"Ist die Natur heilig?"

Translation: Is nature holy?

[Angel831279]

Is nature holy? Just what does this sentence mean?

[SimoneBa]

I think "Is nature sacred?" sounds much better in English. The German version is OK.

[G.P.Niers]

I agree. ‘Heilig’ can be used outside of a religious context to mean e.g. something which is so serious or important that it inspires awe or a heart-felt wish to protect it.

Der Name Beethoven ist heilig in der Kunst.

Kein Bike ist heilig – Kaichiro Kurosu macht aus Serienmotorrädern unverwechselbare Einzelstücke.

Qualität ist uns heilig.

Jedes Menschenleben soll heilig sein.

[ClassiDuo]

Food for thought:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/84837/whats-the-difference-between-hallow-sacred-holy-and-saint
That "holy" and "sacred" are synonyms from difference sources (Germanic and Romance, respectively) is clear: what is less clear is whether they are pretty much interchangeable, or whether there is a subtle difference in meaning.

[DeutschmitDuo]

Could be a reference to Pantheism or Animism. (Or not! I'm not even sure what those are.)

[Metleon]

I was thinking of druids when I read this.

[J.C.Fink]

Or even a reference to earth-based spiritualities, like Druidism or Wicca.

Animism is the belief that everything is alive; all beings in the cosmos – rocks, animals, trees, stars, water, humans, insects, fire – have spiritual essence. The large spirits [of a mountain, a large river, the whole planet…] may be termed gods, but are actually only large and powerful spirits.

Pantheism is the belief that there is one supreme being/force who/which permeates all substance and all life; everything contains a spark of divinity, and everything is one; it locates God/ess strictly in the creation, in the immanent: "The tree is God. God is the tree; it experiences the cosmos as divine; divinity is immanent and non-personal.

[bishoy233714]

Nothing

[Glutexo]

Was anderes soll heilig sein…

[Jamie627092]

Yes, especially the Potato! "Hilfe, die Pferd frisst die heilige Kartoffel!" :-)

[BeetheAwes]

My keyboard auto-corrected me to 'Is tge natre holee?'.

[MikeLearntFrench]

So much for machine intelligence.

[BergLowe]

Ja fur mich, Vielleicht es sollt fur Jedermann auch....

[_J_A_R_]

Die Natur ist das wertvollste Geschenk, das wir haben.

[masterbeta1]

Everything we are and everything we have comes from Nature, so I say, emphatically, YES!

[Saswatt]

Why there is no alticle "the" before "nature"?