It is written in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, in verses 26, 27, 28 and 29: "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let him be the master of the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, all the wild beasts, and all the creatures that come and go on earth; God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him, he created them male and female. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the animals that come and go on the earth. God also says: I give you every plant that bears its seed over the whole surface of the earth, and every tree whose fruit bears its seed: such will be your food”.
So God spoke. At least, these are the words that some men attribute to God. He would have given them all power over all the creatures created by him, namely, animals, birds, fish, trees and all plants, in short, everything that exists on earth. This power given by God is first to dominate them, to use them, to consume them and even to destroy them. God would have said when speaking of the earth: “submit it”. Man has therefore submitted the earth and all that it bears and contains. And it is these words of God, if God has spoken them, that will mark the end of life on earth.
The Bible, where its texts are recorded, is the sacred book of Christians, Jews and it inspired the Koran, the sacred book of Muslims. The Christian and Muslim religions have conquered a good part of the earth. As a result, billions of human beings believe that God has given them all power over all creatures on earth. The Europeans, who were the first to adopt the Christian religion before imposing it on all the other peoples they conquered, imposed their way of living with the rest of nature on the other peoples of the earth.
There are religions that teach something other than dominion over all other creatures. They rather teach life in harmony with them, and their protection. Among some peoples, before killing an animal or picking leaves for food, to heal themselves or for anything, the man first asks them for forgiveness for what he is going to do to them. And because of this, he will never destroy animal or plant life just for his pleasure. He will only do this out of necessity. But these peoples were most often massacred, and those of them who were able to survive are relegated to the rank of relics, tourist curiosities.
The capitalist system that has imposed itself on all of humanity today requires all men to seek to enrich themselves at all costs, by all means, even by destroying everything they can. Including human beings. In many places in the world, men, women and children are subjected to slavery, human organs are trafficked to make money. We have realized that humanity is heading for its loss, but it is too late. The mad machine is launched and we can no longer stop it. Soon the Apocalypse? Yes. You have to believe. The states of the world have been debating for several days in Sharm el-Sheikh the best way to avoid global warming which will lead to its destruction and the end of all human life in the short term. But which state will agree to no longer exploit oil? Will Côte d'Ivoire give up exploiting the oil deposits that the Italian company ENI has just discovered? Certainly not. We Ivorians expect a lot. Will Total give up exploiting the oil it has discovered in Uganda and building its pipeline? No. Will Saudi Arabia and all the other oil producing countries give up producing oil? No. Will we stop chopping wood, turning on air conditioners, using our refrigerators, traveling by plane, by car using gasoline? No, no and no. So ? If God really told man that he was the king of the universe, then he condemned him to disappear. Because, by giving him power over all other creatures, he has transformed man into a stupid monster whose stupidity leads him to self-destruct by destroying everything that allows him to live.
By Venance Konan
*This article has been translated from French into English by Marcus Boni Teiga
