Just had a closer look at your OP. "Consciousnees". Are you implying that it's only our knees that have consciousness? I find that highly offensive. My feet and ankles are just as capable of awareness, thank you very much. More so than my knees, in fact. ;)
I asked for your definition of consciousness and it's "Consciousness is the Image of God. The ability to think and reason, to have memory and emotions, to create and to think beyond the stars, all this is Gods image. Its a direct footprint of God."
That definition is a mash of all sorts of...
Books are useful, but ultimately it comes from your own intuition. It's thought that the word 'Wiccan' comes from Old English, meaning someone who works with trees and plants (think of the word 'wicker' for example, meaning woven branches), so a solitary Wiccan will work with the natural world...
If evolution were to start again, would we get humans everytime? Probably not. If evolution was replayed to the current time, we would have a suite of entirely different organisms, all based on an ecology different from what we see and have seen.
But your question doesn't address people's lack...
Does the notion of animals possessing morality threaten or offend any of those here who have said that animals don't have this trait? Does it reduce the "special-ness" of humans to accept that other species have moral behaviour? If so, why? If you believe that your god gave us morals, then fine...
To those who are maintaining that morality is unique to humans: do you have any evidence for your position?
A number of us have posted links for evidence suggesting otherwise.
Yes, this is what I meant too. If humans perceive personalities in living and non-living things, then perhaps intent becomes a feature of their interpretation.
Sunstone.
Thanks for that. It makes sense for humans to superimpose a personality on phenomena. Many pagan religions do this - seeing the rocks or trees or rivers as having a 'spirit' means that you can better identify with them or have a relationship with them.
Is this not similar, though, to...