It’s one Elaine Riddick knows firsthand.

Raped at 13, Riddick was forcibly sterilized in 1968 by order of the Eugenics Board of North Carolina. The board determined that she was promiscuous, “feeble-minded,” and a perfect candidate for sterilization.

“I felt like it was my fault. I felt like I did something wrong,” Riddick says, fighting back tears on a Coral Ridge Hour television broadcast that airs nationwide August 5. “This is America. This is supposed to be the land of the free. But it wasn’t for me.”

The August 5 segment on Coral Ridge Ministries’ signature TV program, The Coral Ridge Hour, highlights the connection between Charles Darwin and America’s now-discredited eugenics movement. Darwin’s evolutionary theory substitutes a blind, random, cruel, and entirely naturalistic process in which only the fittest survive for the biblical account of creation by a good, gracious, and omnipotent God. Evolution quickly led to eugenics and, later, the forced sterilization in America of more than 60,000 people, including Elaine Riddick.

Additional programs airing in August draw attention to the disturbing, sometimes deadly, social consequences of evolution. Programs include “Scientists Who Believe in Creation” on August 12, and the August 26 broadcast of the one-hour documentary, Darwin’s Deadly Legacy, which links Darwin’s theory to Hitler’s Holocaust. For Coral Ridge Hour listings, go to www.coralridgehour.org.

The August 5 Coral Ridge Hour includes a message from Dr. D. James Kennedy on the ill consequences, including racism, that have resulted from Darwin’s theory. “Racism is basically an evolutionary concept,” Dr. Kennedy states in his message. “The word ‘race’ is never even used in the Bible, except for a foot race, but all of the nineteenth century evolutionists were strong racists, including Darwin, who said that the inferior races at some time in the future would all be destroyed by the superior races.”

The August 5 feature on eugenics and Darwin presents experts Wesley J. Smith, author of Forced Exit; Dr. George Grant, author of Grand Illusions, the definitive book exposing the push for eugenics by Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood; and Dr. John G. West, Senior Fellow at the Seattle-based Discovery Institute.

The August 5 Coral Ridge Hour feature focuses on American eugenics, a twentieth century social movement aimed at producing a “superior race.” Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton, founded the eugenics movement in late nineteenth century Britain after reading Darwin’s The Origin of Species.

America eugenicists advocated the forced sterilization of society’s “unfit” to speed up the process of human evolution and ensure that only the most fit survived. By 1941, compulsory sterilization laws were enacted in 33 states. Some 60,000 individuals in America, including the mentally retarded, the handicapped, blind, deaf, epileptic sufferers, and other “undesirables” were forcibly sterilized by the 1970s.

The August 5 program highlights how American eugenicists influenced their German counterparts during Hitler’s reign. It also notes the overwhelming support for eugenics given by Margaret Sanger, founder of America’s leading abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, and editor of the publication, Woman Rebel: No Gods, No Masters.

“There is no doubt that Darwin’s ideas impacted and still impact our nation and the world,” said Jerry Newcombe, Senior Producer of The Coral Ridge Hour. “Our goal in this special is to show just how destructive Darwin’s teachings—and the rejection of God’s truth—have been, and to highlight one horrific consequence.”

INTERVIEW REQUESTS: To request an interview with Jerry Newcombe, Senior Producer, The Coral Ridge Hour, or to review a DVD copy of the Coral Ridge Hour feature on “American Eugenics,” please contact John Aman at j.aman@crministries.org, or (954) 334-5330.

###

Coral Ridge Ministries is the television, radio, internet, and print outreach of Dr. D. James Kennedy. Its programming reaches more than three million people weekly through more than 600 TV stations, 750 radio outlets and its website, www.coralridge.org.