Dale Ridge church of Christ

        Today would have been Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday if he were still alive. Many of us are aware of him as the author of the book Origin of Species. However, how many of us are familiar with Sir Francis Galton (seen in the picture to the right), the father of the ideology known as eugenics? He was Darwin’s cousin who formulated this idea from Darwin’s influence. Whereas Darwin believed in the survival of the fittest in the natural realm, Galton attempted to apply this in an artificial sense in speeding up the process by only allowing the elite in society to have children.

        The word eugenics originates from two Greek words which literally mean “well born” and was coined by Galton. This ideology professes the idea that those who are strong and viewed as productive by society should live while those who are weak and unproductive should be taken out of the way. This idea was put into practice during the 1920′s in Germany and resulted in the extermination of 275,000 German men, women, and children who were viewed as being burdens to the growth of society. This horrible tragedy took place even before Hitler ever came to power and slaughtered 12 million people in the concentration camps.

        Let us ask the question: does all human life have value? Should only certain people be allowed to live while others should be “put out of their misery” so to speak? What does the Bible have to say about the value of human life?

        In Genesis 1:27, we are told that God created man and woman in His own image. If we are made in the image of God, the Creator of all the world, does that not mean that our lives have value and are precious?

        In Matthew 6:25-32, we read how God provides for the sparrows and the lilies and will take care of us as well. Jesus states that we are more valuable to God than even these other creations in nature. If Jesus, the Son of God, says that we are important enough for God to take care of our needs, how can we doubt that our lives have great value?

        In Acts 17:24-28, Paul tells the Athenians of how God gives life and breath to all and how he has made all nations of men of one blood. Paul further explains that we are God’s offspring. If God has made all of us of one blood, how can any one of us be more important than another? If we all are God’s offspring, what right does anyone have to decide who is worthy of life or not?

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Filed under: Devotional, Michael Carter on February 12th, 2009