Do humans have a greater right to live than other animals? If so, would beings of much greater intelligence and perception hold that same right over humans?

Good questions! I've been a vegetarian for 38 years and believe that humans should not kill animals for food, clothing or sport. One way to think about this is to ask what it is that makes life valuable. Some think that life itself is valuable, but that isn't plausible given that plants are alive and it doesn't seem to be morally wrong to weed your garden. Another possibility is that what makes life valuable is sentience. If that's true, then sentient animals (and not plants) would have a moral claim on us, insofar as we have a duty to protect what is valuable. (Though one needs to ask here: what is our duty to protect what is valuable? How far does that duty extend? Are there different sorts of value, some of which have a greater claim on us than others?) Even if sentience is valuable, however, some argue that humans have capacities that are more valuable still, such as the ability to reason, to value things, to create systems of norms, even morality itself. A challenge arises here,...

I believe that there are only 3 possible options. 1) That God or some all powerful being created the universe. This is a very bizarre state because it means we are all subordinates to an independent being that has always existed. Strange. 2) The universe was created out of nothing. Truly weird. 3) That the universe has always existed. This is simply incomprehensible. Because these are the only 3 options I see and because each is mind-bogglingly discouraging or incomprehensible - or downright goofy - I think this whole existence thing is either some sort of hallucination or a complete joke. (Another possibility is that I am in some sort of hell.) Therefore, I take nothing seriously and treat this whole thing sort of the way you deal with the pain of stubbing your toe. Kind of grit your teeth and wait for the pain to end. Any thoughts?

Even if you are right that each of the options you describe is difficult to accept, I'm wondering how you can possibly treat "this whole existence thing" as a hallucination or a complete joke? Are you saying that you don't take the question seriously (but do take your and others' existence seriously), or are you saying that you don't take existence seriously? If your point is that you don't think it is worth continuing to ask the question, I can sympathize; but I would suggest that you may want to think a bit more about (a) whether there are presuppositions that are responsible for the seeming incoherence of each option, and if so what they are, and (b) whether there are questionable presuppositions of the question. I note, in fact, that you don't actually forumate a question, even though you are considering possible answers. What, exactly, is the question you are seeking an answer to? Is it "Why is there something rather than nothing?" Or "What is the cause of everything, i.e., the whole...