Times Tars Phlilipines Population Growth

THE NEW YORK TIMES, March 15 — In a report that read like a warning of a bacterial epidemic, the Times noted with grave alarm the growth of the population in the Philippines. It blamed the Church for resistance to contraception and belittled the viability of natural family planning, referring to it inaccurately as the “rhythm method” and failing to note its high level of effectiveness as admitted even by the United Nations and Planned Parenthood.

The report cited “the influence of the powerful church” as the reason the Philippine government does “little to curb population growth.”

The New York daily noted the Philippines doubled in population in the last 50 years, reaching some 80 million souls, and might well double again in the next 50. The news service criticized the government for failing to promote artificial birth control as other developing countries have done — under heavy pressure from international aid agencies. It noted with surprise the “miniscule” level of AIDS infections in the country but warned of an “explosion to come.”

The Times cited with approval the work of Terry Scott of DKT Philippines, “a local nonprofit organization that advocates condom use” by showing villagers American television programs such as “Sex and the City” and “Friends.”

Christians Afraid After Kashmir Massacre

FIDES, March 28 — The Christian communities of India and Pakistan braced themselves for a new wave of violence, according to Fides, the Vatican missionary news agency, after a massacre on March 24 in which 24 Indians — including women and children — died at the hands of terrorists in the Valley of Kashmir.

A coalition of Christian organizations wrote an official communiquÈ deploring the attack and demanding action “against the perpetrators of these crimes which try to intimidate the population and sabotage the process of peace in the region.”

Population Problem Past Point of No Return

THE TIMES (London), March 28 — Even if Europeans woke up tomorrow and decided to start having children again, it would be too late to make much of a difference, The Timeswarned.

The continent will still be depopulated for decades — or forced to replenish itself by accepting millions of non-Western immigrants, many of them of the Muslim faith.

The paper cited researchers who pointed out there are so few women now of child-bearing age in Europe that even a 1950s-style baby boom would take a long time to have any demographic impact.

“The year 2000 marked a turning point,” the paper noted. “There will be fewer parents in the next generation than in this one.”

The current birth rate in the European Union is only 1.5 per woman compared with the 2.1 or so required simply to replace the existing population.

The studies cited in the paper pointed out that if current trends continue, the population of the European Union will decline by as much as 88 million people, down from its current peak of 375 million. This would make the top-heavy retirement systems of Western Europe completely unsustainable.