Hitler was influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution

Thanks to Con for his opening. 1. Hitler was a creationist It's important that we keep in mind what this debate is ultimately about. Whether Hitler was a creationist or not is irrelevant to the debate, for even a creationist can be influenced by other worldviews. This debate is simply to decide whether, or not, Hitler was influenced by Darwin's claims, thus employing these principles in Nazi policies. I think the evidence will show that this is indeed the case.In Hitler's words, "There have been human beings, in the baboon category, for at least three hundred thousand years. There is less distance between the man-ape and the ordinary modern man than there is between the ordinary modern man and a man like Schopenhauer." [1] How many creationists do you know who would put man and baboons in the same category, or say that life has been around for at least 300,000 years?? Those who do are called theistic evolutionists, and their existence proves that one can be a creationist, while still being influenced by Darwinism. 2. Other views of Hitler are incompatible with Darwin's theory.No one claims that the entirety of Darwin's beliefs were used by Hitler, thus pointing to differences does not show that no link exists. Many of the quotes provided in my opening will show this link. 3. Hitler never refers to Darwin or evolution in Mein Kampf.Perhaps he doesn't call it that anywhere in the text, but to say that it isn't referred to or implied in any part of Mein Kampf is wishful thinking, and clearly fallacious. I haven't even read the entire work, but have already seen it referred to as Nature's will. 4. Darwin's works were rejected by Nazi authorities.It's obvious that they adapted the principle of natural selection, into their policy of artificial selection. As such, it was necessary to remove literature that would tell the populace that their policies were artificial rather than natural. Depriving the public of that knowledge doesn't mean that the leaders rejected it.5. "Social Darwinism" does not reflect, nor is it a development of, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.If there was no link between the two then it wouldn't be called Social "Darwinism". Granted, it may very well be a bastardization of the real theory by a megalomaniac, but to say that means there is no link is fallacious thinking. If this logic were true then no Christian could be accused of being prejudiced or bigoted because the Bible tells us not to judge, and to love one another. Anyone buy that??***************************************************** Sterilization and Eugenics Few would question the fact that Hitler sought a master Aryan race, who's gene pool would be free from the weaker elements that he viewed as less than human, "life unworthy of life" (Lebensunwertes Leben). In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote:"He who is bodily and mentally not sound and deserving may not perpetuate this misfortune in the bodies of his children. The völkische [people's] state has to perform the most gigantic rearing-task here. One day, however, it will appear as a deed greater than the most victorious wars of our present bourgeois era."An estimated 360,000 people were sterilized by Hitler and his party, to keep the undesirables from infecting the gene pool. Hereditary Health Courts were established to decide the reproductive fate of people with hereditary illnesses. [2] "We all feel that in the distant future many may be faced with problems which can be solved only by a superior race of human beings, a race destined to become master of all the other peoples and which will have at its disposal the means and resources of the whole world." [3]Between 1939-1945, at least 200,000 people were killed under Hitler's "Action T4", as it would later be called.Racial ViewsAgain, Hitler from Mein Kampf: "Therefore on the völkisch principle we cannot admit that one race is equal to another. By recognizing that they are different, the völkisch concept separates mankind into races of superior and inferior quality.""For in a world which would be composed of mongrels and negroids all ideals of human beauty and nobility and all hopes of an idealized future for our humanity would be lost forever. On this planet of ours human culture and civilization are indissolubly bound up with the presence of the Aryan. If he should be exterminated or subjugated, then the dark shroud of a new barbarian era would enfold the earth.""Hence the folk concept of the world is in profound accord with Nature's will; because it restores the free play of the forces which will lead the race through stages of sustained reciprocal education towards a higher type, until finally the best portion of mankind will possess the earth and will be free to work in every domain all over the world and even reach spheres that lie outside the earth."Clearly Hitler believed that it was Nature's will that the Aryan race be protected, and allowed to come to power over all others. Ultimately, the only way to accomplish that would be to assure that inferior genetics were eliminated from the Aryan gene pool.Hitler and Science"Whatever survives these hardships of existence has been tested and tried a thousandfold, hardened and renders fit to continue the process of procreation; so that the same thorough selection will begin all over again. By thus dealing brutally with the individual and recalling him the very moment he shows that he is not fitted for the trials of life, Nature preserves the strength of the race and the species and raises it to the highest degree of efficiency.""By leaving the process of procreation unchecked and by submitting the individual to the hardest preparatory tests in life, Nature selects the best from an abundance of single elements and stamps them as fit to live and carry on the conservation of the species." [4] There is no doubt that Hitler was referring to "natural selection" in these quotes. This was the basis for his combined policies of sterilization, eugenics, and racial purity. It was his goal to help Darwin's theory of "survival of the fit" along by using "artificial selection", a policy by which the master race will be favored by eliminating inferior races and genetically unpure individuals from the gene pool. I don't claim that Darwinism must lead to these extreme policies, or that all evolutionists agree with them, but in Hitler's case that link exists. How one can know what we know about him and yet deny a link to Darwinian thinking is beyond me. Hitler was not a geneticist, biologist, or paleantologist. Where else would his knowledge of natural selection, genetics, evolution from lower forms, the effects of inferior specimens on the gene pool, etc. have come from, if not Darwin??I look forward to the next round, back to Con. 1. http://books.google.com... 2. http://en.wikipedia.org...;3. http://www.hitler.org...;4. http://rationalwiki.org...;