82 posts · 15 participants · started Jul 31, 2017, 12:36 PM
I’m encountering significant blow back or negative comments by people who are inclined towards spreading misinformation about the UB.
What do you think is the best approach to responding to folks out there who point to “eugenics” as a reason to dismiss the Urantia Book?
There are a lot of resources online. For example, the May 2006 issue of the Journal, published on this site, has an article. See page 19 where it says (apologies for the bad formatting):
Eugenics? Not at all, at least in the
most negative sense.
“That which we, the Life Carriers
do…must man do for himself…”
The plans of improving
the mental and spiritual capacities through improving the
races (the continuation of evolution) must be long term,
over thousands of years; didn’t the Life Carriers have to
wait patiently until favorable results were produced in
order to use them? For fortuitous circumstances appeared
to take advantage of them? They were
not permitted to act
directly on the
natural development of evolution
(733:8). In the same way, continua-
tion of evolution does not ask that
multitudes be exterminated, or that
retarded ones be made to disappear,
or that incorrigible murderers be
executed, or misfits; neither that we
perform experiments of mixing races selectively in order
to find a “superior race.” All these are aberrations. To thus
interpret what
The Urantia Book
says is a mistake that
leads to accusations of racism or other similar insults.
The Urantia Book
clearly indicates the objective: augment
mental and spiritual capacities of people; the method:
act patiently and for the long term on the environment
(the social, moral, educative, environmental conditions);
evolution, not revolution.
Thank you Keryn.
Some how I think this situation of the book being attacked over eugenics is not going to be easy to overcome. The term eugenics and the idea of race improvement in general has been snatched up into everything else that’s being pounded into the pavement of the proverbial “dirt road” of compounded misinformation out there. It leaves me confounded in what to do when it’s thrown up to block the path for honest truth seekers to find what they’re looking for. 
Well, honestly, if you provide the cosmic/ super longterm perspective of TUB as described in the article I cited above and folks are still resisting and pushing back, they are just not ready. Don’t spin your wheels too much. Patience is called for when introducing TUB concepts to folks who are new to it.
Well, our animal cousins are really good at it. Survival of the fittest has produced superior species at the expense of the inferior that have died off. Im certain the Adjutants are at work here but certainly not wisdom, although it would appear that wisdom is happening based solely on success.
The German people of the early 20th century tried it with a madman at the helm, not much wisdom. But they did try to improve their race and I am not certain if anyone has followed up to honestly understand if there was any success because of all the other bad stuff that hangs in the air over it.
Now days its a free for all based mainly on attraction.
I think we are a long way off from practicing eugenics with wisdom. I think we are a long way off from engaging the wisdom Adjutant.
One’s misconceptions and preconceptions is up to the individual to manage. The fact is the term eugenics in the UB must be understood with the following two imperatives: there is only ONE race on Urantia according to the Papers; and, amalgamation of all colors of all peoples is the goal. It’s not racial in any way related to how we think of Race today. The mental, genetic, and social misfits are to be bred out over time with wisdom and love….or not attempted until science, wisdom, ethics, morals, and love can be applied! Or so I understand the text to teach.
Germany did NOT try it….their example is based on pure racism and bigotry…building a super race is one thing, the extermination of populations viewed as inferior is something else entirely. Nothing similar in any regard to eugenics as presented in the UB IMO.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
One’s misconceptions and preconceptions is up to the individual to manage. The fact is the term eugenics in the UB must be understood with the following two imperatives: there is only ONE race on Urantia according to the Papers; and, amalgamation of all colors of all peoples is the goal. It’s not racial in any way related to how we think of Race today. The mental, genetic, and social misfits are to be bred out over time with wisdom and love….or not attempted until science, wisdom, ethics, morals, and love can be applied! Or so I understand the text to teach. Germany did NOT try it….their example is based on pure racism and bigotry…building a super race is one thing, the extermination of populations viewed as inferior is something else entirely. Nothing similar in any regard to eugenics as presented in the UB IMO.
like I said, too much bad stuff associated with the experience to be able to discuss. Beyond all that, science was certainly involved and I believe some day there may be something of value to be found among all the rubble.
recall we are instructed that the study of anything of value requires understanding origin, history and destiny. there is a tendency today to erase history and it’s a mistake.
Thanks for contributing everyone. What I’m hoping, is to steer the discussion towards coming up with a stragedy that will be effective when engaged with honest truth seekers, online specifically, who would otherwise be receptive to inquire about the UB but are put off when atheist bully types butt in to disparage the book, pointing to the “eugenics” or “racism” of the Urantia Book. It happens every time.
