An oyster or a pearl?

There have been so many things done under the pretenses of God and religion. Great wars, the Dark Ages, Holy Wars and times of revelation. Many other times good and bad.

The one thing that seems to get lost along the way is the planet Earth. This wonderful gift from God or accident is a reality that we can see and feel. Yet we have plundered and wasted it until it is begining to loose all the things that made it special.

I ask you, is the Earth an oyster for us to consume or a pearl for us to treasure and admire?

We all love to look up at the stars and wonder about other life and planets like ours, but I can tell you that they are a long way away and we are likely to never step foot on one of them or meet these other creatures. The distances are just to big and the demands too great for our meager resources. This is our one chance! Our only place to exist, perhaps in the whole galaxy or universe! We must take it upon our selves to be guardians of this planet and not its destroyers.

This is the basis for my beliefs in religion and God. Not some idea of us being special creatures made in the image of God, but stewards of this ball of creation.
Floyd

Earth is a springboard. It brings us to maturity so that we may one day leave the nest. As our springboard, it will bend and creak under our weight until we are firmly established 'outside'.

Intelligent life is inherently disruptive to a planet. Large amounts of energy are re-routed and diverted on the surface of the planet, waste products are generated which cause damage elsewhere. Increased technological activity comes at a cost of increased chaos and disorder elsewhere in the biosphere, particularly combined with overpopulation.

The best we can hope for is to minimize the impact to the extent that it is possible. To forsake the most destructive fuels, to utilize renewable resources where possible (though even this will have other, unexpected impacts) to maximize the chances of civilization continuing until we can stretch beyond this little blue world.

If we fail, entropic feedbacks will eventually overcome the biosphere's capacity to adapt, the ensuing damage can inhibit the advance of our species as well, resources problems trigger wars and possibly usher in a new dark age. Of course, the collapse in civilization and population would, ultimately, restore the lost balance.