Thanks for your post. I've taken the liberty of copying your message
and posting it to the EENet, an e-mail discussion group for
evangelicals and the environment. I'll forward to the ASA list any
results.
A couple of points. You are quite correct in worrying about treating
people as inconveniences. This is an area where Christians can be a
witness to secular environmentalists. We can agree with the fact
there are population problems without resorting to the devaluation of
human life.
I would agree with your analysis on education, etc. To quote from
"Our Common Future," written by the World Commission on Environment
and Development, "Economic development generates resources that can
be used to improve education and health. These improvements, along
with associated social changes, reduce both fertility and mortality
rates. On the other hand, high rates of population growth that eat
into surpluses available for economic and social development can
hinder improvements in education and health" (page 96). This brings
us back to the question of controlling population, which I leave for
this forum to debate.
I would suggest Susan Power Bratton's "Six Billion and More: Human
Population Regulation and Christian Ethics" (John Knox Press, 1992) .
I look forward to this discussion.
Dan
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Daniel Young
Staff Associate
Evangelical Environmental Network
dan@esa.mhs.compuserve.com
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