Luis Gutierrez wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Can you tell us something about how reproductive decision making is > > influenced by religion? <...> > > This is an excellent question. I assume that by "birth control > technology" you mean the entire spectrum of artificial birth control > techniques, including contraceptives, abortifacients, and abortion > procedures, since they are all now supported by technology. > > Religion does have a critical influence on reproductive decision making, > but only minimally via the adoption or rejection of birth control > technology. To my knowledge, the Roman Catholic Church is the only > religious institution that has zero tolerance for abortion and keeps > insisting on a limited use of birth control techniques. There are 1.1 > billion Roman Catholics, but a very small percentage of "practicing > Catholics" actually practice what the church teaches on this matter.
The Roman Catholic Church has a formal policy, and evangelical protestants have an informal policy evidenced by political decisions made by representatives of that electoral bloc, not to mention direct action (sometimes violent) campaigns to harass and oppress practicing physicians. > > I think that the strongest influence of religion on population growth is > via the perpetuation of the patriarchal mindset, which is based to a > significant extent on the "male God" image. There is empirical evidence > that this is the case. For instance, if you compare the population > growth trends in the first and third worlds, it seems clear that the > first world birth rates are declining (perhaps too much?) while the > third world birth rates continue to increase. > This is why I asked the question: can you plot (or point to a plot) of birth rates by the prevalence of what you call the "patriarchal mind set" - I believe you will find the highest birth rates among nations with a high prevalence of Islam. Not to put words in your mouth, but if your hypothesis is true, what do you prescribe as a solution: theological revolution and mass religious conversion? I would think there are more practical lessons to be learned by a careful review of factors known to influence reproductive decision-making and family planning. If you have access to a research library, I would recommend starting with this recent literature review (and the rich bibliography therein): When Does Religion Influence Fertility? Kevin McQuillan _Population and Development Review_ [30, no. 1 (Mar 04): 25-56] "The article concludes that religion plays an influential role when three conditions are satisfied: first, the religion articulates behavioral norms with a bearing on fertility behavior; second, the religion holds the means to communicate these values and promote compliance; and, third, religion forms a central component of the social identity of its followers." http://www.popcouncil.org/publications/pdr/vol30_1.html --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of global environmental change. Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not gratuitously rude. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
