by: F.R. Duplantier

"Thanks to the population controllers, the overpopulation theory is in the very air that we breathe. We have been force-fed their ideas since we were young." So begins an "an open letter on World Population Awareness Week," published as a full-page advertisement in the October 28^th Washington Times.

Signed by pro-life leaders including Judie Brown of the American Life League, Beverly LaHaye of Concerned Women for America, Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly, and Randy Tate of Christian Coalition, the ad distills the essence of the population controllers' perspective: "that the birth of a baby diminishes us all . . . that parenthood is not a cause for rejoicing, but for sorrow."

The pro-life leaders offer a counterperspective, one based on reality rather than hysteria. "World population is not exploding," they insist. "According to UN statistics, the annual growth of population is less than 2 percent. The world has plenty of food," the pro-lifers affirm. "In 16 of the last 30 years, the world has set records in crop yield and in total production. The world is not overpopulated," they conclude. "The entire world's population could fit into the state of Texas, leaving the rest of the world completely empty."

Famines do occur occasionally, but Brown and her co-signers emphasize that these tragedies "tend to be entirely isolated and regional events that, more often than not, are caused by dictators and warlords using food as a weapon." They also acknowledge the presence of pestilence, but insist "that is not a problem of overpopulation. There is more than enough medicine to cure many diseases. But we spend our money elsewhere." The pro-lifers recognize the scourge of poverty, but attribute it to a lack of development. "Instead of sending millions of dollars to suppress populations," they recommend, "millions should be spent on building roads, hospitals, and schools."

Population controllers offer the same solution for all the world's problems: "further reductions in fertility." Pro-life leaders, on the other hand, argue that "the answers lie in the genius of men and women, not in suppressing their numbers. Man is the greatest resource the world will ever know," they proclaim. "Each and every human being possesses something no animal, vegetable, or mineral possesses: the ability to reason."

The pro-lifers profess their belief "in the goodness of God and in the inventiveness of men and women. History shows that when we act together, we can think and work ourselves out of multiple and seemingly intractable problems," they assert. "We stand not with the pessimists who are frightened of the future, but with the optimists who understand that the greatest days of mankind lie ahead."

Which are you, an optimist or a pessimist? Do you belong to the culture of life, or the culture of death? Do you see a beautiful, boundless, and bountiful world -- or do you see only ugliness, limits, and deprivation? Be careful what you answer, because what you see is a reflection of your own soul.