Interpreting the story

What, then, is the story that we are told (and that we tell)? Humanity is the apex of creation. It may not always be explicitly taught as such, but this notion is implicitly held in most of our worldview. I chose an evolutionary framework for telling the story because it makes the bias more obvious–but it is clear in many of the world’s mythologies (again, used in the true sense of the word). For some religious interpretations it may in fact be necessary to view humanity as above the other creatures, but I am not convinced that this is the healthiest outlook. Like it or not, we are part of a community of life, and “waging war” against the planet/community by asserting our superior status only acts to exclude ourselves from this community. And because the rest of the planet functions as a community, exclusion inevitably leads to the end.

Is there a religious view, then, that places humanity within the community of life and not as the ruler of the planet? There is (in a way), although it might be hard to call it a “religion”. But I’ll just leave this as a teaser for now.