“And so I am giving a new commandment to you now—love each other just as much as I love you. Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35 (Living)
First century Christians were known to rescue abandoned children who had been left exposed to the elements by parents who decided not to care for them. Often, those abandoned children had been born deformed in some way, and the parents were actually following Roman law about discarding children who would be unable to thrive or become productive Roman citizens.
That Roman practice, a form of eugenics (before that word was ever conceived), shows the thinking of hearts not yet transformed by God’s love. The concept of eugenics reached a peak in the 1930’s in Germany and the United States. Following the increased acceptance of Darwin’s theory of evolution, it took the concept of natural selection to an absurd end. It proposed that society could become better and better as those “weak links” (those with deformities, or those deemed to be “feebleminded”) were eliminated from the population.
I would like to say that the concept of eugenics was never really embraced in the United States, and that it was roundly criticized and vanished quickly. However, I can’t say that. The idea of “cleansing” unwanted people from our midst never totally lost its luster.
As Christians, we are called upon, just like those first century Christians, to be salt and light in a world that desperately needs it. We are called to love and protect the most vulnerable people in our midst.
We can do that in different ways, of course, and we start with finding the people closest to us who need help and protection. They are all around us, we just need to be aware.
Prayer: Lord, give us the strength to love people right where we find them, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 