Population and the Planet

Population and the Planet by Demot Grenham, published by CTS

This is a timely and useful book.  Increasingly, population alarmists are trying to push a programme of birth control, euthanasia and similar toxic solutions to the alleged problem of over-population.

Dermot Grenham takes a balanced look at the issues.  He starts by putting the whole debate in its proper context - that is, when discussing population, we are talking of lots of individual human beings, not some abstract concept.

Then he takes us on a well-informed tour of the issues: a brief introduction to demographics, the history of population concerns, the Catholic Church's position on the issues, and how to deal with the  concerns about overpopulation.  He concludes with a summary of the key demographic vocabulary, and a conclusion that this is a complex debate, not the simplistic one that is often portrayed in the press.  Further, it is a debate in which the Church has wisdom and truth to contribute.

This booklet, then, is not polemical: rather it seeks to inform Catholics about the issues and about the Church's teaching, so that they can further develop their own understanding and engage in the debate in a confident and intelligent fashion.  Given the way opinion-leaders are trying to shape popular understanding at present, that is a vital task for us all.