Page 28 - The Social Weapon: Darwinism

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and the uncaring slaughter of babies and children as ways of en-
suring human progress.

In conclusion, Social Darwinism was the motive force that
cost the lives of millions in the 19th and 20th centuries. With it,
many evils that had persisted for centuries acquired an alleged
scientific justification. In his book The Mismeasure of Man, the
late evolutionist paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould reveals this
yet again in commenting on Darwin's Origin of Species:
Subsequent arguments for slavery, colonialism, racial differences,
class structures, and sex roles would go forth primarily under the
banner of science. 5

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D Darwin Himself Was a Social Darwinist t
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No matter how much today's evolutionists try to separate
Darwin's name from the sufferings that Social Darwinism gave
birth to, Darwin used unambiguous Social Darwinist expres-
sions, especially in his Descent of Man and other writings. As far
back as 1869, in a letter to Hugo Thiel he stated that he saw no
objection to his theory being applied to society:
You will really believe how much interested I am in observing
that you apply to moral and social questions analogous views to
those which I have used in regard to the modification of species. 6
Benjamin Wiker is a lecturer in theology and science at
Franciscan University and author of Moral Darwinism: How We
Became Hedonists. In an interview, he stated that Darwin was the
first Social Darwinist, and continued:
Like it or not, it is quite clear when you read his Descent of Man
that Darwin himself was the first Social Darwinist and the father
of the modern eugenics movement. Social Darwinism and eugen-
ics are derived directly from his principle of natural selection.
I think the real reason for people objecting to someone making
The Social Weapon: Darwinism