanese proverb
On the elk question, I can only say that when I kill a deer, or slaughter the birds I raise every summer, the only feeling is one of having accomplished what I set out to do; in the case of the deer to cull the herd that never leaves my orchard alone and put some red meat away; in the case of the birds to fill the freezer for the winter. Rooting for or against nature makes no sense, of course. But respecting it and our place in it is paramount.
Life is cruel, but it’s not without justice or meaning.
The ultimate question is, does God exist?
If the universe came into being purely as the result of accidental workings of matter and energy, then there is nothing in the universe that cares about what happens to us.
But if the universe and the human beings in it did not come into being by accident, then there is the possibility of meaning - meaning that is not nullified by the reality of illness, pain, death, injustice and so on. Higher meaning is capable of transcending and encompassing all of those things. And the fact that we do not all commit suicide but want to live shows that there is more good than evil in human existence.
Go downrange, find your Ypres then return if you survive.
Then perhaps lead.
There’s nothing more natural or human than wanting to Kill those in your way, but most of this find it inefficient.