Some speak about Òpopulation explosion,Ó and others express concern about de-population. Recently, Physicians for Social Responsibility warned, ÒWithout population control, environmental degradation can only increase. The Malthusian prediction that population growth will finally be limited by war, pestilence and famine seems likely to be realized.Ó In 1995, Lester Brown of Worldwatch Institute agreed. ÒSeldom has the world faced an unfolding emergency whose dimensions are as clear as the growing imbalance between food and people.Ó Finally, the Executive Director of the United Nations Funds for Population Activities, Nafis Sadik, said the world needed Òa sustained and concerted program starting immediately to curb worldwide population growth, since continuation of the current trends would trigger a crisis that heightens the risk of future economic and ecological catastrophes.Ó Great fears, therefore, for global overpopulation. And then there are fears of another nature; namely, that of de-population. Apparently, a TV documentary aired in mid-April in the United States, called ÒThe Grandchild Gap with Ben Wattenberg,Ó says that instead of facing over-population due to food shortages, a falling human birth rate may adversely affect all life on earth. Wattenberg cites many causes for de-population, including abortion, birth control, more working women and anxiety of raising children in an increasingly stressful world. (Gleaned from articles in Christian Renewal and The Interim)

Who are we to believe? Is the world becoming over-populated, or is it being de-populated? Is it not wiser to live responsibly in all areas of life before the face of God, and leave the concerns of global population with Him?