
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, August 28, 1994                   TAG: 9410120004
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: D22   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE MORALITY OF POPULATION GROWTH

RELIGIOUS AS well as economic, political and social deliberations will bear on policy decisions next month when the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development convenes in Cairo to try to chart a course for slowing global population growth. Agreement on the need seems to be at hand; proposed solutions are what bedevil the population debate.

Pope John Paul II, as head of the Catholic Church with its huge worldwide membership, commands a wide audience among people of all faiths. So when he raises moral objections to reproductive rights for women, he is heard, and his position carries weight. He has called an action plan proposed for the conference a "serious setback for humanity."

Many other religious leaders, however - including some Catholics - who also hold their faith deeply, take a different spiritual view. They say it is moral to ensure reproductive rights and to empower women to gain control over decisions crucial to their own and their families' well-being - decisions as basic as family size.

Besides the pope's followers and other conservatives who have taken a firm position against abortion, religious organizations haven't played a prominent role in framing the global population debate. But some religious leaders who oppose the Vatican's stance against any artificial means of birth control are increasingly speaking out for moral reflection on the issue. They are calling on people of faith to consider sustainable global development in the context of their religious traditions.

Some pastors and theologians in the Judeo-Christian tradition, for example, observe that God gave men and women responsibility for stewardship of the Earth in the biblical creation story, and made a covenant with "every living creature" after the flood. Considering it took 10,000 generations to populate the Earth with 2.5 billion people, and one generation to double that number, they say that proper stewardship - reflecting a spiritual affection for creation - requires a balancing of population and resources.

To be sure, there is more to population growth than family planning and reproductive rights - hence common ground on which conference delegates might usefully build. Just as important for sustainable development are broader access to education (especially for girls), health care and economic development; and a sustained commitment to fight poverty and to protect the environment. People of faith can find moral guidance for these goals in their religious traditions as well.

Especially in some of the world's poorest countries, though, people can't wait for broader access to education and economic development to bring down population growth. The suffering is great now, and will grow worse. Increased access to family planning remains crucial.

The pope has launched a spirited offensive against the Cairo conference's draft plan of action, and in doing so has staked out a moral position that he is free to maintain and defend. But he and the Catholic hierarchy do not lay claim to the only moral territory on Earth.

by CNB