The well respected naturalist, Charles Darwin, has influenced the world view of several generations with his theories of evolution through natural selection. Darwin is a particular favorite among the "secular humanists" who cite his theories as proof that Theism is a false belief system. Many of Darwin's adherents also believe that they as a group are intelligent, critical thinkers and well informed on the related issues. Likewise, those that view Darwin's theories of evolution as inadequate in fully explaining the origin of modern man are superstitious, irrational and/or unintelligent people blinded by a some primitive belief system.
But what of Darwin's belief system? After the death of his daughter, he never again attending Church and clearly rejected Christianity. As Darwin put matters, Christianity was a "damnable doctrine." Over time Darwin's doctrines would provide a philosophical basis for modern eugenics a term coined by his half-cousin Francis Galton. Among the many who would come to embrace Darwin's doctrines include Karl Marx, eugenicist Margaret Sanger (Planned Parenthood). Also, his work was instrumental to the establishment of the Nuremberg Laws.
Without any question, Darwin endorsed the survival of the fittest in a social application, as Darwin biographers Desmond and Moore explain; "Social Darwinism is often taken to be something extraneous (to Darwins theory), an ugly concretion added to the pure Darwinian corpus after the event, tarnishing Darwins image. But his notebooks make plain that competition, free trade, imperialism, racial extermination, and sexual inequality were written into the equation from the start -Darwinism was always intended to explain society."
A major element of Darwin's world view included the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race as evidenced by cultural achievements, economic strength and the vast British Empire. Conversely, there existed in proximity to Britain a lesser race of Irish Celts with a high birth rate due in part to the Catholic influence in the culture at that time. As Darwin stated, "the careless, squalid, unaspiring Irishman multiplies like "rabbits." One should wonder what degree of significance Darwin placed upon the actions of his own Anglo-Saxon government to the horrible environment in Ireland. Surely, he would have to recognize the relationship between the policies of a super power, Britain, on the Irish population and the result he would prefer, consistent with his life's work, was extermination of a "lesser" native population.
Darwin's ambition of extermination was certainly not limited to the "unaspiring Irishman." Darwin seemed to envision a future modern industrial society that would wage some type of war of genocide on those he regarded as "sub-races." As Darwin explained his views; "At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the Negro or Australian and the gorilla."
Such overt racist de-humanization as well as sexism is common in Darwin's papers, particularly his book "The Decent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex." What is less clear are the qualities Darwin considers "civilized" and those which he consider "savage."
Well before Darwin's time, Britain gradually emerged as a world power, during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Elizabethan period was followed by centuries of a brilliant expansion of an Empire lorded over by a relatively small island. By the 20th century the sun began to set on the British Empire, the great measure of Darwin's racial theories were negated. Many of the former British colonies are today global flash points that, no doubt, will one day boil over.
For instance, the feudal cultures of India and Pakistan, enjoyed under British rule, a development of a modern infrastructure that enabled both nations to develop nuclear arsenals. These two cultures have a long history of tension particularly over the beautiful region of Kashmir. China, now a military and economic super power, has never forgotten the exploitation of the British "East India Company" and will one day be on the march to secure their dominance in the world. The power vacuum left in the Middle East as the Ottoman Empire fell into decline allowed the British to redraw the maps to their liking. Today, we live with the consequences of British colonial draftsmanship. Israel, once a protectorate of Britain in now a military superpower that is surrounded by enemies united in there aspiration to destroy that Nation. Within the divided City of Jerusalem is the five acre, area known as the "Temple Mount," where conflicting prophecies, nationalism combined with fundamental faith combine for a volatile atmosphere that is a constant threat to ignite and drag the rest of the world into charnel.
There are many other examples, but few cultures have been as devastated as the British Anglo-Saxons themselves. Without question, the Anglo-Saxon as a race are a great people excelling in both the arts and sciences who are now paying a great price for a vanished empire. The "rights of an English man" have eroded to the point where exercising the most basic human right of self defense can now lead to the law abiding being charged with a crime. British society, under intense Orwellian style surveillance is inundated with foreign cultures from the far reaches of the empire that are often hostile to the host nation. What kind of future can be expected for Britain?
