Eugenics, Race, and The Urantia Book

The Urantia Book’s depiction of the genetic history of humanity is unique in literature. An appreciation for its statements about eugenics and race can only properly be obtained through a degree of familiarity with its assertions about our genetic history. Of course, this history is not being offered as a justification for anything. As was stated in the previous section, this is not something that cosmology can do on a social level no matter how personally satisfying it may be. Still, the authors of The Urantia Book make statements about our current circumstances that need to be understood within the historical context that the book provides. Assessing the merits of The Urantia Book to a certain extent needs to be done on its own terms, even if one does not buy into the belief system. The historical perspective that it provides is a necessary foundation for considering it in terms of internal consistency, reasonableness, and relevance to our current circumstances.

Some of this background information regarding The Urantia Book’s cosmology and our planet’s history may seem superfluous at the outset. But when the parts of book are introduced that directly address issues of eugenics, the relevance of this information will become more apparent.

Ultimately, the question is whether the authors have a reasonable position on how to appreciate and address our current situation, not whether it is historically accurate. If The Urantia Book is unreasonable in some way, this is a valid form of criticism. Believing in its accuracy ought not to become the issue. This is reemphasized to discourage readers from becoming distracted by disagreements regarding the accuracy of historical statements. Such a personal bias against The Urantia Book’s authenticity is not a reasonable pretext for disparaging its position on eugenics and race any more than a bias in favor of its authenticity provides support for its position on these subjects.

The Urantia Book asserts that humanity began about one million years ago and that initially there was only one race. This it says occurred as the result of a series of progressive evolutionary mutations. (Notwithstanding the associated physical aspects of the mutation that gave rise to the first human beings, it is the accompanying cognitive sophistication necessary for having beliefs of a spiritual nature and the activation of this potential, not physiology, that marks the birth of humanity.) According to The Urantia Book, the various colored races did not appear for another 500,000 years.

850,000 years ago the superior Badonan tribes [a Urantia Book designation] began a warfare of extermination directed against their inferior and animalistic neighbors. In less than one thousand years most of the borderland animal groups of these regions had been either destroyed or driven back to the southern forests. This campaign for the extermination of inferiors brought about a slight improvement in the hill tribes of that age. And the mixed descendants of this improved Badonite stock appeared on the stage of action as an apparently new people—the Neanderthal race.(1)

500,000 years ago the Badonan tribes of the northwestern highlands of India became involved in another great racial struggle. For more than one hundred years this relentless warfare raged, and when the long fight was finished, only about one hundred families were left. But these survivors were the most intelligent and desirable of all the then living descendants of Andon and Fonta [the first two human beings].

And now, among these highland Badonites there was a new and strange occurrence. A man and woman living in the northeastern part of the then inhabited highland region began suddenly to produce a family of unusually intelligent children. This was the Sangik family, the ancestors of all of the six colored races of Urantia. [Sangik is a coined term in The Urantia Book with the etymological meaning: blood-building or blood-foundation.]

These Sangik children, nineteen in number, were not only intelligent above their fellows, but their skins manifested a unique tendency to turn various colors upon exposure to sunlight. Among these nineteen children were five red, two orange, four yellow, two green, four blue, and two indigo. These colors became more pronounced as the children grew older, and when these youths later mated with their fellow tribesmen, all of their offspring tended toward the skin color of the Sangik parent.(2)

The Urantia Book provides details about the migratory history and interrelationships between these six races. The following passages are examples of its extensive coverage of this topic and have been chosen to emphasize the point that there are no longer pure examples of the original Sangik races.

The red men early began to migrate to the northeast, on the heels of the retreating ice, passing around the highlands of India and occupying all of northeastern Asia. They were closely followed by the yellow tribes, who subsequently drove them out of Asia into North America.

When the relatively pure-line remnants of the red race forsook Asia, there were eleven tribes, and they numbered a little over seven thousand men, women, and children. These tribes were accompanied by three small groups of mixed ancestry, the largest of these being a combination of the orange and blue races. These three groups never fully fraternized with the red man and early journeyed southward to Mexico and Central America, where they were later joined by a small group of mixed yellows and reds. These peoples all intermarried and founded a new and amalgamated race, one which was much less warlike than the pure-line red men. Within five thousand years this amalgamated race broke up into three groups, establishing the civilizations respectively of Mexico, Central America, and South America. The South American offshoot did receive a faint touch of the blood of Adam.

To a certain extent the early red and yellow men mingled in Asia, and the offspring of this union journeyed on to the east and along the southern seacoast and, eventually, were driven by the rapidly increasing yellow race onto the peninsulas and near-by islands of the sea. They are the present-day brown men.

