Comments on: Charles Darwin and the children of the evolution

By: Ross

Ross — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:06:53 +0000

The “Rope,” that serves as the title for Hitchcock’s film, is itself a reference to one of Nietzsche’s most Darwinian images; that of mankind as a metaphoric rope across the abyss, between ape and superman. Famed lawyer Clarence Darrow, when defending Leopold and Loeb, claimed that the two murderers had been driven to kill after being taught Darwinian Natural Selection in school. Ironic, if not amusing, seeing as how Darrow would not long after become enshrined as the great advocate of Darwinism in public education, through his role in the famous “Scope’s Monkey Trial.” Though, technically this marks the celebrated Darrow as both a hypocrite and the prototypical “sleazy lawyer,” his aforementioned defense of Leopold and Loeb may have been valid. The evolutionary text book, at the heart of the Scope’s trial, lauded the European races as the highest strata of humanity, with individuals of African decent placed at the very bottom. Though Leopold and Loeb’s killing weren’t racially motivated, they were still informed by the idea that some humans were higher forms of life than others. Hopefully, more people will begin to acknowledge the unfortunate history of Darwinism and challenge it’s dehumanizing contentions so who are spared another situation like Nazi Germany.

By: Justin Russell

Justin Russell — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:33:22 +0000

This is a very good article to have actually appeared in the mainstream press here in the U.K. This story is singularly conspicuous amongst all the pro-Darwin hoopla recently with the double centenary that the scientific community has been celebrating with Darwin’s Origin of Species and his birthday.

By: Ross

Ross — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:43:50 +0000

Note where the author writes, “Of course, it is not unusual for homicidal maniacs to cite great writers when seeking to justify their crimes. The Chicago spree-killers Leopold and Loeb (the models for Hitchcock’s 1948 film, Rope) claimed Friedrich Nietzsche as their muse, as did the Moors murderer Ian Brady.” This almost comes off as if to say, “Crazy people are libel to blame any random person” but if one understands just how much Nietzchean philosophy is premised on Darwinism in the first place, the toxic effect of his evolutionary ideology becomes all the more apparent.

By: Phillip D. Collins

Phillip D. Collins — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:46:34 +0000

Ideas portend certain existential consequences. Guess we all know Darwin’s ideas produce.