“The extinction of a species, each one a pilgrim of four billion years of evolution, is an irreversible loss. Death can be accepted and to some degree transformed. But the loss of lineages and all their future young is not something to accept. It must be rigorously and intelligently resisted … Death is one thing, an end to birth is something else” — (Gary Snyder, 1990).

I found this quote while looking through the catalog for next term. I find it sums up what I have not been able to articulate in class. To me, it reflects the true nature of our being here, why we should respect life, and a reason to hope for the future.
We are just evolved beings after all, though some would question that. As the point I had made in class, the ones who are most affected after we are gone are those who continue to still live. I am fairly sure of this. Some may believe in “God” or an afterlife. The issues we we’re dealing with in class, dealing with the sanctity of dead bodies, would still not apply if you are a fan of the whole Judeo-Christian principles.