Sharon - You say "To imply that God has created, or altered a pre-existing creation of, an entire world full of plants and animals surrounded by an entire universe of other worlds with the single intention of pleasing the human beings who see it is, to me, extremely arrogant."

I agree entirely. It would be extremely arrogant on the part of people to assume such a thing. I have never assumed that God created everything simply to please human beings! On the contrary, everything has been created in an entirely egalitarian and democratic way...and is pleasing in its own right by virtue of its own nature. Whether it pleases people is a moot point. There is no particular preference given to human beings.

Plants, animals, etc...are also provided liberally with what pleases them and is appropriate to their needs.

Let's face it, humankind in general tends to be just a little self-centred in their view of the world...if hamsters were to form a dominant civilization on this planet, they would probably make the same error.

- LH