I was just reading in Time Magazine the latest trend in world-wide philanthropy. The Red Cross and other helping agencies are being targeted for attack in many unstable areas. Places like Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Chechnya are so dangerous that the agencies are either keeping a low profile or pulling out completely. I remember hearing recruitment drives for the Peace Corps saying something like; “Making the World a better place”. Maybe the world doesn’t want to be a better place. Maybe this isn’t the way to do it.
Recently on an Internet forum there was a discussion on the words ‘inferior’ and ‘superior’ as found in the Urantia Book. This discussion prompted a lot of emotions because the words make us a little uncomfortable when used to describe people. I decided to take a closer look at the passages and came to this conclusion; God wants to make the world a better place, but the responsibility for doing so rests on our shoulders. Improving the human species is not going to happen through God snapping his fingers and making everything all right. This is an erroneous concept given to us by so-called apocalyptic seers. The Urantia Book is quite clear and blunt – inequities in society due to tendencies towards violence, selfishness, manipulation, exploitation etc. will continue until we “manipulate our biologic, intellectual and spiritual resources” (793.3). This means that improving humanity must be done by humanity through manipulation of the gene pool. All of the discussions in The Urantia Book come back to this point. We have the awesome responsibility of eliminating inferior social behavior from the world through means that we deem to be fair and in the greater interests of the world-wide community. A staggering concept.
The book does not tell us how to do this. It does tell us that on a normal planet the Planetary Prince and the Material Son and Daughter decide who can have children (585.4). Inferior “stocks” are eliminated over time. I believe the word “stocks” is used throughout the book to refer to genetically inherited tendencies in people groups. Plans are drawn up on worlds that follow a more normal path to increase higher types of people and decrease lower types (592.2). This plan involves reproductive methods of curtailing physically, mentally and socially inferior people. The writers warn us not to feel false sympathy for people who are hopelessly behind the development curve (592.5). I believe that we are being told that improving our species is all important and defending the reproductive rights of people who are physically, mentally and socially below the norm will lead to greater misery over longer periods of time. Though the Urantia Book does not specifically tell us what to do, in many places it strongly suggests that we institute a restrictive breeding program among people society deems inferior.
That leads to the question of definition. What does inferior mean? I think that the meaning is left up to us. The book uses descriptions like; degenerated, unsalvable, abnormal, inferior, socially unfit, morally degenerate, lost moral heritage, and destroyed spiritual birthright (592.5). It’s up to debate as to how we define in actual human terms what these phrases mean. A morally degenerate soul is lost to one person and salvageable to another. The use of the term inferior in the Urantia Book is not specifically defined. It and all of the other terms the book uses are relative. We define what it means. Once again, humanity must define what normal is and more specifically what below normal is. If homosexuality is found to have a genetic link and we can modify the genes, do we ‘fix’ it or do we consider it an acceptable difference? If we deny the reproductive rights of an individual who commits a violent crime, do we make no exceptions or do we have a cut off for the punishment depending on the level of violence? All of this and more would have to be worked out as humanity defines what the Urantia Book calls inferior.
At this time in the world’s development it is inconceivable that any kind of progressive human race enhancement program will be started. The majority of the population has no problem believing that God is going to come down here and destroy everything He has created in the blink of an eye. But if we promote the human race improvement ideas of the Urantia Book we will be roundly condemned as Nazi’s or psychopaths. However, I believe that is what we must do. We must attempt to educate people on the idea that changing the human species for the better is in our hands. And we need to develop ways to communicate that it can be done. A vast universe is following God’s plan and developing worlds of light and life. We can as well, and we will. I don’t know how we are going to make it happen, but I have faith in people and in the power of God to do great things here on earth. With God’s help, or course, we can make our world a better place. But it sure ain’t going to be easy.
God Bless You,
William Whitehead
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