Conference: Chesterton and Eugenics – The challenge of our time

The Chesterton Institute for Faith & Culture at Seton Hall University, USA in collaboration with Life Network Foundation (Malta), would like to invite the general public to the 3rd Chesterton Conference on Friday 10^th June 2016, at CAK Conference Hall, at S.Sommier Street, Ta’ Paris, Birkirkara, at 7:00pm.

Two distinguished speakers from Seton Hall University (New Jersey, USA): Fr Ian Boyd and Dr Dermot Quinn will be giving two short talks entitled “Chesterton and the Culture of Life” and “Chesterton and the Challenge of Eugenics”. This will be followed by a Q&A session.

Eugenics, simply put, is the controlled and selective breeding of the human race. It was an idea promoted by Darwin’s cousin Francis Galton, gathering momentum in the press around the turn of the 20^th century. The famous George Bernard Shaw even said that nothing but a Eugenic religion could save civilization.

G. K. Chesterton challenged this idea with his book “Eugenics and other Evils” in 1922. Eugenics was later totally discredited after the horrors of social engineering in Hitler’s Germany were exposed.

The term Eugenics is no longer used but today the ideology has resurfaced using the same arguments to promote abortion, euthanasia “and other evils”.