I understand we must be patient with everyone and everything but that doesn’t mean we can’t find a way to be more effective.
There are a lot of hungry people out there and I hope you will help me to come up with a method or approach for dealing with this type of negative onslaught.
If you have any ideas about it, I’d like to hear from you.
Try this Van: create a parable about eugenics. Thinking analogy here-how would Jesus talk about it??
obviously the history of the German people WW2 era is analogous to the allegory that Jesus warned about.
Thanks for contributing everyone. What I’m hoping, is to steer the discussion towards coming up with a stragedy that will be effective when engaged with honest truth seekers, online specifically, who would otherwise be receptive to inquire about the UB but are put off when atheist bully types butt in to disparage the book, pointing to the “eugenics” or “racism” of the Urantia Book. It happens every time. I understand we must be patient with everyone and everything but that doesn’t mean we can’t find a way to be more effective. There are a lot of hungry people out there and I hope you will help me to come up with a method or approach for dealing with this type of negative onslaught. If you have any ideas about it, I’d like to hear from you.
While the issue has been a stumbling block for some over my years posting on UB sites, I don’t personally recall or know of any “negative onslaught” on this specific issue. However, I would accept that the issue could be misused by debunkers who have many topics, concepts, and issues in the Papers for their debunking….no virgin birth, no creation in 7 days, evolution as a tool of managed creationism, no blood ransom by crucifiction, etc, etc.
As I said….racism is sometimes the first charge by such ignorance or by such an agenda….but the UB teaches there is but one race – the human race and that mortal epochal progress results in one vast amalgamated race of all colors into one (and NOT white by the way).
So the need seems to be simple clarification and text research to offer the opportunity for the student to learn….and understand. I’ve heard some earnest UB students who also misinterpret the plainly worded information on planetary eugenics. This is not in the hands of this or any prior generation to attempt based on human-wisdom-experience….we await science and ethics and morality and patience and kindness to deliver up policies, protocols, and procedures that will serve the greater good for the greatest number of us all where compassion determines those – not bigotry or race hate or any form of discrimination.
Every color of the rainbow alive today is represented by both superior, normal, and inferior genetics AND every color of every individual can be genetically improved by science to deliver up those bio blessings not fully provided by the Adamic blood lines of yore.
Science will cure and prevent notable diseases, ease child birth, enhance immunities, improve bio-regeneration (self-healing), and extend life expectancy 2 and 3 fold more than today….and so it will….over time….and with more experience and greater wisdom than here today will help our world improve the group and the individual gene pool.
There are those immature and impatient ones who feel the need to cure the world’s ills and deliver L&L in their own generation. Oh the self importance of such impatient spiritual toddlers!! The mortal epochs take time….lots of time.
Or so I think. = )
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
Try this Van: create a parable about eugenics. Thinking analogy here-how would Jesus talk about it?? obviously the history of the German people WW2 era is analogous to the allegory that Jesus warned about.
Yeah Gene, that’s what I keep asking myself, how would Jesus do it? I haven’t figured it out yet.
While the issue has been a stumbling block for some over my years posting on UB sites, I don’t personally recall or know of any “negative onslaught” on this specific issue. However, I would accept that the issue could be misused by debunkers who have many topics, concepts, and issues in the Papers for their debunking….no virgin birth, no creation in 7 days, evolution as a tool of managed creationism, no blood ransom by crucifiction, etc, etc. As I said….racism is sometimes the first charge by such ignorance or by such an agenda….but the UB teaches there is but one race – the human race and that mortal epochal progress results in one vast amalgamated race of all colors into one (and NOT white by the way). So the need seems to be simple clarification and text research to offer the opportunity for the student to learn….and understand. I’ve heard some earnest UB students who also misinterpret the plainly worded information on planetary eugenics. This is not in the hands of this or any prior generation to attempt based on human-wisdom-experience….we await science and ethics and morality and patience and kindness to deliver up policies, protocols, and procedures that will serve the greater good for the greatest number of us all where compassion determines those – not bigotry or race hate or any form of discrimination. Every color of the rainbow alive today is represented by both superior, normal, and inferior genetics AND every color of every individual can be genetically improved by science to deliver up those bio blessings not fully provided by the Adamic blood lines of yore. Science will cure and prevent notable diseases, ease child birth, enhance immunities, improve bio-regeneration (self-healing), and extend life expectancy 2 and 3 fold more than today….and so it will….over time….and with more experience and greater wisdom than here today will help our world improve the group and the individual gene pool. There are those immature and impatient ones who feel the need to cure the world’s ills and deliver L&L in their own generation. Oh the self importance of such impatient spiritual toddlers!! The mortal epochs take time….lots of time. Or so I think. = )
I guess it just leaves me stumped when challenged by these debunkers. Especially when they go about it as if your a Nazi racist if you read the UB. It’s so sad that these people have judged the book as being evil when all of it is so much the other way around. I guess it’s just par for the course.
