
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990                   TAG: 9003023337
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RESPECT FOR LIVING THINGS IS INNATE

OF THE MANY characteristics that separate Homo sapiens from the other members of the animal kingdom, two stand out: the capacity to respect and admire other forms of life, and the possession of a system of voluntary restraints we call ethics.

Matthew Hoffman, in his commentary of Feb. 7, dismisses these uniquely human traits as needless impediments to the pursuit of economic gain.

Wild animals have long been revered (if not worshiped) by human beings. Our first works of art, rendered by torchlight in the dim corners of European caves, are sensitive and accurate images of the great mammals of that age. These paintings may be, as some believe, incantations contrived to insure success in the hunt; however, it seems more likely that they are gestures of awe and admiration.

The emotions that wild creatures stir in many of us today are little different from those felt by our more primitive ancestors. A great work of nature is at least as inspiring as a great work of art wrought by human hands. The value of neither can be measured in the cold arithmetic of economics. Both are worth the effort required to preserve them.

Hoffman views this respect for living things as frivolous and sentimental. It seems that when our economic system is confronted with a choice between what is profitable and what is ethical; profit usually wins out. I hope that some day we may come to view contempt for the environment such as that displayed by Hoffman as the supreme expression of human arrogance.

WILLIAM J. HUNLEY\ ROANOKE

by CNB