Eugenics of a different kind

A warning to those with short attention spans (myself included): This blog has turned into a rather lengthy one. It started out to be a short session of ranting but turned into a bit of a research project. It will take you a few minutes to get past the research and into my actual point. If you are easily distracted by shiny things it may take a few tries to get through this blog I should know as it took me a few tries to finish it lol.

Something to keep in mind while reading this blog: I started working on it a few days ago today however I got the inspiration to finish it. It is not directed at one particular person but is directed at humans in general. If you can't handle my ranting well I won't apologize for that, ranting is one of the reasons I started this blog ;)

Ok on with the blog. . . .

As I stated above I started working on this blog a few days go as just a place to rant about things that bug me about people. I realize that I am a person and yes I do sometimes bug myself. However today I got some more inspiration to finish this blog.

Have you ever heard of eugenics? A lot of people haven't and those of us that have and know what it means are often quite appalled by it. The definition for eugenics as taken from www.dictionary.com is as follows:

the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, esp. by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics).

In English this basically means getting rid of those that are deemed socially unfit in an attempt to create a perfect society. The first place that most peoples mind jump to is the Nazi's. Yes they did in fact practice a form of eugenics. However generally eugenics is practiced by sterilizing those that are socially unfit (mentally ill, disfigured, disease ridden) so that they cannot reproduce. This is known as selective breeding. The Nazi's just outright killed those that did not fit the mold of the "perfect human." This was more a form of genocide which is just as appalling as eugenics. We often point our fingers at the Nazi's and the people like Stalin, Hitler, and even Saddam Hussein for their reprehensible acts of violence against people who had no way to defend themselves. However, a lot of people don't know that the United States has taken part in some of these very activities! I know you're saying to your self "No way! Not Americans! We're known as a beacon of hope it's not possible that we took part in such things!"

Sadly it's true and it took place long before Hitler came into the picture and what's worse is our supreme court UPHELD IT!!!

the Eugenics movement began with a cousin of Darwin who professed that behavioral characteristics followed the same Mendelian laws of heredity as red hair or freckles. The philosophy caught fire in the U.S. with endorsements from the industrial leaders of the day such as Carnegie, Rockefeller, Harriman, Kellogg, and Eastman. It was also supported by the New York Times, and Harvard President Charles Eliot. 22 states passed eugenic sterilization laws, which were upheld by the Supreme Court in 1927, with a majority opinion by Oliver Wendell Holmes stating that the laws were, to prevent our country from being swamped with incompetence. By 1945, 45,127 eugenic sterilizations had been performed in the United States.

When I read Oliver Wendell Holmes reasoning for upholding these laws I was appalled! He actually said these laws were to "prevent our country from being swamped with incompetence."
If they were sterilizing people who had already had kids and couldn't take care of anymore or people who had PROVEN that they were incapable of taking care of children that would be one thing but we were sterilizing the mentally ill just for the sake of "avoiding incompetence."

By now I'm sure that those of you who didn't know about this are feeling quite disgusted with the U.S. sadly there is more. Have you ever heard of the Tuskegee experiment? I know I hadn't until last year when we studied it in a class I took. Again it is a reprehensible act that I find rather disgusting. The summary of the Tuskegee experiment is as follows:

For forty years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men who were, for the most part illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed only that they were being treated for “bad blood,” their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis at all.
The data for the experiment was to be collected from autopsies of the men, and they were thus deliberately left to degenerate under the ravages of tertiary syphilis—which can include tumors, heart disease, paralysis, blindness, insanity, and death. “As I see it,” one of the doctors involved explained, “we have no further interest in these patients until they die.”

Again It makes me sick that our government actually sanctioned this! But it happened and yes it placed a dark spot in our history but the repulsiveness of the U.S. government is not the point of this blog even though it seems that way at the moment. (I warned you this wasn't for those with short attention spans!)

