Historian Richard Weikart insists that the way we think is
the way we live, sometimes with disastrous results:
·
Pekka-Eric Auvinen, who nicknamed himself
“Natural Selector,” murdered eight students at a high school in Finland in
2007. In a YouTube video made shortly before the atrocity he wore a T-shirt
emblazoned with the words “HUMANITY IS OVERRATED” and pointed a pistol at the
camera. In his manifesto he listed what he hated: human rights, equality,
“religious fanatics,” and the “moral majority.” He also listed what he loved:
existentialism, freedom, truth, evolutionary biology, and eugenics. He
explained why he thought humans had no special value ("The Death of Humanity:
And the Case for Life"):
o
“Humans are just a species among other animals
and world does not exist only for humans. Death and killing is not a tragedy,
it happens in nature all the time between all species. Not all human lives are
important or worth saving. Only superior (intelligent, self-aware,
strong-minded) individuals should survive while inferior (stupid, retarded,
weak-minded masses) should perish.”
It is likely that Auvinen also had psychological problems
that could account for his murders, but many have these problems and yet treat
others compassionately. Even though Auvinen might have always owned a handgun,
his socially-derived beliefs put the bullets in its chambers and cocked the
trigger:
o
“Life is just a meaningless coincidence . . .
result of long process of evolution and many several factors, causes and
effects. However, life is also something that an individual wants and
determines it to be. And I’m the dictator and god of my own life. And me, I
have chosen my way. I am prepared to fight and die for my cause. I, as a
natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race
and failures of natural selection.”
Obviously, Darwinism had helped to load Auvinen's gun and
cock its trigger. It provided a convenient rationale. Once he had rejected God,
there was nothing left to stop him from pulling the trigger.
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