Hi Van! I sympathise with your sentiments. Unfortunately the word “eugenics” has attracted so much historical baggage due to the horror of the holocaust but we can inform honest-hearted listeners that the word simply denotes wise and compassionate attempts to improve the human genome with the long-term goal of reducing human suffering due to debilitating diseases and selfish proclivities. The reality is that science has already started doing this, an example being the CRISPR technology which is advancing rapidly, (see the link: http://www.sciencealert.com/breaking-scientists-have-reportedly-used-crispr-to-edit-a-human-embryo-in-the-us-for-the-first-time?utm_source=ScienceAlert+-+Daily+Email+Updates&utm_campaign=4c8bf5967d-MAILCHIMP_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fe5632fb09-4c8bf5967d-365603409) but which requires us to develop a suitable set of ethical guidelines based on wisdom and motivated by love. This is exactly what the UB is warning us about…..we need to improve the human genome but we also need to tread carefully!
(911.5) 81:6.40 Man should be unafraid to experiment with the mechanisms of society. But always should these adventures in cultural adjustment be controlled by those who are fully conversant with the history of social evolution; and always should these innovators be counseled by the wisdom of those who have had practical experience in the domains of contemplated social or economic experiment. No great social or economic change should be attempted suddenly. Time is essential to all types of human adjustment — physical, social, or economic. Only moral and spiritual adjustments can be made on the spur of the moment, and even these require the passing of time for the full outworking of their material and social repercussions. The ideals of the race are the chief support and assurance during the critical times when civilization is in transit from one level to another.
52:6.5 3. Ethical awakening. Only ethical consciousness can unmask the immorality of human intolerance and the sinfulness of fratricidal strife. Only a moral conscience can condemn the evils of national envy and racial jealousy. Only moral beings will ever seek for that spiritual insight which is essential to living the golden rule.
Of course, if these individuals are just out to debunk the UB, then no amount of rational debate will suffice to change their viewpoint. But don’t allow these ones to discourage you! Blessings to you!
I too have dealt with this. The first time I read TUB this was one of the things that put me off.
In the paper that deals with government of a neighboring planet, I came across a passage that deals with genetic courts, executing of the insane, and what seems to be the illemination of those who have undesirable traits such as insanity or mental retardation by not allowing them to breed.
Even applying my experience of breeding horses, I was raised riding and training horses as well as breeding them, I still had my challenges. In horse breeding, you might cross two bloodlines that both have a desirable trait. If you’re lucky, the offspring has the best of both. If not, you have a dud. It is a 50/50 chance that horse breeders take every time. Sometimes they win, sometimes they loose.
An example is a quarter horse named Easy Jet. Type the name and horse after it otherwise you’ll get results having to do with planes. Anyway, the guy that bred his parents did so as an experiment. Turns out the offspring was the founder of a then new bloodline, one that combined the best of two parents. He was one of the greatest champions in all of quarter horse racing history. I happen to know something about him because my dad bought a horse from the man that came up with the idea. We also owned horses that included his bloodline.
Taking all this into account, I still had problems. I could take it to the animal extreme… the plant extreme… but humans? I suppose it is the logical next step. But still. When I read it for the first time, I rebelled at the idea. When I calmed down though I understood it. When I found that the same methods used by the neighboring plannet to control the genetics of the population were the same methods used by Hitler my only thought was what Solomon said. “there is nothing new under the sun.” Of course, by the time I found that last part out I’d been reading the ub for several years.
I have yet to figure out how to solve this problem either. I heard of an all black study group. Everything was going great until they came to this subject in the book. They denounced the book as racest and stopped studying the book. I’m not sure where they were in the book though.
On the other hand, I also listened to a radio program that had an all black panel that were ub readers. The program was on the Cosmic Citizen if memory serves.
