Whatever Happened to the Human Race?
Overview
“If a mother can kill her own children, then what can be next?” Mother Teresa once asked. What indeed? Once the value of human life has been depreciated, as in Roe v. Wade and the Baby Doe Case, no one is safe. Once “quality of life” is substituted for the absolute value of human life itself, we all are endangered. Already respected scientists are calling for a time period following birth (a week or so) to decide if newborns have “sufficient quality of life” to be allowed to live. Already committees of “medical professionals” would like to decide whether the “quality of life” of the elderly or anyone seriously ill is high enough to allow them to go on living. In this moving book, the renowned pediatric surgeon and Surgeon General of the United States, C. Everett Koop, MD, joins with one of the leading Christian thinkers of our day, Francis A. Schaeffer, to analyze the widespread implications and frightening loss of human rights brought on by today’s practices of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. They see the present as a crucial turning point. Choices are being made that undermine human rights at their most basic level. Practices once labeled “unthinkable” are now considered acceptable. The destruction of human life, young and old, is being sanctioned on an ever-increasing scale by the medical profession, by the courts, by parents, and by silent citizens. “But what can I do?” you ask. “I’m just one person.” You can start by reading this book. Yes, it will shock you. And it will make you weep. But it will also help you see how you can actually make a difference.
Top Highlights
“The Bible teaches that man is made in the image of God and therefore is unique. Remove that teaching, as humanism has done on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and there is no adequate basis for treating people well.” (Page 6)
“Having rejected God, humanistic scientists, philosophers and professors began to teach that only what can be mathematically measured is real and that all reality is like a machine. Man is only one part of the larger cosmic machine. Man is more complicated than the machines people make, but is still a machine, nevertheless.” (Pages 4–5)
“The final measure of mankind’s humanity is how humanely people treat one another.” (Page 1)
“for we are viewing ourselves as mere accidents of the universe.” (Page 6)
“If man is not made in the image of God, nothing then stands in the way of inhumanity. There is no good reason why mankind should be perceived as special. Human life is cheapened. We can see this in many of the major issues being debated in our society today: abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, the increase of child abuse and violence of all kinds, pornography (and its particular kinds of violence as evidenced in sadomasochism), the routine torture of political prisoners in many parts of the world, the crime explosion, and the random violence which surrounds us.” (Page 10)
- Title: Whatever Happened to the Human Race?
- Authors: Francis Schaeffer, C. Everett Koop
- Edition: Revised Edition
- Publisher: Crossway
- Print Publication Date: 1983
- Logos Release Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Abortion › Religious aspects--Christianity; Infanticide › Religious aspects--Christianity; Euthanasia › Religious aspects--Christianity; Pro-life movement › United States
- ISBNs: 9780891072911, 0891072918, 9781433516597, 9781433511721, 9781433511714, 9781433576997, 9781433577017, 9781433577024, 1433516594, 143351172X, 1433511711, 1433576996, 1433577011, 143357702X
- Resource ID: LLS:WHTVRHPPNDHMNRC
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T03:48:38Z