Let’s talk about eugenics. I’ll start with a quote. “If the stock of domesticated animals can be improved, it is not unfair to ask if the health and vitality of the future generations of men and women on the earth might not be improved by applying to them the laws of selection.” This quote, from Francis Galton, “the father of eugenics,” essentially summarizes the key tenets of a movement that touched the entire earth. Its moral bankruptcy truly stained the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
This movement, cloaked in the veneer of progress and scientific rigor, was proven to be a Pandora’s box– driven by the vision of a supposed “genetic utopia.” Eugenics (which could also be called scientific racism) purported to improve the human species by selective breeding, echoing the principles of Darwinian evolution.
But we would argue there is a straight line between Charles Darwin (and the theory of evolution) and the evil of Eugenics (which ultimately found its full expression in Hitler’s Germany and the Final Solution)– ending the lives of millions of Jews and other “undesirables” throughout Europe in the 1940s. In laboratories and lecture halls, intellectuals and scientists propagated the idea of a hierarchy within society, where the “fit” were encouraged to procreate, while the “unfit” were deemed unworthy of reproduction.
Books like “The Pivot of Civilization” by the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, and “The Sterilization of Degenerates” by Dr. H.C. Sharp drove the ideology which mutated into a slightly different form in Germany. You see, this ideology was fueled by notions of racial superiority and social Darwinism, and surprise, surprise! atrocities logically followed. The eugenics movement manifested in policies and practices that violated the most fundamental human rights. Forced sterilizations became the weapon of choice, aimed at the marginalized and vulnerable—the poor, the mentally ill, the disabled, and ethnic minorities.
In the United States alone, thousands fell victim to state-sanctioned mutilation. Laws were enacted to segregate and sterilize those deemed “undesirable”. This basically institutionalized discrimination under the guise of public health. Families were torn apart. Lives shattered. Lobotomies were bizarrely hailed as a miracle cure for mental illness… Driven by the belief that mental disorders had a hereditary basis. Psychiatrists wielded the pick or the scalpel with disregard for the human brain. No fear of God. Minds were mutilated, personalities fractured…all in the name of “science” and “the greater good.” Terms such as: “insane,” “lunatic,” “unfit,” “defective,” “moron,” and “idiot” were used to describe anyone that weren’t up to society’s standards. Dissenting voices were dismissed as closed-minded and backward. While I can think of many people who might deserve some of those titles, most of them would be in leadership roles!
But who exactly was standing against these wheels of progress? How about the well-known creation advocate and politician, William Jennings Bryan, who was made famous with the Scopes Monkey Trial?
He argued against eugenics with the same fervor that he argued against evolution!?He said this: “Eugenics is the most pernicious form of selfishness, and the doctrine of race suicide it propagates will sooner or later bring disaster to the human race.” Or what about G.K. Chesterton? This well-known theologian is known for the quote: “Don’t be so open minded that your brains fall out.” Well, they probably should have listened to him! “Eugenics” said Chesterton “is the first step in a science of government which will take away from the common man all power to control his own destiny. The first command of eugenics is ‘Thou shalt not let thy neighbour breed.'”
Both of these outspoken opponents of eugenics stood firm on the truth of God’s Word as their basis for resistance! But what was the logical conclusion of this perverse program? The most notorious example is, of course, the sterilization act in Nazi Germany in July 1933, under which more than 150 thousand Germans, including many children and even babies were judged unfit and were sterilized! An equal number were killed by gas or lethal injection between 1933 and 1940.
So, the ideas that started with Francis Galton, (did I mention he was the cousin of Charles Darwin?), sought to apply the principles of natural selection to human society, believing that by selectively breeding individuals with desirable traits, humanity could be elevated to new heights of genetic perfection.
This is what the theory of evolution looks like in action. Galton’s work, “Hereditary Genius,” laid out the blueprint for decades of evils to come.
Karl Pearson reiterated this idea by saying: “The science of eugenics is the attempt to direct the evolution of the species.” These ideas spread like a “mind virus” into all areas of society. Even Theodore Roosevelt was impacted by these ideas when he stated: “Society has no business to permit degenerates to reproduce their kind.” Believe it or not, the great Winston Churchill also began to be influenced by these principles: “The multiplication of the feeble-minded is a very terrible danger to the race.”
Now, some of these statements are merely poetic philosophical truths, but the danger comes when those in power get to choose who is feeble-minded and who is worthy of childbearing. Finally, did these ideas suddenly end without explanation? Not really… There have been many millions of abortions rooted in eugenics over the last century. The lives of multitudes snuffed out before taking their first step! These ideas were ultimately derived from the foundation of atheistic philosophy and given credence because of Charles Darwin and his antiquated theories of evolution.
What was and still is most effective in combating these lies? Standing on the truth of the Word of God.
Just as William Jennings Bryant and G.K. Chesterton fought with the moral high ground, we can continue to stand with courage. Eugenics didn’t end after World War Two, and there are new variations of this evil movement that have continued under the guise of science…. But I’ll save that for another time.
I’m David Rives, truly the heavens declare the glory of God.