Monday, June 15, 2015

Over population—Don't use religious dogma for science


This week The Wichita Eagle had an article about a church leader who holds services at River City Brewery in Wichita's Old Town. The Rev. Pat York was featured as he tries to keep Christianity alive for 20 somethings, or millennials as they are called.
I really didn't have a problem with most of the article. I don't have anything against people simply trying to promote their religion. But one thing he told a crowd did bother me:
"The vast majority of you I hope get married," York said. "And have a bunch of little freaky mini-mes that look just like you and have lots of babies for Jesus."
The problem comes up when outdated dogma and dangerous ideas are reinforced, because of religion. The Bible does tell people "Now be fruitful and multiply," (Genesis 9:7).
But that was thousands of years ago. The Earth was not overpopulated then. It is now and this is just one really bad idea that our culture hasn't really dealt with yet.
America isn't as overpopulated as India or China, yet we still have those problems which can be ignored here for now, but the time is coming when we won't be able to ignore them. 
Those problems include the depletion of natural resources, degradation of the environment, increases in unemployment, increased costs of living and even increases the likelihood of wars. At some point there just won't be enough food, land and fuels to give people the kind of life we consider acceptable.
Pollution problems will multiply. The great extinction of so many species of plants and animals will speed up as they are replace by humans. The important thing is that it doesn't have to be that way.
Most industrialized countries have already discouraged large families and most people living in them have learned to avoid having lots of children. In Eastern Euorpe or Japan it is not uncommon to find people only one child or none at all. People in the US still seem to think it is the "Christian thing" to have as many children as possible. But would Jesus really want us to multiply to the point that we can't feed all these people or we can't house them?
Most overpopulation is in the underdeveloped countries were birth control may be non-existent and there is a lack of education. But people in this country really should consider what they are doing when they have large families. The entire world will pay a price soon for having too many children. I'm not opposed to religion, but religions need to stay relevant to the times and the problems we face. Following outdated dogma serves no one—god, Jesus or man.





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