So what is the point of my blog? Well I titled it Eugenics of another kind for the simple fact that it was the closest thing I could come up with to describe what I'm trying to say even though it doesn't quite drive my point home. What do these things have in common that I have discussed? The Nazi Holocaust, the eugenics movement of the early 20th century, the Tuskegee experiment and sadly several other events in World history all have one common strand. In each one you find instances of people being labeled as useless or no good for reasons that in my opinion are not their fault. The Jews were born as Jews and had no say in the matter, the mentally ill of the Eugenics movement again were often born that way and those with syphilis were left to die because they fit a profile that they did not choose. I'm sure that all of you reading this find this disgusting. Most of us go on and on about how awful these types of events are but yet it seems that sometimes we take part in similar activities.

No we aren't killing Jews or sterilizing the disfigured but we often apply labels of no good, annoying, weird, or bad to people for the simple fact that they don't fit our mold of "the perfect person." Because they don't come from the same social class as us we lump them in the category of less than us or beneath us. In my honest and humble opinion that is not very Christian and I see this a lot among those in the Christian ranks.

Again I will offer my honest and humble opinion: THERE SHOULD BE NO CLASS SYSTEM IN THE CHURCH! A line of authority and chain of command yes but no class systems. A class system is simply a way of saying I'm better than you so you can't be put in a category with me you go associate with your kind. Or perhaps it's a way of saying please don't associate yourself with me you might contaminate me because after all I'm of a higher class than you and have Much higher standards. WHAT? There should be none of that in the church!

I've given you a history lesson now lets have a Bible study shall we?

In the book Acts (one of my personal favorites) it says

Acts 2:41-47
41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.KJV


Now the scripture that I want to focus on is verse 44: And all that believed were TOGETHER, and had ALL THINGS COMMON. That right there eliminates any room for class systems.

If I'm not mistaken when I get baptized in Jesus name and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost it makes me a child of the king and therefore I'm royalty and guess what SO ARE YOU!! I'm not better than you just because I drive a nicer car, have more money, or dress a little hipper than you do. You're not better than me because you have a higher education, you've been in church longer or your best friends with the pastors wife! Can you tell we've gotten to the ranting part of this blog?

In the medieval days of the feudal class system your name meant everything. If you were related to the king or a Lord or Duke there was no way you would be considered part of the "lower class." So if you must insist that there is a class system in the church let me put it this way. Jesus is our daddy right? Right I knew you would agree with me! Well if Jesus is our daddy and he's the king then guess what that makes us all princes and princesses in the kingdom so to speak.

I hate it when I see people in the church not being used because they don't know how to fix their hair just right and maybe they lack some basic social skills. SO WHAT! They have a desire to be used USE THEM! We're all suppose to be working together not snubbing one another and causing hurt and pain just because someone doesn't fit your mold. Am I saying you have to be best friends with everyone that's in the church? No but you do need to show kindness and fairness to ALL your brothers and sisters.

Why did I refer to Eugenics before I started ranting? Well because in a way this is eugenics at work. We have this idea of what the perfect saint looks like and the type of people we want coming to our church or being involved in our programs and so we weed out the ones that don't fit our mold and we just let them sit on the sidelines and not be used. Guess what, if that keeps happening those ones that keep getting pushed aside may feel pushed too far and then leave. And guess what else, if other people on the outside see that you're only going to attract the kind of people your using because others are going to feel unwelcome. That my friend is a horrible form of eugenics at work. God is not willing that any should perish and we should not be either.

There is another passage of scripture that comes to my mind right now.

Gen 13:7-8
7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.KJV

I heard a message preached on this passage that has stuck with me for years. It was called "Bond of the Brethren." It didn't say let there be no strife because well strife is painful and kind of annoying it simply said For we are BRETHREN. The preacher that preached this message pointed out another part of this verse that always gets over looked. It simply says "and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land." The minister likened this to the world. Folks the world is watching us and if they see us being rude, snobbish and downright hateful to those that don't "fit our mold" what kind of example is that setting to the people all around us?

America finally woke up and realized how horrible Eugenics was. . . .will we?


note: some of my information on eugenics and the Tuskegee experiment was taken from the following websites

Tuskegee experiment

Eugenics