Is religion culpable for overpopulation?

Mary Phetheleya, a devout Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) from Sakhome Village, Traditional Authority (T/A)Nkhumba in Phalombe, got into marriage 30 years ago with a strong desire for a six-member family.

Her desire was to have four children, which she felt would match the resources the family had at the time.

She also wanted to ensure the children were accorded maximum support, love and care.

But that was never to be as Phetheleya, 57, ended up bearing seven more children in addition to her desired number.

“We thought a six-member family would be the most ideal for us. But we eventually bore 11 children to fulfill the word of God according to Genesis 1:28, which mandates mankind to multiply and subdue the world,” Phetheleya explains in a recent interview.

Despite her worries, she was happy that with such a huge number of children, the family had made a significant contribution towards the world conquest.

But Pastor Chrispin Khonde of Balaka SDA Church, in a separate interview, said Phetheleya is one of several Christians that have imposed on themselves larger-than-life families in the name of fulfilling God’s mandate.

Khonde said theist couples all over the world tend to have more children as a sign of fear and obedience to God.

“On the basis of the creation story in Genesis, some believers have advocated for the maximum utilisation of fertility among couples. Many Christians have resisted contraception, not because birth control is itself abhorred, but because abortion is sinful. This is more so because the line separating abortion and contraception is so thin, most churches decided to play it safe by rejecting both,” he said.

Regrettably, the church’s decision has not been without a cost. Failure to control childbirths has led to overpopulation, which, in the end, has led to the depletion of natural resources that support human survival.

The earth can only produce a limited amount of water and food, which is falling short of the current needs.

The environmental damage being seen today is a result of the growing number of people on earth.

People are wantonly cutting down forests, hunting wildlife with reckless abandon, causing pollution and creating a host of many other problems.

Additionally, overpopulation has led to an increase in acts of violence and aggression among people as they compete for resources.

An economist in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Daniel Gareta, says overpopulation in a developing country such as Malawi, puts a major strain on the resources it should be utilising for development.

Gareta observes that overpopulation pushes upwards prices of various commodities, including food, shelter and healthcare as supply fails to satisfy the demand.

This leads poor families into severe destitution, which, in turn, may lead to escalation of criminal activities in a country.

“Generally, overpopulation gives rise to unemployment as there are fewer jobs to support large numbers of people. And a rise in unemployment gives rise to crime as people turn to theft, fraud and dishonesty to feed their families and provide them with basic amenities of life,” he argues.

Gareta warns that the situation may become worse if solutions to address factors affecting Malawi’s population are not found.

Population and Family Planning Programme Advisor for Futures Group-Health Policy Project (HPP), LastonMteka-Banda, said recently that his organisation has engaged faith leaders in mobilising believers to take key roles in managing population growth in light of the resource scarcity in the country.

Mteka-Banda said HPP, in partnership with Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, is currently running family planning advocacy and awareness campaigns in Balaka, Kasungu and Lilongwe in an effort to address rapid population growth.

Basically, the campaign aims at mobilising believers to embrace various forms of family planning to curb rapid increase of population.

“To achieve this goal, special weekends have been set aside for faith leaders to talk about family planning issues while citing relevant verses from their holy books,” he said.

Pastor Khonde says religion cannot be held responsible for overpopulation, arguing that the Bible was clear on the need to plan one’s family and control childbirth.

“Adam and Eve were the first to control childbirth. They had their first child (Cain) at 130. Their second child (Set) was born 670 years later. Isn’t this family planning?” asks the pastor.

He said prominent prophets such as Abraham, Isaac, Noah and Jacob planned and controlled childbirth.

“Abraham had one child, Noah had three while Isaac bore two children only. The challenge with latter-day believers is lack of self-control and they’re deliberately misinterpreting Genesis 1:28 to justify their failures,” he claims.