My Earth Day Post

I did not have time to write a new Earth Day Post, so I just grabbed this from something I had written earlier, but seems appropriate. The most important thing about Earth Day anyway is that I love our world and all its creatures and living things, even humans.

Natural Selection
I believe in God. I am not alone. In fact by any account a vast majority of mankind does.  Don't worry this is not about God that is not what this is about. Of that vast majority of mankind that believes in God the largest portion of them despite numerous other differences, agree upon one significant issue, they believe God is the creator. Don't worry this is not about Creationism that is not what this is about.

In fact this is about something believed, by those who believe in God as the Creator and those who believe in some other form of Universal formation. Virtually all of mankind believes that there is a creation. I mean we all agree we are here, right?  See how easy it is to get along?

So starting from this universally accepted truth that, we are here, let's look at something near and dear to my heart, the planet Earth. I love our planet, I spend a great deal of time exploring it, taking pictures of it and in general enjoying it and appreciating it. I, like most people, feel a certain responsibility to take care of it.

Here is an interesting thought to ponder, do other creatures in creation care about their planet? Does the sparrow worry if his sewage pollutes the habitat of the squirrel? I do not know if an environmental impact study has been done on the issue but based on personal observation I would say the sparrow does not give a wit about the squirrel. But I care about both.

Of course it could be argued that since the sparrows sewage is natural, it is not an environmental hazard, perhaps based upon this logic we should outlaw toilets and everyone can go back to nature. By the way ultimately what is not natural? Isn't even man made stuff ultimately natural stuff? I mean even the stuff we create, is all created from that which was already here and will return ultimately to its original form, right?

One of the great arguments against creationism, no this is not about that, is the theory of evolution. I personally do not think of it as a theory, but as a fact, to me creationism and evolution fit together perfectly, that is just me though. One of the original foundations of this theory is the process of natural selection. In fact our friends over in all knowing Wiki World conclude their definition of natural selection with the following sentence.

Natural selection is one of the cornerstones of modern biology... natural selection remains the single primary explanation for adaptive evolution.

Now continuing in Wiki Wold for a bit and punching up adaptive evolution on my man made computer keyboard, zinging through man made cyber space I find this:

"Any change in the structure or functioning of an organism that makes it better suited to its environment".

So by dissecting the theory of evolution (a bit) we learn through a process of natural selection organisms will adapt to make themselves better suited to their environment. Pretty straight forward really, I have always thought of this as "survival of the fittest", but a quick trip to Wiki World informs me that biologist do not use this term, they prefer natural selection, though it really does mean the same thing, so I'll stick with the scientists' sensibilities on this one.

So where are we going here? Well it is simple really, whether you believe in God or not it is undeniable that for good or bad, depending on your outlook, man(kind) is the dominant species on the planet. Most believers in God would say this is by God's will and intentions, and based on the theory of evolution which people who do not believe in God love to use to pound believers over the head, we are here as a result of evolution, or naturally. We are also at the top of the evolutionary chain, naturally.

So if you believe in God, you can assume the wonderful picture I posted with this article is the world in His hands, if you don't, then it can represent the world in our hands. Or you can go way out there and imagine it is both. we are in God's hands and we are in His.

I don't hunt. I have not fired a gun more than six times in my entire life and certainly at nothing living. I have nothing against hunting done responsibly. My son loves to hunt, he has hunted his entire life. He loves to hunt whether he actually shoots anything at all, he loves nature. This year he has killed his limit on deer and the meat now fills his box freezer providing food for him, his wife and my two grandchildren, saving their young family a great deal of money. This makes me happy, that my son loves nature, that my grandchildren are well fed and that he is able to do so while being thrifty and frugal. This is also a product of natural selection.

My son shooting a deer is no more unnatural than if that deer was killed by a mountain lion; "Any change in the structure or functioning of an organism that makes it better suited to its environment". The very gun that my son uses is man-made and is a bi product of natural selection. Don't worry this is not about hunting, that is not what this is about.

Remember the sparrow and the squirrel? Let's take another example from the animal kingdom which man(kind) is at the top of, through natural selection. Does a beaver inquire of a trout the impact of his dam upon the trout's environment prior to construction? We think not and until we learn that beavers have a back channel communications network with trout we will assume the beaver like the sparrow has not a bit of concern for their fellow creatures. But we humans do, why? Natural selection-evolution, plain and simple.

Man(kind) has evolved over the centuries to realize that our world and it's creatures are important to us not because we are bad, but because we are good. Through the process of adaptation whether you call it natural or God inspired, man cares more about the world around him than any of the other species that inhabit the planet with us. Through the process of natural selection, we are the species that has evolved to the top and thank God for it, can you imagine the Grizzly in charge?

Oh this post was brought to you via my man made computer, via the Internet to your eyes by the Grace of God and natural selection

God Bless and Happy Earth Day



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