The Death of Humanity: and the Case for Life

by Richard Weikart

Overview

Do you believe human life is inherently valuable? Unfortunately, in the secularized age of state-sanctioned euthanasia and abortion-on-demand, many are losing faith in the simple value of human life. To the disillusioned, human beings are a cosmic accident whose intrinsic value is worth no more than other animals.

The Death of Humanity explores our culture's declining respect for the sanctity of human life, drawing on philosophy and history to reveal the dark road ahead for society if we lose our faith in human life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621574897
Publisher:	Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date:	04/04/2016
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	221,383
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

The list of Regnery authors reads like a "who's who" of conservative thought, action, and history.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

Introduction 1

1 Man the Machine 23

2 Created from Animals 49

3 My Genes Made Me Do It 89

4 My Upbringing Made Me Do It 123

5 The Love of Pleasure 155

6 Superman's Contempt for Humanity 185

7 A Matter of Life and Death 215

8 The Future of Humanity 253

Conclusion 281

Acknowledgments 289

Notes 291

Index 333

Editorial Reviews

"'Many prominent Western intellectuals have dispensed with the view that humans are created in the image of God and thus have immeasurable value and inalienable rights,' writes Professor Weikart. In my four decades of speaking in university open forums, I have witnessed the logical consequences of this belief that humanity is a cosmic accident: wherever I go I meet student after student troubled by haunting questions of meaning and purpose. Weikart demonstrates the impoverishment of philosophies that reject the Judeo-Christian worldview—but 'still retain some of the vestiges of the Judeo-Christian morality that they claim to spurn'—and shows how Christianity uniquely makes sense of our questions of meaning, purpose, morality, and dignity. His book will sober and challenge you."

—Ravi Zacharias, Speaker and Author of Why Jesus? Rediscovering His Truth in an Age of Mass Marketed Spirituality and other books

" The Death of Humanity is both an eye-opening and sobering book. Weikart tackles some of the most important and pressing worldview challenges related to the devaluing of human life that come from Secularism, Darwinism, transhumanism and more. And yet he provides some critical insights for how to restore the value of human life in a way that is faithful to the teachings of Jesus."

—Sean McDowell, speaker, Biola University professor, and author of over fifteen books, including A New Kind of Apologist

"It is impossible to respond effectively to the moral and legal revolutions of the past few decades—the legalization of abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, same-sex marriage—without knowing their history: How did these practices take root in the modern west and how did they develop? As a professional historian, Richard Weikart is an excellent guide in identifying their intellectual sources. He pins down their philosophical origins and offers a critical evaluation that will give much-needed historical depth to contemporary debates."

—Nancy Pearcey, Professor of Apologetics & Scholar in Residence, Houston Baptist University, and author of Total Truth and Finding Truth

"Richard Weikart's work effectively draws out the clear implications of humans abandoning the biblical God, who is the very basis of their dignity and rights. This is no mere theoretical discussion, however; Weikart's meticulous historical research shows—in this book as in previous ones—the devastating results of God-defying ideologies that predictably turn into dehumanizing ones as well. Highly recommended!"

—Paul Copan, Professor and Pledger Family Chair of Philosophy and Ethics, Palm Beach Atlantic University, and co-author of An Introduction to Biblical Ethics

"In The Death of Humanity , historian Richard Weikart systematically demonstrates that the worst evils of the last one hundred years came about when those with power rejected the intrinsic equal dignity and moral worth of all human life. . . . [W]hether one is religious or secular, we ignore Weikart's prophetic warnings at the very great risk to our own—and more particularly, our posterity’s—liberty and flourishing."

—Wesley J. Smith, Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism and Author of Culture of Death: The Age of “Do Harm” Medicine

"Richard Weikart's book The Death of Humanity is a very well-written, cogently argued work that makes an important contribution to contemporary discussions about bioethics and the value of humans. I endorse it wholeheartedly."

—Jennifer Lahl, President of the Center for Bioethics and Culture and Producer of the documentaries Eggsploitation and Breeders: A Subclass of Women?

"So often I have heard the question, 'How did we ever become so muddled in this twenty-first century? What happened?' This is a question for a historian, who can weave a single coherent story about a great many sources of confusion. Richard Weikart is that historian, and I will be recommending his sane and lucid book often."

—J. Budziszewski, Professor of Government and Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin, and Author of What We Can't Not Know: A Guide

From the Publisher