"In 1914, Sanger launched The Woman Rebel, a newspaper advocating birth control. She also separated from William Sanger. In 1916, Sanger opened a family planning and birth control clinic in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn, the first of its kind in the United States. It was raided by the police and Sanger was arrested for violating the post office's obscenity laws by sending birth control information by mail. Sanger fled to Europe to escape prosecution. There, she had an affair with the famous science-fiction author, H. G. Wells. The following year, she returned to the U.S. and resumed her activities, launching the periodical The Birth Control Review and Birth Control News."
This part was a little funny, especially in light of what many Democrats said before GWB's election:
"During the 1960 presidential elections, Sanger was dismayed by candidate John F. Kennedy's position on birth control (though a Catholic, Kennedy did not believe birth control should be a matter of government policy). She threatened to leave the country if Kennedy were elected, but evidently reconsidered after Kennedy won the election."
Bwaaahaaa! But I digress.
I call her an enemy of the family because she was. Here's an excerpt from Amy's piece (emphasis mostly mine):
I wanted to preface her quote with the case that Sanger makes autonomous statements, and that as Christians, we do not have the right to do as such, though it may seem a proper and logical thing to do in a post-modern world. In the chapter which the quote appears, The Wickedness of Creating Large Families, Sanger begins by saying this, "The most serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families. The most immoral practice of the day is breeding too many children."
And I’m making sweeping statements, broad judgments?! By her statement, this cookie baking stay-at-home mom with a minivan is worse than Hitler, Stalin, and some guy making video tapes in Afghanistan (or is it Pakistan?).
Sanger argues that large families are a burden on mothers, fathers, and society at large. The context in which the quote is found–-The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it–-is among a paragraph discussing the morality and mortality rate of children in large families.
[Amy quotes Sanger, below]
"Many, perhaps, will think it idle to go farther in demonstrating the immorality [Amy wrote: notice the word here is 'immorality,' not 'mortality!'] of large families, but since there is still an abundance of proof at hand, it may be offered for the sake of those who find difficulty in adjusting old-fashioned ideas to the facts. The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it….The probability of a child handicapped by a weak constitution, an overcrowded home, inadequate food and care, and possibly a deficient mental equipment, winding up in prison or an almshouse, is too evident for comment. Every jail, hospital for the insane, reformatory and institution for the feebleminded cries out against the evils of too prolific breeding among wage-workers."
Sanger's words, particularly "The most serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families. The most immoral practice of the day is breeding too many children," struck me as very similar to something Aleister Crowley, the most prominent and prolific satanist of the last century, once wrote. He said that the family was "public enemy number one." "Curse them! They are always in the way," he said. Sounds like he and Sanger were of like minds to me. here's the Wikipedia's version of his life, but I would argue with conviction that he never stopped being a satanist.
I've only partially quoted Amy here, so certainly check the whole post out for yourself. More than worth the read.
If you want to know more about Crowley's role as the human architect for the New Age, get a copy of Rock N Roll Sorcerers of the New Age Revolution. One of the best tapes EVER.
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