The yellow race has continued to occupy the central regions of eastern Asia. Of all the six colored races they have survived in greatest numbers. While the yellow men now and then engaged in racial war, they did not carry on such incessant and relentless wars of extermination as were waged by the red, green, and orange men. These three races virtually destroyed themselves before they were finally all but annihilated by their enemies of other races.(3)

The last of the Sangik peoples to migrate from their center of race origin was the indigo man. About the time the green man was killing off the orange race in Egypt and greatly weakening himself in so doing, the great black exodus started south through Palestine along the coast; and later, when these physically strong indigo peoples overran Egypt, they wiped the green man out of existence by sheer force of numbers. These indigo races absorbed the remnants of the orange man and much of the stock of the green man, and certain of the indigo tribes were considerably improved by this racial amalgamation.

And so it appears that Egypt was first dominated by the orange man, then by the green, followed by the indigo (black) man, and still later by a mongrel race of indigo, blue, and modified green men. . . .

As the Sangik migrations draw to a close, the green and orange races are gone, the red man holds North America, the yellow man eastern Asia, the blue man Europe, and the indigo race has gravitated to Africa. India harbors a blend of the secondary Sangik races, and the brown man, a blend of the red and yellow, holds the islands off the Asiatic coast. An amalgamated race of rather superior potential occupies the highlands of South America. The purer Andonites live in the extreme northern regions of Europe and in Iceland, Greenland, and northeastern North America.(4)

There are no pure races in the world today. The early and original evolutionary peoples of color have only two representative races persisting in the world, the yellow man and the black man; and even these two races are much admixed with the extinct colored peoples. While the so-called white race is predominantly descended from the ancient blue man, it is admixed more or less with all other races much as is the red man of the Americas.(5)

Obviously, The Urantia Book does not support beliefs about “racial purity” and could not be effectively used by anyone attempting to support an agenda related to the aggrandizement of a supposedly “superior and pure race.”

That being said, we now turn our attention towards The Urantia Book’s assertions about developments that gave rise to beliefs about the existence of a “master race.” In order to appreciate this aspect of its teachings about eugenics and race, a degree of Urantia Book theology and cosmology needs to be provided. This part of the discussion also provides the foundation for understanding The Urantia Book’s explanation of what gave rise to the western religious traditions associated with the Adam and Eve story and the Greek mythological traditions pertaining to the Gods coming down from heaven and mating with humans.

As with the providing of historical assertions for the purpose of providing necessary context for The Urantia Book’s statements about eugenics and race, again it is important to bear in mind that bias in favor or against its theology and cosmology, if not kept in check, can easily be turned into a misdirected criticism or support for its statements about eugenics and race.

According to The Urantia Book, human evolution is both gradual and marked by sudden mutations, as was noted earlier regarding the Sangik races.

The continuation of such biologic adjustments is illustrated by the evolution of teeth in the higher Urantia mammals; these attained to thirty-six in man's remote ancestors, and then began an adaptative readjustment toward thirty-two in the dawn man and his near relatives. Now the human species is slowly gravitating toward twenty-eight. The process of evolution is still actively and adaptatively in progress on this planet.(6)

The evolutionary process is designed by celestial beings, which The Urantia Book calls “Life Carriers.” These beings design and implant life on worlds that are suitable for the habitation of a variety of mortal types similar to ourselves. The Life Carriers are said to work in cooperation with a host of other celestial personalities entrusted with the development of mortal worlds. At a certain point in the evolutionary process, a pair of immortal beings, with a genetic endowment specifically suited for the mission, go to the planet to initiate a new phase of biologic upliftment and start a new dispensation of planetary affairs.

And there came a time in the planetary history, almost forty thousand years ago, when the Life Carriers on duty took note that, from a purely biologic standpoint, the developmental progress of the Urantia races was nearing its apex. . . . [The] Life Carriers . . . petition[ed] to the . . . [appropriate celestial administrators] asking that Urantia be inspected with a view to authorizing the dispatch of biologic uplifters, a Material Son and Daughter [Adam and Eve].(7)

The plan was for Adam and Eve’s descendants, who did not share in the immortal quality of their parents, eventually to mate with humans, thus providing the requisite genetic endowment for the next stage of evolutionary development.

The . . . [celestial administrators] counseled Adam not to initiate the program of racial uplift and blending until his own family had numbered one-half million. It was never intended that the Garden should be the permanent home of the Adamites. They were to become emissaries of a new life to all the world; they were to mobilize for unselfish bestowal upon the needy races of earth.(8)

The Urantia Book explains that celestial administrators rarely lose faith in the belief that God exists, (for immortal personalities this is classified as a spiritual rebellion against God), but that on very rare occasions this does occur. Most of our direct celestial administrators and assistants are not perfect and they do have freewill. The Urantia Book teaches that our world suffered not only a rebellion by some of our senior administrators, but also a default (deviance from the ordained plan with which they were entrusted) by the Material Son and Daughter, Adam and Eve. The religious traditions regarding Lucifer, Satan, and the Devil reflect the problems associated with these occurrences; The Urantia Book’s portrayal of these circumstances are quite detailed and explained at length. The story in the Old Testament of Adam and Eve doing what they were forbidden to do, consequently becoming mortal, and having to leave the Garden of Eden reflects assertions made in The Urantia Book regarding problems associated with Adam and Eve’s bestowal to our planet.

