by
John Stevenson
Friends
of mine have a cabin in the Tahoe basin. On their property there was a tree encroaching
on the cabin’s foundation. They wanted
to remove it, so they contacted a tree service but were told a permit was
required. You don’t just go cutting down
a tree without a permit, even on your own property. The controlling agency was the U.S. Forest
Service.
My
friends contacted the Forest Service, made an appointment, and a forester came
out. He tagged the problem tree along
with some others, and my friends got the required permit. So the
tree problem was resolved to their satisfaction. However, their initial contact with the Forest
Service had not gone smoothly; a clerk had become adversarial, telling them
that “trees have rights too.”
At
that time, at least two or maybe three decades ago, my friends and I took this
response as preposterous and laughable.
But since then we have evolved. We
have learned to be tolerant, accepting, even defenders of the rights of other
life forms.
After
all, why should we defend only human life?
Why not all cute, cuddly,
furry, warm blooded animals? Well, come
to think of it, why not all animals? Who is to say, for example, that mammals or
even primates are more deserving of our empathy, love, and protection than alligators,
snakes, spiders, wasps, termites, or tapeworms?
As
if in response to the “God bless America” and “God bless our troops” bumper
stickers there are also the more inclusive bumper stickers “God bless everyone”
and “God bless us all---no exceptions.”
Aren’t the latter sentiments an affirmation of all humans? So why not, by
extension, all God’s creatures?
Which
brings me back to my Tahoe friends and their encroaching tree. At the time, we scoffed at the ludicrous
notion that “trees have rights too.” But
haven’t we, as a society, progressed, become more inclusive? Why do we, members of the animal kingdom,
consider ourselves to be superior, more deserving, than members of the plant
kingdom?
Why
do we believe that we hold dominion over the plant kingdom? We mow, prune, pot, and otherwise maim our
plants. We alone decide on the timing
and amount of their hydration and feeding.
With Roundup and other poisons, we even mass-murder those we deem
undesirable.
But
I should not say “our” plants. Are they
not entitled to be their own masters? There’s
a school of thought in San Francisco that pets are now animal companions---no
pets, no masters. Why not plant
companions? Why do we feel entitled to
enslave them?
Well,
I submit that we are not entitled. If
animals have rights, so should plants.
They should not be exterminated, harvested, maimed, or forced to exist
only at the pleasure of humans.
Praise
God that we are morally evolving every day.
Eventually, perhaps during your lifetime or mine, plants will be
afforded the dignity and protection they deserve.
You
may scoff at this. But within the next
few decades or hopefully sooner humanity will evolve to an understanding of its
one-ness with the plant kingdom. In the
meantime, cultivate your relationships with your plant companions, lest they
judge you harshly in the enlightened future.
Ooops!
Hold the phone. There could be a
problem. Once we reject the exploitation
and murder of plants and animals, we may be a doomed species. Unless we turn to cannibalism, where will we
find food?
