Religions role in the growing Population Problem

Whilst doing an assignment on the population crisis I came asross this statement on the BBC News Website:
"The chief culprit is the United States government, which has been forced by pressure from evangelical Christians and Catholic bishops to actually reduce funds for family planning. "
any thoughts?

[GodlessHeathen]

I would have to ask: where is the population crisis that you're researching? Yes, the US Government does bow to pressure from Fundamentalist religious groups (especially given that our President is a Fundie himself). However, the US doesn't make policy for other countries around the world. The Catholic Church's long-standing anti-condom rule hasn't helped any either (while also helping spread AIDS).

[ghoulslime]

Come pay a visit to the fine city of Los Angeles and observe the countless teenage Latinas pushing their baby wagons around - doomed to lives of underachievement and continued poverty because the GODDAMN Catholic church tells them birth control and abortion are evil. Just a few days ago I overheard a young girl despairing in the supermarket about her future and the future of her baby. She couldn't have been more than 14 years old - so beautiful, so innocent, another victim of Christianity!

I've said it before, and I will say it again, NOTHING has caused more harm to the progress of the human race than religion. :mad:

Religion is built upon tribal instincts. To keep your tribe from getting wiped out by more aggressive tribes, it's necessary to have a high birth rate to offset the inevitable casualties. Correct me if I'm wrong, but many conservatives (by this I mean cultural conservatives) seem to be extremely uneasy about anything that might compete with European cultural dominance. Immigration, high birth rates among minorities and members of other religions, the growing number of non-English speakers in America- all these things send them screaming into the hills. And how many times have you heard some militant gun nut lecture you about if it hadn't been for America, all the Europeans would be speaking Russian right now? Nothing frightens a conservative more than the prospect that they might have to learn a new language, because that would mean that conservatives are no longer the dominant group. In my opinion, if you can't learn at least a few words of another language, you're an idiot.

GodlessHeathen wrote

I would have to ask: where is the population crisis that you're researching? Yes, the US Government does bow to pressure from Fundamentalist religious groups (especially given that our President is a Fundie himself). However, the US doesn't make policy for other countries around the world. The Catholic Church's long-standing anti-condom rule hasn't helped any either (while also helping spread AIDS).

The Global population crisis because it effects everyone.

God, my arse wrote

Whilst doing an assignment on the population crisis I came asross this statement on the BBC News Website:
"The chief culprit is the United States government, which has been forced by pressure from evangelical Christians and Catholic bishops to actually reduce funds for family planning. "
any thoughts?

Of course. As others have alluded to, organized religions want nothing more than young, poor, uneducated and desperate masses. It not only increases their revenue, but also degrades the social status and freedom of women, helps keep the poor poor and serves to further entrench their dogma and increase their power.

I don't really see why they used "actually". That's been the MO for as long as there's been religion. Organized religion has always been the model of political power-grabbing and marketting. Genius, really. Imagine the thought that went into the idea of gaining power by claiming that birth-control is evil and all life is sacred, and then go through all of the rhetoric to support the idea. And then there's the idea of loving others so much that you have to spread the idea to everyone you know, especially the poor and intellectually vulnerable (preferably children). Effectively, every idea in the Bible that looks so good on paper is a basis for brainwashing, recruitment and profiteering. It may be easy enough for us to see them as bullshit, but atheists are practically powerless against such a an institution. Even if you can see how stupid they are, recognizing them as deliberately deleterious is a whole other step.

I don't see this applying to a personal god, as long as it's completely independent of institution and their propaganda (Bible, etc), but that's another issue entirely.

The God of organized religion is an evil genius. I'm almost envious.

ghoulslime wrote

- doomed to lives of underachievement and continued poverty because the GODDAMN Catholic church tells them birth control and abortion are evil.
:

No,doomed to lives etc.,etc.,because they had sex first,then they started thinking..

Let me rephrase:they have children despite the catholic church telling them not to.
All clear?

[Tenspace]

niles wrote

No,doomed to lives etc.,etc.,because they had sex first,then they started thinking..

Do you think that if the Catholic Church was more lenient about discussing birth control methods that the problem wouldn't be so severe? If you teach them at twelve about sex and birth control, do you think you could reduce the number of pregnant 14 year olds?

Let me rephrase:they have children despite the catholic church telling them not to.
All clear?

I thought Catholics were one of the more prodigious baby-making cults out there (my ex-Catholic wife has seven brothers & sisters, for example). The church tells them not to use birth control (except the Rhythm method, so I've heard). Any Catholics want to share their experiences on the subject?

Tenspace

Here's a question--if you consciously use the rhythm method to have sex without procreation, isn't this serving the same purpose as other forms of contraception? And if so, shouldn't this be condemned by the Catholic Church?

There is no population crisis. Have you ever been to Kenya, dude? Or how about Kansas?
Nigga, pleaze.

The real problem is the government pays welfare whores to have children, who will be raised by degenerates to be degenerates, and the government fucks up the economy so it doesn't grow in proper pace to the number of people.
Malthuse was wrong, dude.

Brick,
Regardless of wherever the roots of our culture came, or how distinctly we can still attribute certain traits of our culture from those roots, I believe we now have a culture which is continually changing but always remaining American. I can't back an argument in which we tell a citizen of this country that it's unfortunate he not be able to do business at his bank because all of the new employees don't speak his national language. The national language in my opinion was established to make it easier on this society. While I'm all for teaching our children AT LEAST two languages in school (providing we first upgrade our school system), I will always argue that new citizens or people going for their citizenship should be required to learn enough English to be functional in society. This is an opinion not based on fear of a dominance shift, but on hope for the continued growth and strength of our culture.

niles wrote

No,doomed to lives etc.,etc.,because they had sex first,then they started thinking..

Let me rephrase:they have children despite the catholic church telling them not to.
All clear?

The bible says go forth and procreate, the church is also against protection, so it is their fault. And many poor people are not informed of the consequences of sex. In Nigeria and Ethiopia, catholic countires, many parents did not even know how they came to have children. The Catholic is launched them and thier country in a poverty cycle, which is most difficult to break free from

Crackerus Dadderus wrote

Brick,
Regardless of wherever the roots of our culture came, or how distinctly we can still attribute certain traits of our culture from those roots, I believe we now have a culture which is continually changing but always remaining American. I can't back an argument in which we tell a citizen of this country that it's unfortunate he not be able to do business at his bank because all of the new employees don't speak his national language. The national language in my opinion was established to make it easier on this society. While I'm all for teaching our children AT LEAST two languages in school (providing we first upgrade our school system), I will always argue that new citizens or people going for their citizenship should be required to learn enough English to be functional in society. This is an opinion not based on fear of a dominance shift, but on hope for the continued growth and strength of our culture.

I see what you mean, but I don't think the English language is in any danger, It is the most widespread and second most spoken first language, and most spoken second language. Of the two upcoming superpowers, China and India, one has english as an official language. That is more than Latin, yet it still survives in modern times, in it's original form and the Romance Languages, and english itself.