This archive film (CLICK HERE to view) of The Mike Wallace Interview show from 1957 provides a snap-shot of America fifty years ago.
Oh, if only we knew then, what we now see everyday that has resulted from this "birth control" (as it was called) movement. . . With the wisdom of hindsight, we know today, what we would have done then to prevent the horrific outcome of this small bit of yeast (not so long ago).
In this revealing interview, Sanger takes issue with the Catholic Church "hierarchy" concerning natural law, by saying "I think it's untrue and I think it's unnatural." Also, she says that the "hierarchy" has "the wrong attitude towards marriage." Very emphatically she states: ". . . how do they know? I mean, after all, they're celibates. They don't know love, they don't know marriage, they know nothing about bringing up children nor any of the marriage problems of life, and yet they speak to people as if they were God."
Sanger, the self-described feminist and humanitarian, gives several reasons in the interview in favor of birth control, including to relieve suffering from cruelty, to cause the population of the earth to be static (to save people from starving), even to prevent war (resulting from have-not countries attacking others for resources).
It's quite amazing to see, in one brief interview, Sanger demonstrate her beliefs on so many sexual morality issues, such as her praise for Havelock Ellis demonstrating that homosexuality is "not exactly a perverted thing."
At one point, Mike Wallace quotes Sanger from just days prior, concerning the Catholic Church teaching against birth control, saying "it's not only wrong it should be made illegal for any religious group to prohibit dissemination of birth control -- even among its own members".
Speaking about her own theology, Sanger touts eastern religions saying, "I feel that we have divinity within us, and the more we express the good part of our lives, the more the divine within us expresses itself."
And finally, to top it off, when asked about sinfulness, Sanger gives this well-rehearsed response: "I think the greatest sin in the world is bringing children into the world--that have disease from their parents, that have no chance in the world to be a human being practically. Delinquents, prisoners, all sorts of things just marked when they're born."
To read the entire transcript, CLICK HERE.
PS: If for no other reason, you'll want to watch the beginning and end of the film for the nostalgia of seeing Mike Wallace sell Philip Morris cigarettes (and smoke during the entire interview), and then to see Sanger tell Wallace that he had just convinced her to take up smoking, and that her brand will certainly be Philip Morris. Priceless!!
