Eugenics and Other Evils

Mr. Chesterton's long essay on eugenics and other evils was written in 1922, just a few years after the close of the 'Great War.' This war was not yet known as World War I, and it could not then be imagined that a greater calamity could be possible. Chesterton ends with the acidic observation that if his readers don't believe how toxic materialistic philosophies are, "neither would they believe though one rose from the dead." Prophetic; Chesterton would die in 1936, a few short years before the horrors of World War II, carried out once again by the hands of those who rejected Christianity and embraced a secular humanism grounded in atheistic evolutionary theory. This deserves our careful consideration, and no author demands it with such wit, humor, and intellect.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton was an English author, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic, best known for creating the fictional priest-detective Father Brown. Born on May 29, 1874, in Kensington, London, Chesterton was educated at St. Paul's Juniors and University College London before studying at the Slade School of Fine Art. His career spanned a variety of genres, from fiction to essays, and he was deeply involved in Christian apologetics, with works like Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man solidifying his place as a prominent thinker of his time. Chesterton's works often reflected his devotion to Christianity and his philosophical musings on society, morality, and faith. He was a close associate of Hilaire Belloc and was influenced by thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas and Charles Dickens. Chesterton married Frances Blogg in 1901, and the couple remained together until his death on June 14, 1936, at the age of 62 in Beaconsfield, United Kingdom. His literary legacy continues to influence writers and thinkers, and his Father Brown stories remain a celebrated part of detective fiction.