Fresh water is issue number one. The increasing demand of an exponentially growing human population (coyotes) put on fresh water (rabbits) is creating less available water in many parts of the world. In other parts of the world it is creating dirty, more highly contaminated water. Even swimming in many Midwest American streams can lead to sickness and eating fish from these waterways runs the risk of incurring negative long-term health impacts.
Food availability is issue number two. There is a finite amount of land to grow our grains, dairy and meats on. Needed (even consciously planned) development converts more cropland to urban land. We know the pictures of hungry people across the world. They have always been with us. We donate our money and support efforts like the green revolution—the beneficial outcomes of which can be debated—and still the problem of food shortage grows. I would argue that there is plenty of food that our world can still provide, but our food factories (so-called corporate farms) exacerbate a lack of food security in an increasingly consumptive population.
The non-human world is issue number three. The United States is a model to other countries for setting aside natural areas for preservation and conservation. And yet even here these resources are being diminished by the needs of a growing population, whether that be for fuel or recreation.
The consequences of having too many people on this earth are real. Having 5 kids doesn’t make the last two less valuable and, sure, they were ‘meant to be’, but maybe you had potential in your choice and you didn’t reach that potential. Not reaching potential is human, but should we not get back up and strive for it—encouraging others to do the same? I believe clinging to a literal interpretation of Gen. 1:28—that still today God wants everyone to have lots of kids—would necessitate ignoring the needs of the world around us.
My friend in his blog that documents his journey of adopting two kids wrote that if you are pro-life you must be pro-adoption. Making the choice to have one less offspring and adopting a kid is a wonderful way to live love. Have you messed up if you have five kids? No, but maybe don’t have a sixth or consider welcoming an orphan as your next.
I am going to experience the birth of my child coming into this world. It will be amazing. The process from finding out Adrienne was pregnant to a kicking little being inside her large belly is phenomenal. Missing this was something I was willing to forgo, but now that I have the opportunity to experience it, I revel in it and celebrate this new life we are being entrusted with. - Derek
Adrienne had this to add:
God is doing a new thing; the ways in which he’s restoring this world today are different than they were in the beginning of the “story” (God gave the command to Adam to be fruitful and multiply. In a world newly created and the seed of God sparse on the earth, this command was necessary for the perpetuation of the “story”. Years have passed and the command has been faithfully lived out. We now find ourselves in a new chapter). God is living and active, as is his word. His character doesn’t change, but the ways he interacts with the needs of his people do. To walk with him, we too need to adapt to new ways. We need to be people who are led by his Spirit, responding to the present needs of this world as ministers of reconciliation. Rather than hold tightly to a command that had great significance in the day it was spoken, maybe we need to listen for his new “commands” that bear great significance in our current day. Perhaps being responsive to the negative impact that being fruitful and multiplying has on the “least of these”—those we were charged with caring for—as well as on all our “neighbors” —who we also were challenged to love as ourselves—is a good place to start.
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