James Joseph: Outside Source (2)

Genesis 1:6-28 (paraphrased) reads: "And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water...Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear..Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds..Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night..let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky...Let the lands produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them...God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

This passage from the Bible, not just what I quoted, talks about the creation of the earth, involving the placement of nature as well as humans. Now looking at that right there, does our individual views of nature and human interactions with it change? This passage gives us a good glimpse at how we view humans placement in nature, and why we use our rights over nature the way we do. Imagine if we lived in a different culture, where these beliefs would seem strange. For different religions have different creation stories, which if investigated, we can determine the reason of some of their differing opinions. I wrote this just as my reflection on this passage from the Bible.