<Is this discussion about religion ever going to run its course? I have only one
problem with the Catholic church and that would be it's stance on procreation.>
Whoa, MSB!!! If you think the discussion about religion at Feelings was full of controversy, I'm not sure you would want to bring up population control instead. But since you did, I will throw in my opinion as well.
The position of the Catholic Church on birth control and the advantage of large families worked well during the Middle Ages, after the Black Plague decimated the population of Europe. In the twentieth century, it continued to work in a way that benefitted the Vatican, since it greatly increased the number of Catholics on earth.
However, now the situation seems totally out of control. AIDS in the third world is largely a heterosexual disease of the poor, who live in overcrowded conditions without clean drinking water or modern medicines. Their immune systems are made vulnerable by constant unsanitary conditions, and their lack of education makes public health programs about drug use and sexually transmitted diseases difficult to communicate effectively.
The number of AIDS cases worldwide was recently upped to 32,000,000. You can also see just by reading or watching tv that many people die every year because of starvation. Life expectancies in these communities are low to begin with, and many children grow up in abject misery. I have always thought it was bizarre that the Church was such an advocate of life itself, but not quality of life. It doesn't really make sense unless you view it cynically as a way of having more Catholics on earth, or simply that the Vatican is stenotically stuck in policies of the past that no longer make much sense.
I think what is happening is that the earth is so overpopulated that natural controls, like AIDS and other diseases, and starvation, which are really deadly and barbaric ways to handle the situation, are starting to take over as ways of ultimately controlling population. As we become more crowded, more and more people will die, and finally perhaps the population will drop, or at least stop rising so quickly. I read an article last week that said sperm counts are way down everywhere they are being studied. There is speculation this may be due to pesticides, since they really started dropping when they started being used widely. Obviously, people believe pesticides are necessary to feed a huge population efficiently. You can see how all of these strange trends are connected!!!
On the other hand, there are some really barbaric, coercive means of birth control like forced late abortions in China and mandatory injections in Timur. As a woman, I am concerned that in less developed parts of the world where women do not really have autonomy over their own bodies, the trend should be towards education and not mandatory sterilization, for example. Every place where the education levels of women rise, they begin to want fewer children. Having babies makes sense if they provide labor to help grow or gather food, and support their parents in their old age. Countries which institute retirement allowances also have reduced population growth. There is a lot of social and economic policy which can be used to manipulate population, so that people are making rational choices to have fewer children.
Also, it seems a little preachy and smug for wealthy Americans to insist on poor third world women limiting family size. It might help show our concern about population control and global warming if we reduced our share of the world's consumption from the astronomically out-of-proportion 25% we now suck up. Here is an interesting url, with Jane Fonda, of all people, saying the same thing:
rri.org
As I have said many times, my problems with organized religions stem primarily from their harmful political positions and other nefarious activities, which affect us all. Several years ago I read an amazing Newsweek cover story about how Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul conspired to ensure Poland's freedom. In return for the Pope's assistance on that issues, the United States agreed to stop pushing family planning in U.N. programs around the world. Well, several billions of people later, it still seems like a very inappropriate use of power. The religious views of Catholic leaders should not impact on my survival possibilities, and particularly those of my grandchildren, on the planet earth, but they do, and I believe that is wrong, immoral, whatever, an obscene use of political power in any case. Here is a url discussing the C.I.A., Reagan and the Pope and this conspiracy:
detnews.com
Hey, let's change the subject, MSB!!! I wouldn't be too concerned if you don't recognize the song titles on Jewel albums. I have the one she did last year, and almost all the songs are beautiful. I love her voice, particularly. I believe she has newer music out, as well. I find her very soothing. Of course, if there is something in particular you like, you would probably enjoy hearing that over and over more than the other one. Weren't you looking for that Cheryl Crow song also? Did you find it? Everything I have heard of hers is excellent. |
