The Value of Life

Today I heard something in the Roberts confirmation hearings that disturbed me. OK, now I know this isn't directly about science, but it does touch on the "science vs. religion" debate that has been in the forefront of the American mind lately.

The Senate was questioning other individuals regarding the confirmation of Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States. I didn't catch the name of the woman being questioned, but she was a pastor. (If anyone knows her name, or where I can find a transcript of this particular discussion, please leave a comment and I'll update the info here.) Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) was discussing Wednesday's ruling in California that the Pledge of Alleigance was unconstitutional due to its current wording including the phrase "one nation under God."

The pastor said that she felt that the phrase "under God" was an affirmation of the speaker's religion, and therefore had no place in anything government-supported. Moreover, she said, the phrase was not original, as it was added well after the founding fathers, the framers of the Constitution, I think in the 1950's.

Sen. Sessions made a rebuttal statement that intrigued and disturbed me. The former was that the framers of the Constitution DID clearly believe in a Creator. He didn't make the specific quotation, but "...all men are created equal..." (Declaration of Independence) couldn't help but pop into my mind. Very intriguing. Quite likely, a "freedom from religion" never occurred to them, though that's not saying it would be inappropriate today.

He went on though. (Paraphrasing) "The framers of the Constitution believed in a Creator, and valued human life greatly because they believed we were specifically created. Today, Marxists, humanists, don't value human life as much. They can't."

I take offense at that assumption. In fact, I got pretty angry at him saying so. I value human life IMMENSELY and strongly oppose waging war. As I understand it, the war in Iraq was strongly supported by the Evangelical Christian Right. They believe in a God, a creator, and I don't. *GRRrrr...*

I belive life started by chance, and humans through evolution. Life is extremely precious to me because there was no gaurantee that it would happen at all. In fact, all the odds were stacked against it. The chance of us being here are billions of trillions to one against. Not only is life unlikely, but our very universe is moreso. The slightest tweaking of the laws of physics, and planets couldn't exist, stars couldn't exist, whole galaxies couldn't exist, or else the universe would've died soon after its birth.

Nothing and no one is looking out for us. Nothing cares if we all kill each other. The only thing looking down upon us is cold empty space. We are not special to anyone but ourselves. It is because of this that I feel it is all the more important for us to value every living human being.