> People often say that life is sacred. They almost never mean what
> they say. They do not mean, as their words seem to imply, that life
> itself is sacred. If they did, killing a pig or pulling up a
> cabbage would be as abhorrent to them as the murder of a human
> being. When people say that life is sacred, it is human life they
> have in mind. But why should human life have special value?
i think that, ultimately, he is addressing the distinction between sacred/profane since it derives from the notion that we are made in the image of the other worldly, whatever that is. when people say that life is sacred, that's the tradition they are drawing on: while life is profane, our goal is to aspire to the other worldly.
The Rev,
kelley