All life on this earth has value. Everything has a role to play, and a part to fill. I prefer a more Native American view here. Respect all the creatures and plants. They can and do have things to teach us. Prey animals are fast and agile, attentive and alert. Predators are often quite, stealthy, and patient. A stupid tick is not worth much perhaps, but it is persistant, at the very least, we can learn that from it. The ant is a master of community cooperation. The dog is so so many things the list would go out the door. Most everyone here knows the list! Respect and value does not have to oppose killing. I respect and value a deer. Fast, agile, and a muture buck is a stunning sight to enjoy. But I still eat them. In fact, I repesct them in part BECAUSE I eat them. Hunting is a challenge, and that in itself gives a value to the dinner, and the lessons learned from both our own prey, and the predators we can learn from.
I am not trying to go all, metaphysical here, :roll: but you can have both. You can have an equal (but NOT identical) respect and value for a deer, a dog, or a friend. It does not mean that you think they are actually the same animal, but that they have equal value in their own way. Sometimes part of that way is, helping us hunt, sharing our family, and sometimes that is feeding us for another day. Part of my love and respect for my children/family might mean that I have to protect them from an animal that is trying to hurt them. It might even be an animal that I love. But repect is not love, and I can still respect the strengths, and learn from the weaknesses that caused me to step in and kill one thing, to save another. Be it protection or hunger or both, it is not contingent on ENOUGH respect or value. Merely the correctly placed value.
Hope that my diversion is sensible, but if you are going to jump on this topic, do it here. I'm no moderator, just sticking my nose in where it might get chopped off
