Reverence for Life

Reverence for Life (RL), in a broad sense, may be taken as respect or veneration for the life of plants, animals and human beings.

It is the belief of some that a human being is only an animal and others connote sacredness or morality to a human being, depending on one’s religious belief. This concept depends on the approach to RL. Does RL require moral teaching?

Observing the world around us and the behaviour of living creatures is sufficient to revere life.

The following are some thoughts of the great humanitarian philosopher and writer Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965):

- Ethics alone will prompt us to believe that RL involves maintaining life, and that to destroy it, without purpose, is evil.

- The only thing we are certain of is that we live and that we want to go on living until natural death.

- In nature we become aware that RL is something we share with all living creatures - birds in the air, elephants in the forest - extending to even a blade of grass.

Does it not follow that we are kith to all living things and therefore we owe them the same care and respect we wish for ourselves.

In the view of many philosophical divergences attributed to Schweitzer’s writings, the following aspects of his thoughts are highlighted:

- In his books he had adverted to the Bible’s Old Testament admonishment, as old as the hills, ‘Thou shalt not kill’, and the New Testament story of the Good Samaritan, who came to the aid of a suffering person of an unfriendly camp, without passing him on his way.

- Composed a prayer in his childhood that ran, “O Heavenly Father, protect and bless all things that have breath, guard them from all evil, and let them sleep in peace.” 

- Admonished a concept of ethics calling it a responsibility without limit toward all that live, connoting that love includes fellowship in suffering and joy. - Adverted to the fact that in today’s society, the concept of free will inherent in human beings to choose between right or wrong is submerged and replaced with the will to do what we want.

- In 1920 he adverted to the fact that a lack of RL was the cause of the decline of western civilisation, noting that the West failed to realise that industrial progress should have been mixed with ethical reverence for life.

We see that by seeing nature alone, we are prone to revere life. Take the case of a twelve-week fetus infant in the womb receding when forceps get near it to be crushed for abortion, as if to say, “Stop, stop. I want to go on living (video clip - Scream of the Babe).”

Much can be inferred from the writings of Saint Francis of Assisi who says:

- Praise to God for every one of his works.

- Every creature cried out, “He who made us is infinitely good.”

- Called animals brother and sister and exhorted them to praise God together with people on the street.

 The life of a human being is sacred for Christians who believe that a human being was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis chapter of the Bible, to be read in conjunction with the strides taken by the Vatican to get closer to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, which may be read on the internet).

Why do humans destroy life and more importantly, why do they encourage other humans to destroy life, when from within a voice is heard not to do the wrong thing by killing? Should we not avoid killing - be it in peace or war?

In contrast to the above, it is interestingly worth considering as to:

- Why some say it is a sin to kill but consume what is killed, with no qualms of conscience as it was not they who killed.

- Some consume what is killed by concluding animals are not sacred unlike human beings and therefore can be killed for consumption, although the killing is brutal and far from the concept of RL. - Some point out that nature allows the mightier animal to kill the weaker and consume it, and therefore they justify palatable meats on the table.

- Others point out that consuming meats is nutritionally beneficial and continue to eat meats.

If there is a will, there is a way to refrain from eating meat.

The writer can only leave the readers with these thoughts to ponder on.