We knew it was going to happen: scientists call for population control to solve global warming

I have written extensively on the topic of global warming for Catholic Online. I accept the scientific consensus that the problem is real, is man-made, and compels us to change our behavior to mitigate ecological disaster. But I have also warned against immoral responses to the crisis; that sooner or later someone would suggest the unthinkable. That moment has arrived. 

Highlights

By Marshall Connolly (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
11/6/2019 (5 years ago)

Published in Green

Keywords: global warming, science, population control

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - Some 11,258 scientists have put their name to a document calling for population control as a response to anthropocentric (man-made) global warming. They have called for a gradual reduction in population to reduce consumption and pressure on the natural environment which we rely on for survival. You can read more about that here. 

In my work I have spoken with and debated a great number of skeptics, including some who are well-versed and credentialed. In nearly all cases they expressed the same underlying concern. That the global warming narrative is an effort at control. My advocacy has been that we need to come to grips with the science, which overwhelmingly proves human activity is warming the planet faster than nature can adapt. Only then can these important voices address the question of what we should do about the crisis. 

I want these allies, especially the Christian ones, because once they agree there is a problem, they can join me in calling for a moral and ethical solution. To be clear, "population control" is not a moral or ethical proposal. 

Certainly, it would work. Fewer people means less consumption and lower emissions. That is beyond dispute. But population control does not mean we simply stop procreative behavior. It means we encourage contraceptives, abortifacents, abortion, sterilizations, and possibly even euthanasia. we start making god-like decisions over who lives and who dies, who can have children, and who cannot. 

Instead of changing the nature of our economic activity and patters of consumption, we find it easier to suggest the elimination of human beings from the equation. Wow. 

Under no circumstances should any proposal which includes the destruction of human life, including in the womb, be considered. It should be criminal to suggest such a thing. It is certainly immoral. 

As Catholic Christians, we need to use our prayers and our voices to resist this evil. On this question, I have common ground with skeptics. The fact of global warming isn't an excuse to engage in evil. But a caveat: likewise, the presence of evil does not mean we should ignore the issue or deny it. Instead, we must come together to find moral solutions to common problems. 

It isn't enough we do something. We must do the right thing. 

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