OVER POPULATION

Elder Russell M. Nelson, in part of a speech he gave at BYU Idaho in 2010 said:

Presently many influential people attribute problems of our day to overpopulation. The concept of overpopulation has become broadly believed and efforts have been made to control birth rates with regrettable results. For any society to survive, its birthrate must average at least 2.16 births per woman.

In the past 50 years the birth rate has dropped in nearly every nation of the world. In the nations of Europe, the birth rate has dropped from a replacement rate of 2.16 children per woman to the present rate of 1.45. Data from the United States shows similar worrisome trends. In 1960 minor children constituted half of the population. Now they are only 30%. Predictions are that by the year 2025 single person households in the U.S. will outnumber families with children.

Meanwhile, the Lord’s command to multiply, be fruitful, replenish the earth and subdue it, has never been rescinded. Now let me ask you a question. Is the world truly overpopulated? Consider the facts. The latest data indicate that the world’s population is 6.8 billion people.

If every one of those 6.8 billion people were allocated 1 quarter of an acre of land. For example, with that formula, a family with a father and a mother and two children would be given one whole acre. If a quarter of an acre were allocated to every man, woman and child today, they would all fit in the country of Brazil, with 20% of Brazil, still left unoccupied; to say nothing about Africa, Europe, North America, the rest of South America, and Asia.

So the real question is: Do we have faith in the word of the Lord? For he said the earth is full and there is enough and to spare. (D&C 104:17)