Horrifying US history of eugenics program

[NathanATX]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070413/...cs_anniversary

This article should scare the hell out of us, in light of Dobson & Mohler's proposed eugenics program to eliminate gay people.

I can't believe something this ungodly happened in the US.

Oh yeah... I guess we did have slavery, the genocide of native americans, the japanase camps...

Remind me again of why "I'm proud to be an american"...?

[ladyinred]

How about an in depth history on eugenics in America:http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/ They also went as far as to castrate certain people;http://www.open.org/people1/eugenics..._article_2.htm

[scorpiogirl]

Funny you should mention this...we were just talking about eugenics in my Women in American Politics class last week. It's pretty scary stuff, and my classmates were visibly shocked. Most of them had never heard of eugenics.

[u-dog]

[QUOTE=NathanATX;25841
Remind me again of why "I'm proud to be an american"...?[/QUOTE]

You are proud to be an American because EVENTUALLY this shit ALWAYS gets dragged out in the open and condemned for what it is. America was founded by Calvinists and Unitarians and so our governement and political process is characterized by two seemingly contradictory beliefs.

1. "Human beings are good and can be trusted to govern themselves"

and

2. "Human beings are depraved and you can't trust them any further than you can throw them"

Founding a form of government on this paradox is as close to GENIUS as human beings can get.

[andrewlittle]

Originally Posted by u-dog

You are proud to be an American because EVENTUALLY this shit ALWAYS gets dragged out in the open and condemned for what it is. America was founded by Calvinists and Unitarians and so our governement and political process is characterized by two seemingly contradictory beliefs.

1. "Human beings are good and can be trusted to govern themselves"

and

2. "Human beings are depraved and you can't trust them any further than you can throw them"

Founding a form of government on this paradox is as close to GENIUS as human beings can get.

The only problem is that sometimes some of us Calvinists forget we're human and depraved, and start thinking we're Godly and appointed by God to rule the depraved and helpless masses. It's a short step from genius to insanity.

[u-dog]

Originally Posted by andrewlittle

The only problem is that sometimes some of us Calvinists forget we're human and depraved, and start thinking we're Godly and appointed by God to rule the depraved and helpless masses. It's a short step from genius to insanity.

You bet it is !! but its best when there is a built in realization of this fact that can eventually catch and stop the process. That doesnt mean, however, that innocents won't get ground up before the machine can be brought safely to a stop.

[NathanATX]

Originally Posted by andrewlittle

The only problem is that sometimes some of us Calvinists forget we're human and depraved, and start thinking we're Godly and appointed by God to rule the depraved and helpless masses. It's a short step from genius to insanity.

That's why you need Unitarians! (...I consider myself a Christian universalist)

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by Nathan

Remind me again of why "I'm proud to be an american"...?

You should be proud to be an American because even though this country has some very bad history, it has been learning from its mistakes since 1776. It might not seem like it sometimes but times are better now in America than they've ever been.

When I was a kid here in the South there were seperate restrooms for African Americans. Twenty years before I was born African Americans were lynched without trial. Sixty years before that they were slaves.

When I was a kid in the "good old fifties", gay people were undergoing electro-shock treatment to be cured of their "sickness". Gay bars were raided and closed and the patrons sent to jail. If a gay man or lesbian was killed the police did little or nothing.

In America's past, women were mostly servants, Native Americans were "savages" to be tamed, there were no child labor laws, no unions, and the KKK was a respected American organization with millions of members.

So things have improved a lot in the past 230 years. America continues to get better and you are directly involved in that improvement process. So you have a good reason to be proud. ( Of course, I think you already knew that )

No matter what the religious right says, in America in 2007, these are the good old days.

And if we just keep up the good work, they're going to get even better.

God Bless America!

Rick

[Progo35]

I, too, am horrified to learn that scientists and doctors are endorsing eugenics more and more based on what they believe constitutes a defensible quality of life. Has anyone ever heard of Peter Singer? His appointment at Princeton University is particulary noteworthy, as he contends that infants and the severely disabled or not people. Presumably, Princeton would not employ an academically gifted member of the KKK, but their administration was OKAY with this guy.

Worst of all, all of this is presented in the name of compassion, when it really has "compassion" for those stronger individuals who don't want the burden of caring for the weak and the vulnerable.

It disgusts me that Dobson would endorse such practices, and disheartens me to learn that such historical figures as Mararet Sanger endorsed eugenics. Anyone ever heard of Buck vs. Bell? Probably not, as this is not something mainstream history classes tend to focus on. Its wrong, and I pray to God that it stops. I don't have time to go into the specifics but I encourage people to look it up.