I am learning so much in my Family Relations class, and it
leaves my head swirling much of the time. In this class I would say we work
quite a bit on critical thinking. This is not to be understood as negative
thinking but more of trying to delve deeper in our understanding of various
issues that affect families.
For years I can remember hearing that the world is
overpopulated. I can remember as a young person hearing on the news that in “x”
amount of years life as we know it would come to an end due to all the resources
being used up and there would not be enough food to feed everyone. Essentially
we would all die. Of course this would make me feel afraid, but thankfully, I
never completely believed it. I remember at some point later coming across a
scripture that read, “For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare;
yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be
agents unto themselves.”
I am a woman of faith and I realize there may be some who
have other beliefs. I share the above scripture because it has been a comfort
to me and given me hope. I share my thoughts not to create contention, but as a
way of understanding where I come from and what makes me the person I am.
This week in my class, the discussion has focused on
Marriage and Family Trends. One of the points of our discussions was a
documentary entitled, “Demographic Winter”. In the documentary a book is
mentioned entitled, “The Population Bomb” by Paul Erlich. In an interview with
Erlich he says that he doesn’t believe population growth is a good thing and
that it is bad for the environment. His opinion is that resources will run out
and people will starve and the planet will be destroyed. He also says it’s
irresponsible to have children, and irresponsible to the grandchildren and
future generations. Many people believe in his claims regarding the beginning
of the end of our planet and couples began have fewer children.
Interestingly enough,
the opposite of what he predicted has happened. We have many resources. Agriculture
has improved and more food in able to be grown in smaller spaces and more
people are fed throughout the world today than years ago. The environment is
better than it has been for years, I acknowledge there are still problems, but
things are improving. There are many people and countries that care deeply
about our planet are working hard to protect it.
Sometimes there is confusion understanding the population
numbers. These population numbers are rising because people are living longer,
not because there has been an explosion of births. For several decades the fertility
rate has been falling. There are many countries in the world including the
United States, in which families are not having enough children to have an
equal replacement value. Some views about child bearing are that is not
important or necessary to have children. Some, view families as being more
problematic, while others feel it will help financially and conserve resources.
The fact is that throughout the world most women are bearing
less than 2 children during their lifetime, and this is of concern. There are a
lot of things that will be affected by a decrease in population worldwide, including
many types of services.
This can all be very discouraging and confusing for all of
us. It may seem that all is lost but, I have hope. We need to focus on our
families and love them. One of my class members brought up an important point
in class, Adam and Eve were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth. Then
there is also the scripture that meant so much to me as a youngster, that there
is “enough and to spare” regarding the earth. If it were a possibility that all
of the horrible things predicted to happen because of overpopulation we would
have been taught otherwise in the scriptures. God knows the very beginning to
the very end. I have borne 7 children,
they have brought more joy into my life than I could have ever thought possible.
My adult children are very hard workers and help make the world a better place
in so many ways. I am doing my best to
raise them into thoughtful, caring, compassionate, and loving people. They have
made my world a better place and I know they will go forward and also make the
world a better place.
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