June 9, 16, 23 and 30 at 9:50 a.m.
Meeting in Second Hall
In the 1960’s, with the world population at about 3 billion people and climbing, alarmists began to warn about the dire consequences of a rapidly growing human population – mass famine, environmental degradation, political unrest, etc. In response, the global community began one of the largest and most coordinated efforts in history to lower birthrates, particularly in the developing world. Since then, the world’s population has more than doubled to approximately 7 billion people. But while the jury is still out on some of the alarmists predictions, it’s clear that the most dire consequences never came to pass.
What is less well known is how successful the world’s efforts have been to lower human fertility. Birth rates have fallen dramatically in all parts of the world – so far, in fact, that most predictions have the size of the global population peaking sometime this century before it hits the 10-billion mark and then declining rapidly. These trends are already apparent in places like Eastern Europe and Japan, and the experience of these countries has raised new causes for alarm. In fact, social scientists and economists now agree – we are headed toward a Demographic Winter which threatens catastrophic social and economic consequences. This time, however, the science behind the predictions is much more certain.
In this class, we will watch parts of a documentary that explores the causes, timing, and consequences of the Demographic Winter, and then talk about the implications of these predictions for the way we think about our role in the world as Christians.