The Church and eugenics / by Thomas J. Gerard.

  • Thomas John Gerrard
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The Church and eugenics / by Thomas J. Gerard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    The aim of Christian ethics is declared to be the produc¬ tion of— “‘the perfect man'; a man full-grown, complete and entire; spirit, soul, and body altogether without blame. These are eternal values. They involve a drastic re¬ valuation of all the good things of life. They lead us to the conclusion that any sacrifices which a good man would make for the good of his kind ought, when the time comes, to be exacted from those who are not good/’ If the foregoing statement means anything at all it means that religion (or religious ethics) is to be the handmaid of eugenics. The religious ideal is to be subordinated to the eugenic ideal. Nothing else can be implied by the Dean’s statement concerning celibacy and virginity. He expresses his astonishment that— “We do not think it wicked to encourage a beautiful and glorious specimen of womanhood to become a nun or sister of mercy, with vows of perpetual virginity. Here, surely, is a case in which the Eugenics Education Society ought to have something to say. A man or woman belonging to a good stock ought to be told by public opinion that it is a duty to society for him or her to marry and have children.” 1 The truth is that eugenists, from Sir Francis Galton to Dean Inge, have been carried away by the initial racehorse analogy and borne on to the wrong track. The illustration of breeding for points is not one that is applicable to a being with a spiritual nature. Hence we find instead of a sleek steed nothing but a hobby limping all along the line. First a fine physique and constitution is asked for. Then it appears that a worthy citizen must be intelligent. But for an intelligent and muscular citizen a mother’s love is wanted. Yet none of these is possible without an emotional and artistic stimulant. Nay, they must be sanctioned by religious ethics. Whatever factor is introduced it must be directed towards the improvement of the breed, and breed signifies in the mind of the average eugenist either the animal horse or the animal man.
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