My Apologies...I Was Wrong

I am often accused by Atheists of refusing to admit when I am in error, but I was certainly was wrong this time.

Last week I said that Charles Darwin wasn’t a racist, and that even if he was, his personal morality was irrelevant when it came to the theory of evolution. But after studying him closely, I have changed my mind.

Let’s look at his own words:

"At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break will then be rendered wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as at present between the negro or Australian and the gorilla."

While the above quote seems as nebulous as one of the prophesies of Nostradamus, close study reveals Darwin’s point. He is predicting that civilized races would replace savage races. The gap between savages and the civilized races would become wider, like the gap he saw between the white races and the ape. That means that there would no longer be a closeness, such as the one he saw between the negro and the gorilla.

He was saying that Blacks were closer to gorillas than the whites were. Who could deny that this is a blatantly racist statement, particularly when contemporary society says that just saying or even putting the "n" word in print, is racism? Yet modern admirers of Darwin try and justify his racism by saying that he loved the Negro, and that he spoke kindly of their intelligence. He wrote during his voyage on the Beagle, "I never saw anything more intelligent than the Negros, especially the Negro or Mulatto children."

After reading Life with a Black Regiment, Darwin wrote to the author to thank him "heartily for the very great pleasure" which it gave him: "I always thought well of the Negroes, from the little which I have seen of them; and I have been delighted to have my vague impressions confirmed, and their character and mental powers so ably discussed." He despised proponents of slavery, referring to them as "the polished savages in England," while saying of a black lieutenant that he’d never met anywhere "a more civil and obliging man."

Charles Darwin believed that the black race was closer to the gorilla than the white race, but he thought that they were friendly, well-behaved, and intelligent. His attitude was similar to that of a man who likes well-trained dogs. He thinks that they are friendly, well-behaved, and some are extremely intelligent.

His racism was blatant, indefensible, and was shaped by his belief in evolution.

Notes:
Charles Darwin, Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Vol. 1 (London: John Murray, 1871), p. 521.
Charles Darwin, Charles Darwin’s Beagle Diary (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 71, Jan. 20, 1832.
Charles Darwin, The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin (London: John Murray, 1887), p. 188.
Beagle Diary, p. 122, March 12, 1832.
Charles Darwin, Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle, Vol. III (London: Henry Colburn, 1839), p. 88.

This Was Predictable:
"captain howdy said... Ray lectures us--His racism was blatant, indefensible, and was shaped by his belief in evolution. Here's what your own 'holy' book says about slavery:

Leviticus 25:44-46 (New International Version): 44 Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can will them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.

Exodus 21:20-21 (New International Version): 20 If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, 21 but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.

You say racism is indefensible. Is slavery indefensible too? If not, why not? If it is, why do you concentrate on Darwin's alleged racism but mysteriously fall silent about your own religion's support and outright endorsement of the filthy practice of slavery? You're a complete hypocrite, Ray."

My reply: "Captain...I find it interesting that you didn't try and justify Darwin's racism--because you can't. Instead, you resort to name-calling, and pointing at another issue--slavery. The problem is, you look at the issue through the colored glasses of cruel American slavery. You think of whips and chains, because our history shapes the word that way for you. In the Bible, the word "slave" and the word "servant" are interchangable. Replace the word "slave" with the word "servant" and it will bring things into perspective for you. By the way; I am fully aware that sinful men justified American slavery from these and other Bible verses. All that does, is confirm that the human heart truly is wicked (including mine). Thanks for your thoughts."