THE DEADLY LEGACY OF THOMAS MALTHUS
The myth of overpopulation

Thirty five years ago my geography teacher told me there would not be enough food, air or water by the end of the century: population was growing at such a rate. I am now 51 and have lived to see these scare stories proved wrong. 

Towards the end of the Sixties I attended a L'Abri conference at Battle, near Hastings and heard Edith Schaeffer give (as a Protestant justification for contraception) the argument that the Creator's ordinance was now fulfilled: the earth was full - no need now to multiply. As an Art student I received much help from the Schaeffers and took on board her view of population. More than a decade later Francis Schaeffer woke me up to the horrors of abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. It was from this same remarkable family that I had my thinking overturned regarding human population. I was lent a copy of A Modest Proposal by Franky Schaeffer and Harold Fickett in which with great irony and biting humour they expose the theories of Paul Elrich in his book The Population Bomb. The connection with Malthus and Darwin was pointed out to me by Cathy O'Keefe, an American `Rescuer', on the anti-abortion front. The whole area is of particular interest to creationists as the idea of dramatically increasing populations was seen to be the catalyst for Darwin's theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. Studying Malthus' essay on population, Darwin embraced the idea that populations outstrip food supply. Malthus argued that food increases at a linear rate while populations grow exponentially. This was seen as a major breakthrough by Darwin as it provided the stress factor that creates the battle for survival and ultimately the survival of the fittest. 

In our century, the views of Malthus and Darwin found their practical outworking at the hands of the eugenicists and Birth Control movements. For instance, Marie Stopes feared that "The lowest and worst members of the community produce innumerable tens of thousands of inferior infants, a drain on the resources of the classes above them." Her views were shared by Margaret Sanger founder of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in London. Eventually the worst outworking of Darwin's theories emerged under the Nazis. Even now Malthus influences the world in major ways. 20% of the world lives under the control of the Chinese government with its one child policy for urban areas, two for rural, backed up by enforced abortion and harsh fines. And what of the rich world and its aid to developing countries given on condition of acceptance of birth control policies. Information now declassified showed that the United States regarded the growth potential of Africa as a threat to its own economic stability. 

Of great sadness to me is that the whole issue has hardly been touched by evangelicals. But on a secular level it seems a chink of light is showing. An article by Matt Ridley in the Sunday Telegraph, 9 November, referred to a UN meeting of the previous week convened to discuss: 

"A new population problem - one that already affects 51 countries and will soon spread to another 37 - countries containing two thirds of the world population. That problem is falling numbers of people. Forget the population explosion: it is the population implosion we must worry about." 

It is interesting that this coincides with the appearance on BBC2 of "Scare Stories", a mini series re-evaluating the views of the Green movement - many of whom see human beings as pollution. How refreshing to hear top reporters withdraw their earlier evaluations that the world's famines were a result of overpopulation. They had come to see them as an effect of war and bad government. 

The Roman Catholic Church never did swallow the Malthusian lie, even though it has been so weak on the evolution/creation front. Creationists should have had something to say here as on every issue that touches on the sanctity of human life. Surely God's words recorded in Genesis are timeless. I would suggest the words, "Be fruitful and multiply" still ring loud and clear in the hearts of humankind and will do until the world ends. We never will come to a time when the Psalm can be rewritten that says of children, "Happy is the man that has his quiver full of them." 

At every major breakthrough in God's dealings with mankind Satan has struck at children. How significant, therefore, that we have come to such a far reaching antichild mentality in our time. My wife and I with other evangelicals in the Manchester area felt there was a need for churches to get involved in pro-life work in this culture of death and we formed the organisation Image. Howard Chapman of Basingstoke produced a Factsheet on Population Control for our Counsellor Training Manual. His closing words should move us to action as creationists. 

"Population control is also a symptom of a fundamental desire for control: "We shall be as gods," rather than faith in God's control over his creation. We need to question the eco-babble and population time-bomb myths, the panic that permits us to accept drastic action that involves destroying human life and coercing the poor to do the same. Our generation seems addicted to death and we need to challenge them and support godly initiatives that enable, through good stewardship, for us all to share in the bountiful provision in this world that God has created." 

Jim Fidler, IMAGE (December 1997) 

Further Reading:

A MODEST PROPOSAL, Franky Schaeffer & Harold Fickett, Thomas Nelson, NY. 1984.
IMAGE Factsheet 4, P.O. Box 51, HYDE, Cheshire, SK14 1PY. Tel 0161 368 8875.

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