Only from intellectuals

There are some things so ridiculous–and in fact, so evil–that only intellectuals could believe them. Like doomsday University of Texas professor Eric Pianka’s intentionally shocking idea that a 90% reduction in the human population is not merely an eventuality (as headlines spin it), but a solution to the “problem” of an overcrowded planet.

Actually, the real problem, as he states it, is anthropocentrism.

“The biggest enemy we face is anthropocentrism,” he said, describing the belief system in which humans are the central element of the universe. “This is that common attitude that everything on this Earth was put here for [human] use.”

Unfortunately, his philosophy goes clearly against the Biblical idea that mankind is indeed here to enjoy as well as to manage Earth’s resources. While there is room in the environmental movement for Christians (in fact, all Christians should be environmental conservationists, in keeping with Adam’s charge), there is no room in Christianity for self-hate and the elevation of animals to human status.

In fact, to Pianka, “a human life is no more valuable than any other—a lizard, a bison, a rhino.” That is where the real evil comes into the equation. This philosophy does not just raise animals to human status, it lowers human status to that of animals. This is what Darwin’s revered theory of evolution has done to the intellectual class–driven them to absurdity.

Pianka essentially advocates the intentional slaughtering of humans through ebola-like viruses. When asked if he believes nature will “bring about this promised devastation” or if humanity’s only choice is to bring it on of its own volition, the story reports:

“…Pianka said ‘Good terrorists would be taking [Ebola Roaston and Ebola Zaire] so that they had microbes they could let loose on the Earth that would kill 90 percent of people.'”

Good terrorists? It is this same type of intellectualized lunacy that became commonplace with “thinkers” like Adolph Hitler, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, and 20th century eugenics “medical” researchers. These self-styled intellectuals all accepted the notion that humans are no different than the animals, and that the survival of the fittest was the highest objective of this “game” called life.

The irony here is that in advocating mass slaughter under the guise of “population thinning,” Pianka completely misses the most patent difference between humans and animals–the capacity to choose between good and evil. By denying such distinctions, Pianka just makes it easier for humans to choose the latter.

UPDATE: 04/06/2006

This is an excerpt from an article that came out today on Pianka’s evil ideas:

There’s no denying that Pianka, even at first glace, seems a little eccentric.

His office, which he has inhabited for 38 years, is cluttered with books, stacks of paper, bones and even a few beers. There’s a photo of him dressed like British naturalist Charles Darwin. Scattered pictures of lizards and a copy of his semi-autobiography, “The Lizard Man Speaks,” reveal his area of expertise — lizards and evolutionary ecology. On his desk, he keeps a stuffed likeness of the Ebola virus that was sent to him by students who enjoyed his speeches.

He is particularly troubled by the recent explosion in the human population. He says we now take up about 50 percent of all livable space on Earth and that people should have no more than two children. Humans, and the way they’ve multiplied, are “no better than bacteria,” he says.

This firms up, to me, that his theology is hyperfocused on Darwinian evolution and the premise that all living things are equal. None have a right to live, and all may be casually killed, because there is no such thing as morality (other than what humans themselves create from their own philosophies).

This was the underlying philosophy of the Nazi’s, and is alive and well today.