Reader comments
Climate change and population control: Be careful what you wish for

Fertility rates among Mormons have certainly gone down. The average family of five children seems to have been repleced by two or three children. Women want to have the opportunity to thrive as professionals as well as parents. The policy preached in the sixties to avoid birth control except for the health of the mother seems to have been drastically sidelined. As a result the population of the church is not increasing much.

The only people who are populating the world now are the muslims - they have it right. The rest of the population are too self serving and self-centered to have and to raise healthy, respectful children. Some people of the world have become too concerned with the unimportant things of life and have push family and good family values to the back. I fear for the world 10 to 20 years from now.

God warned of great tribulations. This will be part of it. Our society makes children a burden, not an asset that God meant them to be. God's goal for us is a garden paradise lifestyle where the children learn to provide for their future families by helping with the gardens and animals and helping the parents build and enlarge their homes or help neighbors and relatives who will live in the same areas. More children are a blessing there.

The employment lifestyle is against God's wisdom; He delivered the children of Israel from bondage. He warned against debt, insurance, seeking riches and honor. We have made great universities to teach those jobs and made them the gods of our life. Now parents are expected to save for their children's education with costs in the tens of thousands a year.

We are going the wrong way. The employment lifestyle is polluting our air, land, water, food and bodies and robbing us of true freedom. The devil is winning. He opposes God's ways and we are right in step with him. To be saved from what we have created, we must turn to IT IS WRITTEN.

Human beings have NEVER had such an abundance of food and comfortable goods to enjoy--except in countries that DON'T practice birth control. Humans have never lived such long, healthy lives. This is due to technology, specialization, increased education for a large percent of people, and increased agricultural productivity. Children are benefited by being born to parents that want them and want them to be educated. The old feudal system of having numerous children to run the farm results in the horrors we see in parts of African and most other 3rd world country. No sensible parent wants that for their children. Over population is literally destroying the planet through pollution and expending irreplaceable resources.

Birth control is good. Maybe somebody can control the mormon rug rats running around the nieghborhood? Some people shoul not be parents yet they keep popping out kids. I hate to see utah in thirty years.

"God warned against insurance"? Really, Marie Devine?

Even if America's TFR dropped to dangerously low levels, we could counter it by allowing more immigration. Great Britain is the same way.

The countries that do have to worry about shrinking populations (and shrinking economies) are countries that have both low birth rates AND a hard time attracting immigrants.

It is amazing how people will condemn the good we do yet I never read were someone complains about the bad things that kids are in to. Kids are in to so much negative things theses days yet when or youth tries to do good people complain why is that?

I have to say the 1:51 commentator should study the actual policies of the Church. These clearly state the decision on when to have children and how to space them should be up to couples and that people should not judge others for having too many or too few children.
I know plenty of young families with five children, I know many people who stopped at 2 or three because having more would seriously endanger the mother's health. Then there are people who struggled long and hard to have even one child and people like Elder Scott and Elder Tenorio who have had one or more children die at birth.
Maybe at times individuals need to make having children and giving bodies to Heavely Father's spirit children a higher priority. At the same time, I think a bigger issue is people turning against the church who were raised in it. While there are many causes of this, and many children raised by the most faithful and loving parents do turn against the truth, there are times when being more committed and open about following the teaching of the church on the part of parents might help.

First Cannon pontificates on philosophy and the history of ideas - a topic for which he has NO qualifications - and now he is trying to preach to us about population growth rates, demographics, and global fertility rates... another topic for which he has NO qualifications!

A word of advice: don't listen to Cannon. He knows less about the things he writes than he does about his own abilities!