Are you to value life for its own sake?

Answer 1

This is a very subjective question, and one many philosophers have attempted to answer.

My personal opinion is that life is to be valued and respected, but not to the point of getting dogmatic about it. There are times when a person is suffering so deeply that they may wish to die, and that should be that person's perogative. We will euthanize our pets if they're suffering a slow death from a terminal illness and we call it "kindness"; yet there is a lot of resistence to a human being of sound mind asking for that same kindness when enduring a slow and painful death.

That being said, I think a respect for life can keep us emotionally healthy. As I unfortunately know from past experience, deciding that life is horrible and worthless only contributes to a downward spiral of depression. Whether one believes in creation or evolution (or both at once), life can be seen as a wonderous and intriguing thing.