Mike, Darwin was not the cause of the Holocaust. What I am saying, in the
history of
science, is that the science of Darwin, particularly Natural Selection, was
there and
later used by others as justification, as Nature's laws, for their existing
prejudices and
predispositions. (Just as Jefferson has used Voltaire who had used Newton who
had used
Galileo who had used Kepler who had used Tycho Braehe who had used Copernicus
who had
used....--not that simple, but you get the point I hope). It was used by
Herbert Spencer
and his followers to justify class stratification and colonialism. It was used
by the
American robber barons in their lassiez faire doctrine. It was used by the
Europeans as
they jostled with each other over Africa and Asia. It was used before the
appearance of
the Nazis in this country to advance a national purity. In society, almost
everything was
reduced to a biological, nationalistic racism. For example, when immigrants
enter the
United States, they were asked to what race they belong. The example given was
that if
they were from France they were of the French race. Given existing
anti-semitism, the
Jews were not accorded the right to be part of the French race (Dreyfus?) or
the German
race or the British race, etc. To call this pseudo-science is Monday quarter
backing
judgmentalism, as well as a lack of understanding of the times, because. like
it or not,
it was one of the most widely and acknowledged and accepted sciences of the
day. And, I
dare say that Darwin was doing pinwheels in his grave at every step of this
progression.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier
http://therandomthoughts.edublogs.org/
Department of History
http://www.newforums.com/Auth_L_Schmier.asp
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
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