Environmentalism, Population Control, and the Death of Civilization

Fear is a powerful emotion and becomes a powerful force when divorced from a Christian worldview. Consider the statement from Britain’s “green” adviser: “Families should be restricted to two children, with abortion part of the population control effort to protect the environment,” Baptist Press reports. Fear that the human race won’t survive combined with the notion that this world is all that there is drives misguided individuals to propose foolish measures with consequences far worse than the perceived problem they attempt to solve.

 

Such a snare, as alluded to, proceeds from a worldview opposed to reality. “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7).” Fear must never guide our decision-making process; it does not come from God. When thinking rightly about any situation, the power to analyze and solve problems comes from God. At the same time, love for God and man will be a motivating factor. Certainly the idea of population control is rooted in a complete absorption with self. The fact that such a scheme would gain serious consideration or be thought worthy of mention is due to the loss of “sound mind” in a collective sense as relativism has gripped the Western world.

 

Not only does panic drive people to extreme positions that are rarely viable even on a mere human plane, it impels them to irrationality. In this case, human beings, the most precious commodity the world has, become expendable. Population control by necessity militates against advances in medicine, technology, art, and a civilized culture in general. Economic prosperity cannot exist when the population trends downward. Such a trend affects the number of persons in the market place, the number of persons providing goods and services, and the number of persons engaged in research and development of new ideas. Construction slows, cities shrink, and towns die. Such is the slow death of civilization when the Christian worldview is rejected for human solutions. It is no trivial mandate God has given us to populate the earth in a multiplicative way and subdue it (Gen 1:28).

 

Mere human wisdom applied to problems, real or imagined, is not only bound to failure but rooted in relativism. Population control is but one idea among many. When relativism holds sway, who is to say which solution is right? Which idea is right? In the end, those with power will make the decision based upon their own futile thinking (Eph. 4:17).

 

Of course, that actuality is already in play and the indoctrination process has already begun. “‘I think we will work our way towards a position that says that having more than two children is irresponsible,’ said Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the English government’s Sustainable Development Commission, The Times of London reported.”

 

It is at this very point that Christians need to be awakened to the fact that ideas have consequences and the world’s ideas are relentlessly marching forward. The world has no shortage of evangelists propagating its false gospel of deliverance. While the church sleeps the world speaks. And yet, God has given us the message the world needs and the commission to speak it just as relentlessly.

 

Make no mistake. If ideas like this are not refuted in a potent way, indoctrination will give way to coercion. The sad reality is that many if not most people will have bought into the “propriety” of the position. Such things are not only rooted in fear and ignorance, but the concept that government or someone who is smarter than we are has the right to not only to tell us what to do, that is take away our liberty, but to countermand God’s command. Liberty cannot be sustained in a climate of relativism. In such a climate the world’s version of tolerance must give way to totalitarianism. Politically correct tolerance is but a tool along the way to erase the absolute standard set by God Himself. It goes without saying that those who hold such a position have no problem in attacking God Himself by way of abortion as part of the means of population control (Gen. 9:6).

 

One other issue should be measured here. Jonathon Porritt went on to say, “I am unapologetic about asking people to connect up their own responsibility for their total environmental footprint and how they decide to procreate and how many children they think are appropriate.” These ideas sound good to the human ear. He speaks of responsibility and the fact that people will decide for themselves “how many children they think are appropriate.” First, he’s already suggested a two-child limit. That takes the decision away from parents. Second, he places the decision in a relativistic construct; the parents’ decision is based on what they think. Again, the issue is never what I think. It is always what God thinks. It is the height of arrogance and sin to make any kind of decision on how many children one will have without putting God into the equation.

 

In the end, fear must not be our guide nor may we give ourselves to mere human solutions. And, we as Christians must do more than that. We must ever speak the truth in love. The foundational premise of that truth is quite simply that God is real. With this particular issue, perhaps the next thing to convey is equally straightforward: “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate (Ps. 127:3-5).”

 

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