Why is life considered sacred?

[universe]

Hello,

I'm sorry if this topic has already been discussed, it seems not, or not directly with the search function.I would like your opinions on this matter. The first explanation that comes to mind comes from monotheistic religions that convey this idea: life is above everything, it is a gift from God. God, overflowing with love by nature, wanted to give us the gift of life. He didn't need us, but he wanted us to benefit from it. But apart from the religious question, do you have another explanation? Maybe it's a feeling, a physical sensation in some people?

I wonder because in our world, everything shows that life is not sacred. Animal lives are considered commodities. And all human lives are not equal when we look at the world according to regions. All these people who live in poverty, who have no choice but to be exploited for the rich countries, no other prospects for the future. From the place of birth life takes one direction or another.

I am very puzzled by this idea. Is this a theory but not in practice? What is a human life worth? With money you can buy everything: people, children, organs in poor countries.
Does sacredness derive from its rarity in the universe? When we look at the functioning of the universe, we fear put this statement into perspective.

If you want to enlighten me, give your point of view...

 

[hunterfla]

It's simple, really. We are animals. Whether you believe in evolution or not - the fact is that we are no different than any other species in that our only purpose is to procreate. (Not my purpose mind you, since I couldn't care less about the future of humanity) but generally speaking that's why we are here.

Religion is man made fiction to try to keep us in line and give us some sort of "purpose" since humans and our (supposedly) advanced intellect refuses to let us believe that we could possibly just be here to procreate like every other mammal on earth.

Amen.

 

[Finding Sirius]

I don't know either to be honest. If you ask certain spiritual/ religious groups you'll get answers ranging from: "you came here because your soul had lessons it wanted to learn" or "God has a purpose for your life". Nevermind that you never know what you are "here to learn" or what your "purpose" is.

Also, as you said. The "sacredness" of life trope doesn't add up when applied to reality. If a person lives 80 years, how many living organisms had to die so that their life could be sustained? How many plants and animals had give up their lives so that one person could live to old age? The human body is a parasite, hell, everything in this material world is parasitic.

Nature itself displays this, despite people's romatisized views of it. Animals must consume one another to survive. Even plants take life to prolong their own. To say life is sacred is to ignore the reality we live in.

 

[SamTam33]

We only say it's sacred because it's something WE partake in. It's very arrogant.

No one acts like plants are sacred and they provide the oxygen for our parasitic asses to consume. Then we turn around and cut them down, burn them, poison their oceans and eat them.

Human life is sacred because we said so. No proof necessary.

It's like parents who keep telling their extremely average kids how smart and attractive they are (the ones who get mad because their kid didn't make the team or get voted class president).

They NEED their kids to be seen as smart and beautiful so it'll reflect positively on them.

Saying our lives are sacred is a form of validation; a need. A way to see ourselves in a positive light. Doesn't matter that it borders on delusion.

It makes us feel special and I'll be damned if feeling special isn't one of the primary desires of practically every human on this planet.

It's sad but at the same time it makes a twisted kind of sense when you factor in the human ego.

 

[FuneralCry]

I don't have a good answer to the question as I view life as being anything but sacred, to me life is such a terrible concept, filled with endless and meaningless suffering all for the sake of it.
But maybe people consider life to be 'sacred', as it's all that humans know, it can be a part of the instinct to survive, humans fear unimportance and insignificance so they place so much value on life. As humans we cannot comprehend not existing and many fear death as it represents the unknown to them. It seems as though many are against suicide as it shatters their beliefs that life is always worth living and is valuable. They are horrified at the thought of someone voluntarily choosing death as it represents what they fear.

 

[freevoid]

This thread makes me feel sane, thank you for your contributions. I have nothing to add that hasn't already been said, agree with it all.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I can't say I share the belief but I have had relatives who greatly valued life and saw it as 'precious'- not exactly sacred because they weren't religious but it was a similar treasured feeling towards it. I think because- although life hadn't always been easy for them, they had found happiness. They had been married for decades and greatly valued their friends and family. They really worked at having a good social life and enjoying the good things in life. I think this feeling is all the more heightened for those who DO enjoy life because life IS so finite and so precarious. I suppose- by viewing it as special or sacred, 'we' (not including me!) are more likely to make the most of the time we do have and (in theory) take better care of our fragile bodies that carry us around.

I guess the main 'reason' behind life being viewed as 'sacred' is religious based though. Some concept I suppose of life being a divine spark. I think some people believe we all carry a part of God around in us.

I do completely agree with all the posts saying how we now seem to have a disregard for life- especially those in developing countries and all the animals we butcher. I'm not sure this was always the case though. Even though early tribes still preyed on animals, I get the sense they had a greater respect for nature. They quite often worshipped the animals they hunted. We've just become so industrialised that we rarely even stop to think about all the blood and sweat that goes into sustaining our 'comfortable' lives.

 

[Euthanza]

Nothing is sacred in the public eye, there always seems the opposite view for everything. Sacred things are personally made up.

 

[universe]

Thank you for all your answers !

If a person lives 80 years, how many living organisms had to die so that their life could be sustained?

I couldn't have said it better, it makes you think about the value of human life. The idea of living to this age is considered normal. The reverse is a real tragedy. It's strange that this world of life is consensual, and that we do everything to live longer and indefinitely.

Saying our lives are sacred is a form of validation; a need. A way to see ourselves in a positive light. Doesn't matter that it borders on delusion.

En effet, serait-ce une illusion que nous soyons l'espèce dominante ? Je pense que cela joue un grand rôle... Nous avons décidé de penser que la vie est sacrée parce que cela renforce l'idée que nous sommes utiles, importants. Mais c'est très anthropocentrique, et même au niveau de l'être humain, tout porte à croire que ce ne sont que des concepts pour nous "convaincre" de rester en vie.

It seems as though many are against suicide as it shatters their beliefs that life is always worth living and is valuable.

I couldn't say it better.

because life IS so finite and so precarious

It's true that the sanctity is undoubtedly linked to its rarity, because it can go out at any time, that it is in fact insignificant? As we have no means of fighting against it, we set it up as sacred and that makes us feel secure. We do not find ourselves completely helpless in the face of the universe which could, for example, destroy everything in a fraction of a second. But of course, it's just an illusion, we can't do anything against asteroids, exploding stars...

 

[eldiablo666]

Because we are brainwashed to believe it is