Nature&Religion: "Multiply and Subdue the Earth."

"If the human population of the world continues increasing at its current rate, there will soon be no room for either wildlife or wild places." The immortal words of Sir Peter Scott, the founder of WWF. 

The United Nations Population Division estimates that the global population will be hitting 7.79 billion by 2020. The environmental impacts of increasing pressure on land due to the bulging population size are visible.

Wisdom-filled and logical as Sir Peter's words may be perceived, most religions have always had a reverse view. The world's religions command some of the largest audiences. Their decision thus matters a lot.

Insight as that of the WWF's founder in a religious angle can be viewed as "being worldly-minded." And sometimes, radical religious leaders in heartily safeguard of their faithful from being tainted by men who are focused on earthly things may go ahead advising the followers to stay away from those men.

According to Dr Douglas A. Sylva, the cause of environmental degradation does not appear to be the base number of people in a country, but how those people produce and consume goods, as well as how they are organised politically. Dr Sylva was the director of research at the recently renamed Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute. 

Banking on the case of Russia where one million fewer births than deaths were recorded in the previous year, the Institute's director of research wonders why fertility decline, not fertility growth is emerging as the most serious population problem. "About half of the earth's nations now have below-replacement rate, "further argues Douglas, adding that the world's governments do not have an interest in further reducing fertility. "Nor should they have the authority to do so," remarks the senior researcher.

Whilst Douglas's argument carries intriguing ideas that better enlighten the current discussions around preservation and conservation of the environment, it also exposes one other crucial factor -the contribution of religion to the state of the global environment.  His writing brought to light some of the cornerstone doctrines of the Christian religion. Touching on the subject of fertility, a key determinant of population growth. 

It's also arguably true that a number of programs attempting to control population growth by the use of natural methods like abstinence from sex and mastering the unfolding of the menstruation cycle have always failed in yielding the desired result. 

According to a published investigation report by the BBC, the general Christian acceptance of contraception is relatively new; all churches disapproved of artificial contraception until the start of the 20th century. More in the investigation report, "Modern time Christian churches hold different views about the rightness and wrongness of using birth control." 

"The Roman Catholic church only allows 'natural' birth control," partly reads the report continuing, "artificial birth control is banned." And according to the writer, this means couples should only have sex during the infertile period of a woman's monthly cycle.  

This doctrinal stand presents with no surprise, much catholic faithful having some of the largest numbers of children in the developing countries. Several other Christian sects have the same doctrine as the Catholics on fertility and birth control. It presents with no surprise that prominent critics of artificial contraception emerge from these Christian sects.

These religious critics of artificial contraception will always argue that the issue of fertility should not even be discussed reclining, "God created humans to multiply and subdue the earth." Their interpretation of the word 'subdue' is something "use it the way you like." Their arguments are always inspired by scriptural text Genesis 1:8 in the Judeo-Christian Bible which reads: "God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it."

The Forerunner Bible Commentary, one of the most reliable Bible commentaries interprets the above scripture, Genesis 1:28, much differently: "God did not give man the authority to degrade and destroy the earth but He the authority to be the vocal stewards over nature." Unsurprisingly, the Forerunner, quietens the environmentalists writing, "They (environmentalists) are wrong, however, to blame God for the earth's ecological problems; He is not responsible for man's destruction of the natural world."

Analysis by Abet Tonny, a Ugandan Science Writer.