The Darwin Effect by Jerry Bergman

Another book I have read not so long ago, this time on kindle is, The Darwin Effect by Jerry Bergman. There are a lot of positive things to say about this book. It is enlightening, well researched and a stark reminder of the insidious effects of Darwin and evolutionary theory. Sadly, the book could do with a good editor who would cut out the clutter and repetition.

A wide field is covered including the eugenics movement, racism, H G Wells, the Tasmanian genocide, the Ku Klux Klan, the exploitation of non-westerners, the case of Ota Benga (the pygmy in the zoo), the exploitation of deformed humans, sexism, ruthless capitalism, the Communist holocaust, the Totalitarian holocaust, etc.

In each case modern evolutionists would no doubt condemn what went on in the past but Bergman's thesis is that evolutionary theory has served to promote and perpetuate bad ideas and the reason is that evolutionary theory itself is a problem.

Well worth a read.

Holocaust by Laurence Rees

This is another one from the same source as Silk Roads but shorter (only two thirds of the last one) and easier to read I found. I am familiar with the Nazi story through the three volume work on the Third Reich by Richard J Evans. This work by Laurence Rees narrows down to the death of Jews (and others) under Hitler and carefully sets out the way the whole horrific thing unfolded bit by bit. It is written with great care and thoroughness and a judicious balance of detachment and occasional identification. The only slips are a brief but misjudged slur on the New Testament and a failure to emphasise the effects of Darwinism on the holocaust. The constant references to eye witness accounts gives it a vividness that might be lost otherwise. No matter how much you read such material it is hard to understand how on earth it happened. Only a robust doctrine of man's depravity fits with the facts.

Holiday Books

Pointless History of the World, Laurence Rees on The Holocaust, Mark Forsyth's Etymologicon, Short Poems, John Knox, Welwyn Esther and George Eliot's Clerical Life -All Christmas Gifts

Elie Wiesel - Night

We are all aware of the twentieth century Holocaust and the way it affected the Jews in particular. I am currently going with the family through the story of Corrie Ten Boom using a children's book. I remember reading the book Hiding Place many years ago and seeing the film. I have also seen Schindler's List of course. Humanists as well as Christians played their part. I have visited the Ann Frank House museum in Amsterdam but never actually read the diary. I must do so.

I'm sure there are many books on the subject. I recently became aware of Night by Elie Wiesel, a sober and brief telling of one boy's story beginning in Hungary. I think it was the editors who got it down to the size it is and they are to be praised for that. The result is a lean, spare and gripping piece that hold you and horrifies you. Not matter how many times you go over the story, it is extremely difficult to take in. How those without a thoroughgoing doctrine of total depravity can do it I do not know. Night was first published in 1960 and was followed by two other books - Dawn and The Accident. Wiesel called Night his deposition rather than a novel.

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon

I did not know the story of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon.

Apparently during the Holocaust in France, in a tiny mountain Huguenot village 350 miles from Paris called Le Chambon-sur-lignon, 5,000 Jews, mostly children, found shelter with 5,000 Christians, almost the entire population of the village.

Defying the French government which was collaborating with the Nazis, the villagers of Le Chambon hid Jews in their homes for years. They provided the refugees with forged identification, provided education for the children, ration cards, and sent them to safety in Switzerland.

The Chambonnaise were descendants of the Huguenots, the first Protestants in Catholic France. Having endured persecution in France they were able to understand the plight of the Jews.

Under the leadership of a young French pastor, Andre Trocme, the people of Le Chambon felt it their duty to help people in need, never considering their actions heroic or dangerous. ...

More here