And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)
I guess I intrepreted that as being responsible for. If you don’t care for what you have dominion over, you will soon find yourself ruling nothing. Then again, I’ve never had an ounce of power so what do I know about that.
That’s the adult interpretation - stewardship and care. But lots of fundamentalists seem to read it as “do whatever you like with the Earth and its other inhabitants, because you’re in charge and you’re better than them.”
They prefer this:
I guess I intrepreted that as being responsible for. If you don’t care for what you have dominion over, you will soon find yourself ruling nothing. Then again, I’ve never had an ounce of power so what do I know about that.
That’s the adult interpretation - stewardship and care. But lots of fundamentalists seem to read it as “do whatever you like with the Earth and its other inhabitants, because you’re in charge and you’re better than them.”