Donald Trump on Eugenics

Donald Trump on Eugenics September 30, 2016

Sometime back I wrote a piece pointing out that the American Founding depends on a piece of Christian mysticism: the conviction that “all men are created equal”. Relying purely on empirical observation, the conviction that all men are created equal is seemingly without foundation. Some are smarter, dumber, faster, slower, richer, poor, have aptitudes for language, math, etc. It is only from supernatural revelation that we know that God has made us all in his image and likeness and that he is no respecter of persons. And the Founders took this outlook for granted (at least for their fellow whites.) As long as Americans kept taking it for granted the fight for equality before the law kept expanding the circle of human dignity to include more and more people.

But when you cast off that revelation, the expansion stops and you begin to get eugenics: the notion that humans are just one more kind of breeding animal and that those who have superior genes should be encouraged and those without them can be culled.

When I wrote the piece, I assumed it would be the Planned Parenthood Left that would lead the next charge for eugenics. After all, Margaret Sanger was big into it. Indeed, her newsletter bore the banner “To breed a race of thoroughbreds!”

But lo and behold, with the decay of conservatism into the racist alt right and its exaltation of Donald Trump we find the loudest and most overt champions of eugenics are appearing in the party that still inexplicably commands the reflexive and unthinking support of “prolife” Christians.

Eugenics supporters before WWII did not know where their vision for improving the breed and culling the unfit would go. We do. If we support such filth despite knowing it, we invite the everlasting fires of hell. Those to whom much is given, much will be required.


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