Own it, and ask questioners how compassionate it is to keep the current 3500 genetic diseases in the human gene pool? How many more Angelina Jolies’ should have to rip their bodies up just to live an average life? How is it that humans take much better care of their dog and horse genes than their human ones? Why can’t we take an informed, non-coercive course to eliminate the terrible suffering that millions endure as a result of bad genetic make-up, especially now that we have accurate tests, and viable remedies? Why is that we ignore science that informs us there are benign as well as moral and criminal elements to genetics? Why shouldn’t parents be told whether their genes will create a sick baby when we have the technology to pre-test them? And how many more ‘Baby Charlies’ will we create to break their parents hearts having to say goodbye at age one?
“He was diagnosed with mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a rare inherited condition that causes muscle weakness and loss of motor skills. Charlie was the 16th person to ever be diagnosed with the disease, according to his parents.”
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/28/health/charlie-gard-death/index.html
Richard E Warren
In my experience, the biggest hurdle is getting people to accept the notion that there really is such a thing as inferior in the first place. In a world where anything considered superior is evil, it’s going to be a very long time before any serious headway is made on this issue. This world is turned upside down/inside out. Our culture nurtures inferior and shames superior. Elimination of inferior racial strains will never occur in our current culture, so you can assure potential readers that they will not see such a thing in their lifetimes. This is something meant to slowly evolve over thousands of years.
Dosnt anyone think there are very simple things any individual can do? Like if you know you or your spouse have any history of degenerative illness, just don’t have children. That has morality, ethics and determination all built into such a decision-even science without the need for a science education.
i don’t know if there is any value in trying to convince anyone about the validity of any controversial topic presented in TUB.
Upon reflection, I did not need convincing from anyone about the validity of the book, all controversies were resolved one way or another within myself – probably with some help of other readers. (Sincere readers)
In my experience, the biggest hurdle is getting people to accept the notion that there really is such a thing as inferior in the first place. In a world where anything considered superior is evil, it’s going to be a very long time before any serious headway is made on this issue. This world is turned upside down/inside out. Our culture nurtures inferior and shames superior. Elimination of inferior racial strains will never occur in our current culture, so you can assure potential readers that they will not see such a thing in their lifetimes. This is something meant to slowly evolve over thousands of years.
superior inferior is mentioned in TUB many times.
Thanks for the link Julian! Important to note the normal, potential and real evolutionary effects that science delivers to the epochal transformation story!
As to the story of the neighboring planet; we should remember that cannibalism and slavery are given as evolutionary steps of social improvements – the less inferior replacing the more inferior. So…just because one world’s story about isolation and evolution is NO recommendation for our own world…it is but an example of how one world approaches the issue.
Not all facts and stories of history are intended as recommendations! They are opportunities for learning the evolutionary process from prior errors.
"Live loyally today—grow—and tomorrow will attend to itself. The quickest way for a tadpole to become a frog is to live loyally each moment as a tadpole."
In my experience, the biggest hurdle is getting people to accept the notion that there really is such a thing as inferior in the first place. In a world where anything considered superior is evil, it’s going to be a very long time before any serious headway is made on this issue. This world is turned upside down/inside out. Our culture nurtures inferior and shames superior. Elimination of inferior racial strains will never occur in our current culture, so you can assure potential readers that they will not see such a thing in their lifetimes. This is something meant to slowly evolve over thousands of years.
Hmm…Not so sure about that timeline Bonita. Or that it’s a good idea to tell questioners the issue is way off in a remote future, what with galloping technology and rapidly swelling scientific evidence/data.
Soon, say 20-50 years, almost every parent on the planet will have access to genetic testing. No parent wants a defective, diseased baby, and soon they will have a choice about creating one. They will have a ready remedy too, if they have disease producing genes, with the CRISPR break thru, and who knows what other options. Then the inferior/superior debates will be irrelevant with this unfolding technological revolution. It will be about healthy genes, and which ones to conserve (normal vs genius, etc).
Also, we might do well to avoid the word eugenics whenever possible, given its horrendous stigma, and use the term genetic conservation or something similar, a concept that animal breeders recognize and respect. Even humans aren’t allowed to inbreed. The authors reveal a great deal about the advisability of conserving and promoting our better genetic heritage, and they used the word eugenics only once.
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Richard E Warren
Then the inferior/superior debates will be irrelevant with this unfolding technological revolution.It will be about healthy genes, and which ones to conserve (normal vs genius, etc).
Healthy/unhealthy, normal/genius, these are inferior/superior issues Rick. We have not yet evolved a level of wisdom capable of making those determinations with anything close to accuracy. With all likelihood, efforts at genetic engineering in the next 20-50 years will result in another ethical crisis, just as it did in the past. It will evolve, like everything else.
