science, christianity and the human condition

As the rise of fascist racism in public escalates; and a deadly plague sweeps over the US, the arguments over god and nature are back.  Being somewhat older, I am forever feeling a sense of Deja Vu to the days of Reagan coming into office and the AIDS crisis striking fear across the world.  Two major themes of the Reagan era were the christian propagandist god choose the US over the USSR, and all the problems that Black people and other marginalised groups suffered were their own fault.  These themes remain consistent and loud, coming from the GOP.

So the question becomes linked to what are humans supposed to do with themselves anyway?  Are we designed for some “higher” purpose or biding time until we are sorted into eternal damnation/salvation?  The Abrahamic believers link our design and purpose to god and divine planning, and any deviation from the plan is seen as heretical [ironic given that humans are not supposed to be capable of understanding the divine plan].  In the Abrahamic schema, you are poor and suffering because you are not following the plan. 

As the 18^th century unfolded, this can be seen in eugenics notions that attempted to merge science and christo/fascism.  It is no accident that the prevalent ideas of white supremacy undergirded the popular understandings of evolution.  I always come back to the subtitle of Darwin’s book of Evolution.  The chirsto/fascists see whiteness as the objective of the entire human population.  Given that Darwin told us that the best traits were selected for optimal success of a species, then obviously, the traits of whiteness were the human species’ optimal traits.  Eugenics holds that non-desirable human traits should be bred out [though direct breeding programs if necessary], and those possessing them should be cut out of society and left to die or worked to death for the profit of white people. 

Christianity offers several dangerous narratives that propel white supremacy today.  The linkage of shame, sin and “deformity” works to give chisto/fascists leeway to actively work to harm non-cis, white,christian, male, hetero, non-disabled people.  The presence of traits other than those thought to be cis, white, christian, male, hetero, non-disabled people is something chisto/fascists consider a sign of sin and evil.  Those who have such evident signs of evil marking them out are always already bad and therefore expendable.  Often these arguments revert to pseudoscience in that they have premises that rely on notions of what is biologically normal and best.  God, for these people, designed humans to be a certain biologically normal way.

But what does that mean? What is biologically normal?  Sexually humans come in a wide variety of chromosome combinations.  There is no binary in nature; there are species of other animals that change sex and are parthenogenic.  Humans come in a wide range of skin tones, hair types, sizes and shapes.  As Donna Haraway pointed out long ago, most humans are reliant on technology to sustain their lives and correct defects (do you have teeth fillings? wear glasses? …)

If we take normal as what the “average” human should be like, then statistically, we have issues.  The average human is not a white male.  There are far more Asians on the planet than white people and far more women than men.  Nevertheless, especially in Europe and North America, white males are seen as the norm despite the lower numbers of them worldwide, and even in Europe and North America, there are more women than men.

If we take “normal” to me good (as in gods idea of good) design and therefore better for the continued success of the species, we have more problems.  The notion that god is a singular male figure responsible for the entire universe and your life is not a belief system that relies on the accuracy of historical or scientific fact.  We also know that statistically, men are not a very good design.  Men have higher rates of heart disease, cancer, suicide and infertility compared to women. 

From a non-religious standpoint, the point of life is to live and to help sustain other life.  This means that a wide variety of humans are needed to cope with a wide variety of stresses.  The fact that non-white/cis/hetero/abled/male humans continue to exist despite millennia of attempts of genocide might show that these people are actually better designed for life and should be promoted as the “norm” and good.