Creationism
A week’s time brought me to Aqaba in the south of Jordan. The coastline is blessed with sun and all the wonders that life-giving ball of burning gases creates. At times when I contemplate the existence of a God, I can’t help but think the evolution of religion came solely from the unknowing worship of the sun. It is truly the sun that creates life. Surely I have pondered the “let there be light” rumor, but the thought of someone up there flicking a switch simplifies the complexity of the heavens and the beauty of nature. My God, if I have to give it a name, place it in a category and corral it into the hog’s pen of human oversimplification, then surely I must call it Nature.
Plerogyra sinuosa grows at depths of 3-65 meters (Americans multiply by three for feet). Seeing something like this reminds me of when I went to a rainforest for the first time. Even someone who isn’t an environmentalist must think to themselves in times like this, “We need to do something to protect this!” I’m sure we all should do something to protect these slowly dying ecosystems, but what is it? Do we boycott these tourist towns who develop around the reef? I’m sure in the end the poor natives would damage the sea with careless fishing practices, like farmers do rainforests, so why not give them work in eco-tourism. But then what does tourism do for an economy and culture so vastly different from the West?
“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us “universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison (“corral” ?)for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
March 12th, 2006 at 7:05 am– Albert Einstein
Hi Jim
March 12th, 2006 at 10:25 pmGlad to see that you are taking the time to enjoy some of the beauty in the area.
Yes these places do need to be protected, as we have lost nearly all the old growth forests, and the rain forests are disappearing at an alarming rate.
The waters around the world are being ruined by the farm raised seafood industries. Where most all the fish shrimp etc.found in the markets today come from.
Leading me to realize that Eco-tourism can be a good thing leaving the local population a reason to protect their environment instead of allowing it to be destroyed by large GREEDY corporations.