Natures Fate

When we think of the word nature we think of green grassy fields, birds flying over mountains and endless blue skies. We as a species grew and evolved from this nature but things have changed. Over time, our technological growth has caused us to take advantage of our “mother earth” and push her more and more out of our lives. We have pushed her so far out of our lives that we now separate ourselves from nature. We are fooled into thinking that we are superior and therefor in control of nature. Our impact on our surroundings has altered so vastly, we may not be able to ever return it to its original state. The Earth can be seen in many different views but two distinct ideals come to mind. Number one: Nature is ours to control and to have dominion over. We must use the Earth as we see fit to survive. It was made for us by God to use, to live on, and to prosper. Number two: We are a part of the Earth and must respect it. We must grow in harmony with the other species and learn to grow with the planet. While both of these ideals are vastly different, they both have significant points to them. As a human race, we must grow and thrive. We must reproduce and progress to bigger and better things. But when does progress become regression? Evolution has taught us that only the strongest survive, but what are we evolving to? Do we want to be a race that wipes out all other species because we are superior to them and feel we can dispose of anything we want. As Williams says, “And when you love something, it had better watch out, because you have a tendency to love it to death”. (p. 706) Yes, we can use the Earth to grow crops and to live from, but where do we draw the line. There are enthusiasts and religious leaders that refer to the Bible to try and justify the actions of big corporation farmers and hunters. They <…> that these actions are reasonable and that God put us on this Earth to “husband” and “use the lands as we see fit”. They believe that this is the true intention of the Earth, and that nothing can go wrong because that is what God set forth for us. People like Rick Santorum state, “…” But how can we ignore the factual evidence around us that states that something is wrong. If God made this Earth to have humans “use it as we see fit”, then why are we on a descending path towards death and destruction. Although I do not believe and we have sole control over the Earth, I also do not believe that nature exists for its own sake. We have grown from a great chain of evolution and progress and one cannot live without the other. Humans have certainly changed nature, but we are a part of it as well. We have evolved from lesser nomads to the civilized progressive species we are today because of our adaptation to nature. We hunt, gather, and thrive because of what we learn from nature. Over the years however, we have forgotten our connection with nature and have pushed it off to