Discovery Institute Blames Methodists for Hitler
That’s not a literal quote, but it’s the logical extension of the latest wild claims of the Discovery Institute. In a recent hallucination on their propaganda website, the Discovery Institute screamed this headline:
Methodists Nail Darwinian Nazi Record, Repent U.S. Past, Warn About 21st Century Eugenics
That caught my attention. Have the Methodists succumbed to DI propaganda? Let’s take a look. The insane ramblings of the DI begin with:
The quadrennial international convention of the Methodist Church, meeting in Fort Worth, today adopted an historic and detailed resolution deploring the legacy of Darwinian eugenics that saw its 20th century extreme expression in the theories of Adolf Hitler.
That sure sounds like the Methodists are laying some of the blame for the Holocaust on Darwin. We’ll check into that claim in a minute. Let’s see what else the DI says:
Yes, that would be the Nazi ideology that the Darwinists of today—and major media—pretend sprang on the world fresh from the head of Hitler…
No. That’s exactly the opposite of what we’ve been saying. I know the DI monitors all the major biology blogs, so they definitely know that we’ve said that what Hitler was doing was selective breeding. This is a technique that is almost as old as civilization. Since they’ve definitely read this fact in numerous blogs, the only conclusion we can come to is that the DI is deliberately lying. Making up facts is how the DI does “science”, so why should the way they argue be any different? Discovery Institute: No Facts Allowed!
The Methodists’ resolution—adopted by a vote of 836 to 28—apologizes for the denomination’s own failure to resist the eugenics movement in this country in the 20th century. They were not alone…. But no other mainline Protestant denomination has yet had the courage to admit to the racism of Darwinist eugenics and the supine attitude that leading American religious leaders, as well as the scientific establishment, adopted towards it.
It is true that many people bought into the eugenics movement in the early 20th century, and many scientists were among them. However, eugenics is not “Darwinism”. Darwin discovered how species evolve. He did not “discover” that killing six million Jews would produce a Master Race.
The Methodists’ Apology
Let’s turn now to what the Methodists have actually written in their resolution, “An Apology for Support of Eugenics”:
The study of eugenics did not begin with Hitler or his German scientists, but rather was first promoted by Sir Francis Galton, in England. Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, who expanded on Darwin’s theories and applied them to the human population.
That’s funny. This is the same document that the Discovery Institute read, but I don’t see anything about Charles Darwin creating eugenics. Sir Francis Galton took Darwin’s theories and misapplied them to human society. Darwin is not responsible for the actions of his cousin, and the Methodists are not claiming that he is.
Galton’s successor at the helm of the Eugenics Society was Major Leonard Darwin (1850- 1943), a son of Charles Darwin. Leonard Darwin, who ran the Eugenics Society until 1928, made the transition from positive to negative eugenics, and promoted plans for lowering the birthrate of the unfit.
Again, this is another one of Darwin’s relatives. That family was really into this stuff. But once again, don’t blame Chuck for his wayward son.
There’s a lot more to the Methodist document (and I encourage you to read it), but that’s pretty much all they had to say about Charles Darwin. Nowhere are they blaming Darwin for either eugenics or the Holocaust. Has the Discovery Institute no shame?
May 7th, 2008 at 6:20 am
So the Methodists apologize for being one of the many Christian sects that supported Hitler & the holocaust….and the DI blames Darwin, somehow.
If they had brought out a 40-page, point-by-point analysis of Luther’s writings and the history of Bible-inspired anti-semitics…the DI would blame Darwin, somehow.
God Damn It, DI, if you’re going to try to be fake science, at least don’t make it so obvious by continuously attacking Darwin.
Evolution is not a problem for deists, nor for many religions, nor for many sects of Christians….so the only reason to attack that particular well-supported theory is if you are operating under the same particular assumptions and the same particular mythological delusions as AiG.
Sometimes I want to joint the DI, just so I can get their f—ing PR strategy straight. Lie consistently, assholes!
