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By Angela, Today 06:42 PM
Don't humans also bring their issues forcefully, as is their nature, too? So are we bringing Human Medicine to the cougars?
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I think that's an inherently spiritual question, Angela!
The agonistic conflict of these two great forces, the human and the feline, have historically brought no "human medicine" to the big cats, only death, though the native peoples brought more respect to the conflict than the Western people have. They didn't seek to eradicate the cougars, that I'm aware of.
So, your spiritual question: "Are we bringing Human Medicine to the cougars?" I think we're trying, in the last few decades, but perhaps in not as balanced way as the situation calls for (see Einstein quote above). Many, many people value the cougar for the magnificent animal that it is, and for it's ecological importance as an apex predator.
And there is a resurgence of Native American spirituality which sees Cougar as our teacher, so an exchange has begun.
Quote:
By Angela
You've said several times that this is an inherently spiritual issue, but I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean. I see the practical side: keep your kids from getting eaten while also keeping the cats as safe as possible. This seems like a pretty basic human majority moral agreement.
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If a person sees evolution from a strictly scientific materialistic perspective, then of course that reductionism precludes a spiritual vision of the process, by definition. Reductionism and materialism as related to spirituality would be a good topic for another thread, perhaps.
And if a person doesn't see this issue in a broader evolutionary perspective, and see spirituality as an aspect of evolution, then only the practical aspects would stand out.
I think keeping our kids safe is a practical
and a spiritual issue, putting great value on human life is instinctive and spiritual, I think. It's where the spiritual and physical interface, I believe.
What am I learning from the cougars? That I have a very deep and primitive fear of them, and an equally deep instinctual sense of danger that my conscious mind cannot fathom the workings of; that my instincts are very deep and ancient, and more than personal. Perhaps I knew that intellectually before, but to experience it is quite another matter.
I am trying to experiment with not making them "other," but it is very difficult, and seemingly impossible. Yes, I can intellectually see the value of preserving them in the world, but to identify with them at a deep level is very challenging to me.
I realize that, at present, I, of course, don't have a vision for the solution to this problem, but as Charles Kettering said, "A problem well stated is a problem half solved," so I am trying to frame the problem broadly enough that a global solution could emerge, for a global solution, rather than a local solution is the only thing which will suffice.
Killing them all will not work. We already know their value in the ecological system. Letting them overrun suburbia manifestly will not work; a few more years will seal that arguement, I'm sure.
Meanwhile, we need to do the practical work of keeping our kids safe, so as not to be so spiritually/idealistically minded as to be no earthly good.