The legacy to a Darwinian type of doctrine has been observed by the great witness of time and the consequences of British colonialism, the extending of the Anglo-Saxon range at the expense of the "lower races," still greatly devastates the world today. Darwin would probably be horrified with the present circumstances of the world. Certainly, his destructive theories played a major role in destabilizing the world, Darwinism is the "damnable doctrine."
-Ryan
But what of Darwin's belief system? After the death of his daughter, he never again attending Church and clearly rejected Christianity. As Darwin put matters, Christianity was a "damnable doctrine." Over time Darwin's doctrines would provide a philosophical basis for modern eugenics a term coined by his half-cousin Francis Galton. Among the many who would come to embrace Darwin's doctrines include Karl Marx, eugenicist Margaret Sanger (Planned Parenthood). Also, his work was instrumental to the establishment of the Nuremberg Laws.
Without any question, Darwin endorsed the survival of the fittest in a social application, as Darwin biographers Desmond and Moore explain; "Social Darwinism is often taken to be something extraneous (to Darwins theory), an ugly concretion added to the pure Darwinian corpus after the event, tarnishing Darwins image. But his notebooks make plain that competition, free trade, imperialism, racial extermination, and sexual inequality were written into the equation from the start -Darwinism was always intended to explain society."
A major element of Darwin's world view included the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon race as evidenced by cultural achievements, economic strength and the vast British Empire. Conversely, there existed in proximity to Britain a lesser race of Irish Celts with a high birth rate due in part to the Catholic influence in the culture at that time. As Darwin stated, "the careless, squalid, unaspiring Irishman multiplies like "rabbits." One should wonder what degree of significance Darwin placed upon the actions of his own Anglo-Saxon government to the horrible environment in Ireland. Surely, he would have to recognize the relationship between the policies of a super power, Britain, on the Irish population and the result he would prefer, consistent with his life's work, was extermination of a "lesser" native population.
Darwin's ambition of extermination was certainly not limited to the "unaspiring Irishman." Darwin seemed to envision a future modern industrial society that would wage some type of war of genocide on those he regarded as "sub-races." As Darwin explained his views; "At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the Negro or Australian and the gorilla."
Such overt racist de-humanization as well as sexism is common in Darwin's papers, particularly his book "The Decent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex." What is less clear are the qualities Darwin considers "civilized" and those which he consider "savage."
Well before Darwin's time, Britain gradually emerged as a world power, during the reign of Elizabeth I. The Elizabethan period was followed by centuries of a brilliant expansion of an Empire lorded over by a relatively small island. By the 20th century the sun began to set on the British Empire, the great measure of Darwin's racial theories were negated. Many of the former British colonies are today global flash points that, no doubt, will one day boil over.
For instance, the feudal cultures of India and Pakistan, enjoyed under British rule, a development of a modern infrastructure that enabled both nations to develop nuclear arsenals. These two cultures have a long history of tension particularly over the beautiful region of Kashmir. China, now a military and economic super power, has never forgotten the exploitation of the British "East India Company" and will one day be on the march to secure their dominance in the world. The power vacuum left in the Middle East as the Ottoman Empire fell into decline allowed the British to redraw the maps to their liking. Today, we live with the consequences of British colonial draftsmanship. Israel, once a protectorate of Britain in now a military superpower that is surrounded by enemies united in there aspiration to destroy that Nation. Within the divided City of Jerusalem is the five acre, area known as the "Temple Mount," where conflicting prophecies, nationalism combined with fundamental faith combine for a volatile atmosphere that is a constant threat to ignite and drag the rest of the world into charnel.
There are many other examples, but few cultures have been as devastated as the British Anglo-Saxons themselves. Without question, the Anglo-Saxon as a race are a great people excelling in both the arts and sciences who are now paying a great price for a vanished empire. The "rights of an English man" have eroded to the point where exercising the most basic human right of self defense can now lead to the law abiding being charged with a crime. British society, under intense Orwellian style surveillance is inundated with foreign cultures from the far reaches of the empire that are often hostile to the host nation. What kind of future can be expected for Britain?
The legacy to a Darwinian type of doctrine has been observed by the great witness of time and the consequences of British colonialism, the extending of the Anglo-Saxon range at the expense of the "lower races," still greatly devastates the world today. Darwin would probably be horrified with the present circumstances of the world. Certainly, his destructive theories played a major role in destabilizing the world, Darwinism is the "damnable doctrine."
-Ryan