May 7th, 2008 at 7:00 am
At first I was worried the Methodists were going the wrong direction. I was raised methodist and I have to say that they are one of the most “liberal” (in terms of liberty and in terms of Christianity) sects of Christianity out there, at least in the mainstream. They are generally low on the fire and brimstone, low on the guilt of original sin, and high on the maximizing human potential (through Jesus Christ, of course). They may have their faults — afterall, George W. Bush is one of them — but all in all, they are mostly non-fundie. In fact, many are fighting tooth and nail to disown Mr. Bush. Good for them.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:03 am
The DI will never have more than two neurons to rub together - they see the name “Darwin” and their lexicon only has one entry to match: “Darwin, Charles”. -_-
Anywho, the more interesting part of your post, for me, was the Methodists’ apology thingy.
It’s not like I was expecting any more from Jesus-mongers, even though they are the not-so-fundie kind, but I found their “apology” revolting.
They didn’t say, “Gee, we’re sorry we condoned something that led to the killing of 6 million people because it’s wrong.” No, they said “Gee, we’re sorry we condoned something that led to the killing of 6+ million people BECAUSE IT’S NOT WHAT JEBUS WOULD DO!”
Note the remaining discrimination in their rant about discriminatory killings:
Whine about the killing of disparate ethnic/racial groups (e.g., Jews, Poles, Romani)? Check.
Whine about the killing of mentally handicapped groups (i.e., people with M.R., which was probably the only diagnosis back then)? Check.
Fail to acknowledge that Hitler also used his policy to kill all the gays he could find? Check.
WWJD?
May 7th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Chuck:
“Gee, we’re sorry we condoned something that led to the killing of 6+ million people BECAUSE IT’S NOT WHAT JEBUS WOULD DO!”
For Christians, the teachings of Jesus is how one defines their morality; it is the “lens” through which they determine what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, to say “this is wrong because it goes against the teachings of Jesus” is identical to saying “because it was wrong.”
The non-mention of GLBT people killed by Hitler is indeed a grievous oversight. It’s an issue the UMC is currently tearing itself apart over.
May 7th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Yea I gotta agree with Ken. It’s particularly interesting because not too long ago, I saw a TV commercial advertising the Methodists with their “come as you are” slogan and they showed two men and two women who looked stereotypically homosexual and despite the stereotypicalness of it, I thought it was encouraging that they were basically saying, even if you are gay, come as you are. But apparently, they aren’t QUITE to the level I gave them credit for yet.
May 7th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Parrot:
I’m a UMer myself, which is (partially) how this post caught my eye.
The UMC is very schizophrenic about GLBT concerns right now, and after General Conference basically stalemated. Transgender clergy = OK. Pastors allowed to deny membership to GLBT people = also OK. Homophobia and heterosexism must be stamped out = OK. GLBT “lifestyle” is “incompatible with Christian teaching” = also OK. Schizo, like I said.
It’s a weird, dark, conflicted time. But the UMC doesn’t waste its time with stuff like ID.
May 7th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Ken - Well, conceding on ANY GLBT point is a step in the right direction compared to many of the other very large protestant Christian groups that hate GLBT with such a fervor, it is absolutely frightening. I will certainly give them credit where credit is due. Hopefully as time goes on, they will continue this (socially) liberal trend and stop being scared to admit that “come as you are” really means “come as you are.”
BTW, thanks for showing up and participating!
May 8th, 2008 at 4:01 am
In reality there is nothing wrong with eugenics, the problem occurs when it is governments and not parents who practice it.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:38 am
What always stands out in ‘discussions’ that link Darwin with eugenics, is the fact that eugenics is not natural selection and is therefore not Darwinism. If anything, perhaps, eugenics is Mendel-ism.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Parrot:
Sure. Hope I didn’t hijack the thread too badly.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Hitler’s motivation was purely racial. He wished to create the Volksgemeinschaft - the ideal racial community. If you want to point fingers and blame people for influencing Hitler, there’s a long line off disgusting racialists to choose over a brilliant man like Darwin. It is a harmful misrepresentation, and I hope people know enough history to dismiss it.
May 10th, 2008 at 11:19 am
arkonbey: Eugenics seems to be artificial selection.