Belief That Humans Are Unnatural.

The belief that humans are unnatural is seen all of the time. Hell, even I have been guilty of expressing this view -- even in previous blog posts. When analyzed logically, to think that humans are somehow beyond the natural universe may be one of the ultimate expressions of arrogance, oftentimes done without thought. We (atheist included) often assume that when a human does a behavior -- such as dumping pollution into a lake -- that it is somehow unnatural. This is wrong, pollution is natural, but, at the same time, very harmful. I am obviously not supporting pollution -- but humans polluting is harmful for the environment in the same way that a volcano can be harmful, or how any other natural disaster can cause damage -- and yes human activity, in some cases, should be classified as a natural disaster, but never as unnatural. And as with all natural disasters, all precautions to avoid or minimize the impact should be taken. The view that things such as pollution are unnatural appear to be based in religious belief -- if we are made in the image of a god -- a god which is outside of this natural universe -- this would make us unnatural as well. It probably isn't all too productive to ramble on about the use of the English language, when most that use such rhetoric are unaware of the implications -- but I figured I would throw it out there -- just a little food for thought. Human activity is as unnatural as earthquakes, but we have much catching up to do if the effects on this world are to be compared.