Page 576 - Atlas of Creation Volume 3

rules to reduce the rise in population.

One of the factors underlying these measures was the longstanding fear that the rapidly rising num-
bers of the "lower classes" would eventually overwhelm more civilized individuals. That fear is ground-
less, of course, and the product of a grave deception. First, it is out of the question for an individual to en-

joy superiority over anyone else because of his material status, social position, language, race or gender.
God has created all human beings equal. What makes people valuable is the moral virtues and the fear of
God they exhibit, not material means or physical attributes.
In the wake of the French Revolution, however, the British middle class provided enormous support
for Malthusianism. Fearing that they might no longer maintain their former pre-eminence and power, they

had no hesitation over adopting radical measures to preserve them. This is one of the characteristic errors
made by those who distance themselves from religious moral values. The elite of that time thought that so-
ciety's future lay in there being as many wealthy and as few poor as possible. Of course it is desirable to

raise the number of wealthy people and the level of well-being in a society. However, the methods imple-
mented to increase that well-being are of greatest importance. Raising the numbers of the
wealthy by slaughtering the poor and oppressing the needy, as Social Darwinism suggests, is
totally unacceptable, of course. Furthermore, increasing the number of wealthy in-
dividuals is, by itself, not enough for a society to progress. If those wealthy peo-

ple lack such religious moral values as honesty, altruism, modesty, patience, and
tolerance, their industry will damage a society instead of benefiting it. Plans
aimed at advancing societies can achieve their objective only if that society rein-

forces its spiritual values at the same time as it makes material progress.
However, many in Malthus's time failed to realize this manifest truth and
supported the perverted views that would later lead their societies into moral
collapse.
To halt the rise in population, these were some of the ruthless solu-

tions Malthus suggested:

Instead of recommending cleanliness to the poor, we should encourage con-
trary habits. In our towns we should make the streets narrower, crowd more
people into the houses, and court the return of the plague. In the country,
we should build our villages near stagnant pools, and particularly encour-

age settlements in all marshy and unwholesome situations. But above all,
we should reprobate [strongly condemn] specific remedies for ravaging dis-
eases; and those benevolent, but much mistaken men, who have thought

they were doing a service to mankind by projecting schemes for the total ex-
tirpation of particular disorders. 8

Malthus also encouraged the death of babies:

... we are bound in justice and honour formally to disclaim
the right of the poor to support. To this
end, I should propose a regula-
tion to be made, declaring, that

no child born... should ever
be entitled to parish assis-

According to Social
Darwinism's twisted pro-
paganda—one of the
most pitiless philosophies
in history—the
weak and powerless must
be left to die.