During the years of the Dreyfus Affair, we see the rise of anti-Semitism. While we see the greater integration of Jews during this era, we also see the greater exposure to anti-Semitic discrimination. The Dreyfus Affair was an anti-Semitic incident that occupied French society and political forces for many years. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was accused of spying for Germany against France. Evidence was scant except for a piece of paper retrieved from a wastepaper basket by a cleaning woman. Nevertheless, because he was Jewish Dreyfus was considered a person without a fatherland – making him disloyal to any country. We see such anti-Semitic sentiments exposed in the editorial from Civilitas Catholics, a right-wing publication, “The Jew was created by God to serve as a spy wherever treason is in preparation. Ethnic solidarity ties the Jews to each other and prevents them from becoming loyal citizens” (1). We see how such sentiments help create anti-Semitic discrimination and complete disregard for human rights.
One of the goals of religion as an organized social institution is to control the behavior of followers. The Catholic Church has long done so through its concepts of original sin and redemption. This view of man sees human beings as sinful and in need of redemption which only the Church can grant through its unique relationship with God (Christ). Darwin’s theories on evolution and natural selection fly in the face of Catholic mythology because they remove the common progenitors associated with the Catholic Church (Adam and Eve). Thus, original sin and redemption are concepts that have no place in Darwin’s theory of human origins, thereby greatly undermining the validity, authority and power of the Catholic Church. As Darwin wrote, “It must not be supposed that the divergence of each race from the other races and of all from a common stock cannot be traced back to any one pair of progenitors” (43).
Imper...