Eugenics
Ministerial Meandering
Eugenics
Walking along the trail to Harrison Hot Springs with Sheila and Gracie this morning, we were overtaken by a man of about 40, dressed only in swimming trunks and carrying two large empty plastic buckets.
This was not an unusual sight for this particular walk, as we knew that some hardy types enjoyed bathing in the hot springs in the early morning, and taking some of the spa water back with them was not unheard of either.
However, what was more unusual was the strange grunt we got in response to Sheila’s cheery ‘Good Morning!’ When I added my more restrained, ‘Hello,’ it was met with the same sound. As the man passed us (Gracie was exploring an olfactory imperative in the bushes nearby), we noticed that the man’s gait was also a little unusual, suggesting either a birth injury or possibly some more deeply seated chromosomal abnormality, giving rise to both the inability to talk and walk properly.
To our surprise, when we arrived at the springs - where another man we had met before was constructing neat pools with seating on rocks - we found our monosyllabic humanoid conversing really quite well with our pool constructor. We left rather puzzled.
And it got me thinking as I contemplated life (whilst seated in the smallest room in the house), that it wasn’t too long ago - not even 100 years - that such a character would have been sent, without question, to the right, after disembarking the train to Auschwitz - ostensibly to ‘take a shower’.
We have Sir Francis Galton to thank for the science of eugenics, and who coined the term in 1883. He was knighted for his contributions to science in 1909, and died 2 years later aged 88. He was a polymath from Birmingham, England, and half-cousin to Charles Darwin. Amongst his many other interests, he conducted research into the power of prayer, concluding it had none due to its null effects on the longevity of those prayed for. However, more recent research has demonstrated many benefits for the person praying themselves, including their own longevity.
Going back to my topic, the radical movements we see in many countries today are little removed from the adoption of racial eugenics by the Nazi regime of Hitler. Remember the Rwandan genocide? Is the Israeli - Gazan war far short of the same - at least as far as Netanyahu is concerned? If races cannot be wiped out, then they must be made to be subservient. Modern slavery exists; ethnic ‘cleansing’ continues; these are all eugenic engineering under other names - and every bit as evil.
When some of you were deciding to have children, you will have been given the option of amniocentesis (sampling the amniotic fluid around your foetus) to check for hidden birth defects - mainly spina bifida in the early days. This was so that you could decide whether to continue with the pregnancy if a defect was discovered. Sheila and I decided not to take the option, but now living next to a couple who have a teenage girl who is only capable of grotesque animal noises, and unable to feed, wash, or dress herself - I wonder if such an individual could have been prevented from entering the world. In days gone by, the midwife would have smothered such a child, and pronounced her stillborn. Would that have been wrong? The cost to the parents has been huge, and they pay for it every day - with the most incredible patience and dedication.
Ethical problems do not invoke a ‘one size fits all’ type of response, and demand our deepest and most compassionate discernment.
I still puzzle over what is right and wrong sometimes - don’t you?
Philip+