How ironic, Charles Darwin's own words..."add to the happiness of Mankind" I present a basic thesis... The 20th Century was the bloodiest 100 years of human existence. Between two Worl Wars alone... WWI = 16 million dead WWII = 60 million dead adding the Stalin gulag/purge of the USSR = 20 million China. Mao's policies and political purges from 1949 to 1975 are widely believed to have caused the deaths of between 50 to 70 million people Stalin = influenced by Marx, and Social Darwinism Hitler = influenced by Social Darwinism Chairman Mao = influenced by Marx, and Social Darwinism Mega-murderers... In large measure two men responsible for the demise of civilization...as we know it. Darwin and his Origin of the Species calling into question Genesis...and Karl Marx, a man who admired Darwin and viewed the concepts of Social Darwinism applicable to the struggles of social class as iterated in his now famous "Das Kapital" and "Communist Manifesto." ...
So your argument is that Darwin- who never proposed or subscribed to "Social Darwinism"- is responsible for 'the demise of civilization' as we know it. Darwin was suggesting a scientific theory- which by the way he never questioned Genesis- which turns out to be correct. To me claiming that his theory is responsible for the deaths of the 20th century is ridiculous because the theory was such a natural step in scientific theory that Darwin barely managed to publish his theory before the other chap did. It would have been someone else if it wasn't Darwin. You can't blame a scientist for how people choose to use his work. It is like blaming Christ for the atrocities committed in his name.
On your basic thesis, that the 20th Century was the bloodiest 100 years of human existence. On the raw figures yes, but that's about it. Stalin in the USSR the numbers are probably debatable, the effect of Stalin on the Soviet Union after the Great Patriotic War is not debatable. Much as I loathe him though you have to hand it to him that he marshalled Soviet forces and probably averted an Allied loss of what we call the Second World War. Hitler influenced by what? There is no such thing as social Darwinism, it's propaganda. The person you're thinking of is Herbert Spencer but the principle you're thinking of is not survival of the biggest badass, it's survival of the fittest - fittest referring to the ability to adapt to the environment. Mao influenced by Marxist theory. Of course and from this he derived his own principles and applied them, as did Lenin. I've dealt with social Darwinism. Marx and Darwin no more contributed to the actions of Stalin, Hitler and Mao than Sam Colt did to the current problem with firearms ownership in the United States. Marx's Capital was a "critique of political economy", not the rubbish in Mein Kampf. Darwin made scientific observations, he didn't wield political influence. He upset the Church though (not deliberately, they just got very cranky with him for exposing their rubbish).
It's because the Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908. They are God's team, so blaming Major League baseball is as logical as blaming Darwin and Marx.
I read an OP like this and I immediately recall.... [video=youtube;Iu7vySQbgXI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu7vySQbgXI[/video]
How do you think how many ppl were killed in the name of Jesus, Allah, or Ketsalkoatl? Are they responsible for the demise of civilization too?
Most scholars recognize historical links between Darwin's theory and forms of social Darwinism. Darwin himself, may not have been a proponent of same...but shortly after Origin of the Species was published, many sought to establish the biological basis of survival of the fittest into socio-political theories...Karl Marx being of one of them...the proponents of Social Darwinsim were inspired by Darwin. 61,911,000 Murdered: The Soviet Gulag State (Marxist Atheism) 35,236,000 Murdered: The Communist Chinese Ant Hill (Marxist Atheism) 20,946,000 Murdered: The Nazi Genocide State (Darwinian survival of the fittest) The bloodiest 100 years in human existence..by and large.... source to two schools of thought... Origin of the Species Das Kapital/Communist Manifesto It's on recrod...Stalin, Hitler, Mao...were admirers of Darwin's theory of biological evolution as applied to social and political theories.
. While studying at the Tiflis Theological Seminary, he began to read the works of Charles Darwin. He developed a critical mind and revolutionary bent. One of his friends later said in a book, which was published in Moscow while Stalin was still in power...that when Stalin began to read Darwin he became an atheist. It's on record... so please go ahead and post "Monty Python" clips... call the thread "stupid"...and insist on strawmen notions of Jesus causing the Crusades... if you believe Christ's teachings led to a murderous rampage of Christians...by all means, start a thread on that. This thread is about Darwin and Marx ideas...which influenced, in no small measure...the leaders of various regimes to wage a megamurderous campaign of destruction on humanity. I've yet to read an intelligent rebuttal...so please do continue with the "Monty Python" ad hominems, and straw men...."What about Jesus?"...? This isn't about Jesus, you want to discuss, Jesus...start a thread on him.
The ruling class or its Heirhead spawn promote convenient theories and twist them for their own benefit. The real evil of Darwinism is that it gives a scientific excuse for the unearned right to inheritance. The fittest supposedly pass on their superior genes to their children, justifying rule by birth and not worth. If the children of the rich were so superior, they could get ahead on their own instead of needing undeserved competitive advantages set up by their Daddies' money. True progress can only be made if they are cut off at age 18. If we have to do it on their own, so must they. Check out the leaders of Communism. They all came from the upper class. So politics and economics are just frauds preached by spoiled mediocrities. Most anti-Darwins believe in the Right Wing version of his inherited superiority theory. In a free country, a lazy low-IQ draftdodger like their hero Bush would have wound up living in a trailer park.
The connection to Jesus and the crusades is much more relevant then you are admitting. Nobody is saying that Jesus was a bad person who taught horrible things, in fact, he was the most wonderful man to ever exist. However, thousands (most likely millions) of people have died because of horrible people who did not understand his teachings. Darwin was a scientist who revealed a very important aspect of science. That was all he did, he was no political ideologist. Yes, evolution does go against genesis, however, being christian myself I hate to say it, but the facts are the facts, the bible is just a book. Yes, it is a book full important knowledge and wisdom, however, there are also several parts of it the are full or horrible, horrible things. I personally have a hard time even reading the old testament because of how ridiculous the ideals in it are. I only follow the teachings in the gospels because if I followed all the other teachings in there then that would make me closer to the devil then it would to god.
Karl Marx: Marx also referred to the Scottish highlanders, the Basques, Bretons, and Serbs as "Völkerabfälle", which means refuse of nations, stating that when the revolution broke out they would have to be left behind because they were primitive societies two stages behind the rest of Europe. (article by Marx in Rheinische Zeitung) "The Jews of Poland are the smeariest of all races." Neue Rheinische Zeitung, April 29, 1849 But to put this quote into proper context, it may have been more about the economic position of (his) group of people than about race in an evolutionary context,
