Basically there are three domains of knowledge: Religion, science and the occult. Although most people's beliefs borrow something from all three, they would put themselves in one category or the other. However, all three are but different descriptions of the same reality. It is easy for some to say, " I believe in God, animals have evolved and that the mind has the power to see into and influence the future." without feeling any inconsistency at all.
Anyway, when i post an anti evolution rant, i can count some support from the spiritual types and when i jump on religion i can count on support from the deprogrammed christians and atheists as well, but when i jump on something that all three agree on, i'm going out on a limb. But this needs to be said.
The human ego is a very complex issue that can always stir up trouble. All three disciplines have fed the human ego with the same lie: that human beings are special, chosen ones, striving to be gods or godlike, and are better than the environment and superior to all other living things. Religion gives us dominion over the earth, science claims our intellect to be the most advanced in the Solar System and maybe the Universe and the occult appeals directly to our lust and greed.
As someone said recently, you gotta have a sense of self to exist as an individual. Any creature that navigates it's environment, no matter how small, has got to have a sense of self. That's not an ego problem until that sense of self puts itself ahead of the environment.
Hey, that's natural enough, it would seem to be expected that humans would value their species above the rest, but in the overall scheme of things, human beings are no more valuable than any other species, except to ourselves. From an environmental standpoint, we are a cancerous growth. Simple as that... human beings are a species that just can't fit in with the system that sustains it. CANCEROUS GROWTH!!! But hell, cancerous growths are natural occurrences, are they not? They must have a purpose. We can't be all bad.
Human beings are not gods! We are animals, and not superior to anything... we are equal parts of the Whole. It is our mistaken belief in our right, nay our DUTY to consume the natural world around us, not for food, but for entertainment, for whim or bragging rights.
We can blame that somewhat on the moguls, they have done a good job of selling us the idea, but it came first from the gods. We are only doing what we were told.