Resources are Scarce, Praying Will Not Help


I remember so clearly when an anti abortion wing nut sat in my office decades ago and corrected me when I said resources in the world are finite and too many people will deplete these resources. He said God would provide resources for us.

Such balderdash results from decades of propaganda provided by churches. People have prayed for more resources but God has not provided then. The know quantities of several resources is getting smaller. The population and consumption per person is growing. It is folly to think a happy future will unfold without some planning and self sacrifice.

Millions of people have moved into the dessert in the U.S. To support all those people, governments moved water from other places to support them. Irrigation farming and watered lawns followed the repositioned water. Now, the supplies of water have diminished but too many people still live there. They have to live somewhere because there are so many of us. It is ridiculous to say population size does not matter and that artificial birth control and abortion make things worse. Things would be worse without them.

Energy use, paving over the earth and polluting the atmosphere are in part because of our insistence on lots of consumption and in part because there are so many of us. The birth rate is decreasing but the population is projected to keep on rising for some time. If religious whackos pass laws against birth control and abortion deaths from pollution and crowding will increase. 

One of the basics of rational thinking is that resources are finite. At time illusions come along that make it appear this is not the case. Short run surpluses occur in things like energy. The fact is once the oil and coal are removed from the earth they do not reappear--at least for millions of years. 

I know it's impossible, but I wish there was a national movement to condemn every preacher and every politician who announces he will be praying for rain. The implication is, "Send me a donation. I am praying for rain." This is a person stealing money from the public.

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