It was a source of regret to the Life Carriers that our special efforts to modify intelligent life on Urantia should have been so handicapped by tragic perversions beyond our control: the . . . [Lucifer rebellion] and the Adamic default.

But throughout all of this biologic adventure our greatest disappointment grew out of the reversion of certain primitive plant life to the prechlorophyll levels of parasitic bacteria on such an extensive and unexpected scale. This eventuality in plant-life evolution caused many distressful diseases in the higher mammals, particularly in the more vulnerable human species. When we were confronted with this perplexing situation, we somewhat discounted the difficulties involved because we knew that the subsequent admixture of the Adamic life plasm would so reinforce the resisting powers of the resulting blended race as to make it practically immune to all diseases produced by the vegetable type of organism. But our hopes were doomed to disappointment owing to the misfortune of the Adamic default.(9)

The body cells of the Material Sons and their progeny are far more resistant to disease than are those of the evolutionary beings indigenous to the planet. The body cells of the native races are akin to the living disease-producing microscopic and ultramicroscopic organisms of the realm. These facts explain why the Urantia peoples must do so much by way of scientific effort to withstand so many physical disorders. You would be far more disease resistant if your races carried more of the Adamic life.(10)

Being aware of The Urantia Book’s cosmology to the extent described above is what begins to lay the groundwork for understanding its statements about eugenics and race in context. As responsible citizens of the world, we are accountable for our efforts as agents of progress. Naturally, our efforts will be based on an assessment of the circumstances. With respect to eugenics, a perspective on our history and circumstances is necessary for developing wisdom on how to move forward.

According to The Urantia Book, not only has an intended physiological upgrade been significantly compromised, but also the inherent spiritual receptivity that attends superior genetic qualities has been compromised. Our job as human beings is to be of service to this and all future generations by working for the progressive development of humanity’s genetic endowment.

Biologic evolution and cultural civilization are not necessarily correlated; organic evolution in any age may proceed unhindered in the very midst of cultural decadence. But when lengthy periods of human history are surveyed, it will be observed that eventually evolution and culture become related as cause and effect. Evolution may advance in the absence of culture, but cultural civilization does not flourish without an adequate background of antecedent racial progression. Adam and Eve introduced no art of civilization foreign to the progress of human society, but the Adamic blood did augment the inherent ability of the races and did accelerate the pace of economic development and industrial progression. Adam's bestowal improved the brain power of the races, thereby greatly hastening the processes of natural evolution.(11)

On most of the inhabited worlds [of mortals whose planet has received a Material Son and Daughter] the Gardens of Eden remain as superb cultural centers and continue to function as the social patterns of planetary conduct and usage age after age. Even in early times when the violet peoples are relatively segregated, their schools receive suitable candidates from among the world races, while the industrial developments of the garden open up new channels of commercial intercourse. Thus do the Adams and Eves and their progeny contribute to the sudden expansion of culture and to the rapid improvement of the evolutionary races of their worlds. And all of these relationships are augmented and sealed by the amalgamation of the evolutionary races and the sons of Adam, resulting in the immediate upstepping of biologic status, the quickening of intellectual potential, and the enhancement of spiritual receptivity.(12)

The result of the gift of the Adamic life plasm to the mortal races is an immediate upstepping of intellectual capacity and an acceleration of spiritual progress. There is usually some physical improvement also. On an average world the post-Adamic dispensation is an age of great invention, energy control, and mechanical development. This is the era of the appearance of multiform manufacture and the control of natural forces; it is the golden age of exploration and the final subduing of the planet. Much of the material progress of a world occurs during this time of the inauguration of the development of the physical sciences, just such an epoch as Urantia is now experiencing. Your world is a full dispensation and more behind the average planetary schedule [due to the Lucifer rebellion and the Adamic default].(13)

This is the fuller context for appreciating why the one instance by the authors of the use of the word eugenics is found in a section about our souls and why it is listed along with other crucial cultural currents like ethics, sociology, philosophy, the fine arts, religion, and cosmology.

Footnotes:

1) Urantia Book 64:3.5

2) Urantia Book 64:5.2

3) Urantia Book 64:7.4-7

4) Urantia Book 64:7.14-16

5) Urantia Book 82:6.1

6) Urantia Book 65:6.5

7) Urantia Book 73:0.1

8) Urantia Book 73:7.3

9) Urantia Book 65:5.1,2

10) Urantia Book 76:4.7

11) Urantia Book 81:5.1

12) Urantia Book 51:6.1

13) Urantia Book 52:3.6