99. All life, not just human life is valuable

I came across a brief quote in the Tao Te Ching that says:
“Meaning in life is arbitrary
Why ruin the universe with rigidity?”

Meaning in life is so often tied to a belief system when as a matter of fact, it is in
many cases religious beliefs that stand as the centerpiece for human suffering.
Human beings assign meaning in their life. This is often predicated on religious
convictions, political persuasions, and selfish interests.
Let’s look at this a bit more closely by dint of a recent personal experience:

Early one morning, I was driving past a women’s health clinic here in Las Vegas.
Outside, there were about two dozen placard carrying “right to life” protestors
chanting slogans to bring attention to their “right to life” message. The street was a
busy four lane commuter route so I pulled into a business complex across from
where they were to briefly observe their protest. Almost on cue a car pulled into
the clinic’s parking lot. The driver used his left foot to open his door while both
hands clutched a number of large McDonald’s “food to go” bags. Apparently he
was assigned the morning “breakfast run.”

I noticed that sausage and beef patties were part of the distribution fare as they
began to eat along with coffee, soft drinks, and of course the obligatory “Egg
McMuffins.” How ironic I thought. News reports frequently tell us that deforestation
is a contributing factor to climate warming. It is happening at an astounding rate
globally allowing for temperatures to rise. The Amazon River basin for instance,
frequently called the “lungs of our planet,” is being clear cut for cattle raising
creating methane. The cattle are then slaughtered possibly having ended up as a
”burger” distributed in front of this woman’s health clinic.

Zen teaches that all of life is valuable. Without bio-diversity we are doomed.
Almost on a daily basis an additional life form is placed on the world’s endangered
species list. Chemical fertilizers are decimating the bee population globally in the
name of profit, translate that to greed and avarice. A recently televised news
report stated that a mere 27% of microbial life is left in arable soil worldwide.
These wonderful yet seemingly insignificant microscopic life forms are how soil
regenerates itself. These valuable and necessary life forms are also being
eliminated through chemical fertilizers. At the current rate, scientists are now
predicting that there are a mere 30 years for food production left on earth to
sustain human life as we know it. Sadly, biochemistry still pushes the false
narrative of “improving” mother nature.

Along with this, we are over fishing the oceans and burning fossil fuels at an
alarming rate. Despite the Paris Accord environmental promises, 2022 is on track
to be the highest in terms of CO2 emissions since they started keeping track.
Current population statistics say there are now close to eight billion human beings
with everyone wanting something to “better their life.” In Asia for instance there is
a street slogan of wanting the “Four C’s.” Those four are cash, credit card,
condominium and car.

The Old Testament biblical phrase when addressing life forms other than human
states “having dominion over.” I suggest this needs to be changed to “having
stewardship over.” Unless humankind wakes up soon, it may be too late.
And to those protestors alluded to above, don’t feel self righteous about your
position. “All life, not just human life is valuable.”