We are Homo Sapiens. We all live on a tiny, tiny blue and white dust speck in a vast, grand sea of speckled darkness. We carry on our daily lives concerned only with our immediate surroundings. Many of us assume without reflection that we have dominion over the creatures that accompany us on the spiral journey of our rock. Not long ago we considered ourselves and our dust speck the center of all existence. We have since realized that to the greater universe, Homo Sapiens is no more nor less significant than fish, deer or grass. So too we've found that our entire solar system is likely just one among many thousands of billions.

Still, many of us use a system of ethics based on the idea that Man is the most important creature in the universe and that he's the subject of attention of a God who made Man in his own image. Not so for those who follow the Questioning Way. Just as all in life is a guess, so is Deity. The Theology of the Questioning Way is Agnosticism. In the absence of a God whose primary concern is Mans daily matters, from where should we derive our rules of conduct? The answer lies in the idea we are insignificant. The universe doesn't care what we do. If Man annihilates himself, some other species will evolve to fill our niche. The universe could care less if Humans or Ants for that matter, don't treat each other with honor. Humans are the only creatures in existence who care what happens to Humanity. No one watches over us. We are insignificant and because of our insignificance we are free. We can make any life we want for ourselves but we also have to take responsibility for our fate. If we perish, so be it. We'll have no Devils to blame, only ourselves. If we endure, if we make the world a just place to live, it will be of our own doing. It's up to each of us as individuals and to all Humanity as a species to define ethical conduct for ourselves because no one else cares. We each must look inside ourselves and discover the beauty of our own nature because no one else is going to point it out to us. Every one of us must examine himself and hold himself responsible for his own conduct. Each of us has to answer to himself in a consistent manner about his daily actions. Each of us must decide for himself what is right and just. Doing so should be considered both a personal right and a communal duty.

There are many who don't believe such self sustained morality works. They believe Humanity cannot control itself. Man is viewed as a sinful, cruel and careless creature. To these people it's unthinkable that we don't have a God serving as supreme law-giver and moral enforcer. It's believed that without the morality of the Gods, Man equals anarchy.
I believe the ethics we attribute to God are in fact a reflection of ourselves. If we observe Crows collecting shiny trinkets because they find them pretty, should we not also recognize Man grows plants not only for food but also for sheer loveliness? Yes, we are creatures who destroy but we are also creatures who concern ourselves with the preservation of other animals simply because we find the mere fact of their existence exquisite. Whatever we find cruel about ourselves, we find counterpart behavior elsewhere in nature and whatever we find beautiful in other creatures, if we look, we can find similar conduct in Man. If any life is beautiful then all life is beautiful simply by virtue of the life-spark vibrant within.