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TWELVE THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA OCTOBER 27. 1956
Scientists Scotch Basis
Scholars’ Testimony On Mafthus
Adds Weight To Question 'How u
Could Toynbee Broadcast Aid U. S.?
(By J. J. Gilbert)
■WASHINGTON, Oct, 22—In re
cent days the Voice of America
has broadcast a talk by a foreign
scholar which advocated popula
tion control and predicted that
traditional religion would be re
placed by something whose
“touchstone” will be the ability
to deal with the problems of suf
fering.
.-The controversial talk was
;-.:ven by the English Dr. Arnold
'Toynbee, world famous historian
jwho is not so well known as an
authority on the subjects which
jie discussed.
|T
j; The broadcast overlooked en
tirely the recent testimony of two
eminent British scientists—speak
ing in their particular field's-—who
demolished much of the argument
on which Dr. .Toynbee based his
appeal for population control. To
jjthese two could be added many
jbthers who have spoken in the
(same tenor in recent years.
Dr. Toynbee, speaking under
jthe auspices of the U. S. Govern-
jment, touched on “the problem
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of population that was foreseen
by Malthus more than a century
and a half ago.” A month before,
Dr. C. B. Goodhart, speaking as a
zoologist, and Dr. G. V. Jacks,
speaking as an agriculturist, pre
sented the biological and. agricul
tural reasons, why the ,18th cen
tury Malthusian theory : was
wrong.
Dr. Toynbee , asked whether
mankind was going, to rid itself
of war and pestilence “only to be
done to death by the third
scourge, famine?” He. added that
“when we have done all that sci
ence' can- do to increase the
world’s food supply, the only way
left open to us. ..for . coping with
this continuing increase in pop
ulation . . . will, be to offset this' 1
increase by a corresponding re
duction in the birth rate.”
The historian admitted that a
“formidable” problem is met here,
because to persuade parents to
limit the size of the families
“might mqan persuading them to
change some cf the tenets of their
ancestral religion.” But, he said,
fthe problem of limiting the
birth rate will have to be faced.”
The English historian then
treated of another “problem,”
namely, how to fill “the spiritual
vacuum” in man’s soul “This,
vacuum,” he asserted, “has been
created by the rise of modern
science. Science has expelled re
ligion in its traditional forms;
yet science, by itself, is incapable,
of filling the void.”
He said he expected 20th cen
tury man to set out on a quest
“for the recovery of religion.” He
added that he believes man will
recover it, but that religion “will
come back in forms that will be
so different from the traditional
forms that, at first sight, man’s
new religion may hardly be rec
ognizable.” “The touchstone of
religion,”, he continued, “is its
capacity to deal with the problem
of suffering, and our sufferings
seem likely to be great in the
testing time that lies ahead of us.”
Dr. Goodhart, assistant curator
of the Cambridge University
(England) Zoology Huseum, told
the British Association for the
Advancement of Science that Mal
thus was wrong in predicting that
the growth of the human popula
tion must eventually outstrip any
possible increase in food supplies.
Dr. Goodhart said hg ri.oes not
agree that human fecundity has
a constant value that could be al
tered only by artificial means.
He added that the fecundity of
women is determined by social,
economic and pysiological factors.
In western countries, he assert
ed, thes'e factors have made low
fecundity advantageous. In dis
ease-stricken areas, large families
are still prevalent and are nec
essary for race survival. Improv
ed medical services and economic
prosperity decrease the fecundity
rate, he declared.
Dr. Jacks told the same associa
tion that 100 years from now the
world would be able to feed
its probable population of'six.
billion people. Soil fertility could
be maintained and enough food
pi'ovided for any increase ih pop t
ulation if the cities produce
enough wealth to pay for it, he
asserted.
Other scientists maintain there
are sources of food supply still 1
untouched.
These testimonies, added to the
very nature of the Toynbee
broadcast, give weight to the
query: How could such a pro-,
gram be reconciled with the
U.S.I.A.’s purpose of promoting,
understanding and good will to-:
ward this Country?
In fact, this question was posed
by Msgr. Howard J. Carroll, Gen
eral Secretary of the National
Catholic Welfare Conference, to
Theodore Streibert,—director of
the government agency.
• Msgr. Carroll said “such a pro
gram;-, I. venture to, think, will
strike ’rnilliorfs*' of Christians : and
non-Christians as not only ill-
mannered, but highly offensive,”-
, “Millions of them' live heroical
ly today under the heel of the
despot,” the Monsignor pointed
out. “They languish and die in
slave labor camps and prisons,
many simply because of their
steadfast adherence to ‘tradition
al’ religion, sustained in their
age and hope that only, such .re
ligion provides them.
“They will, I suspect,, find it
utterly disillusioning ,t6- .hear a
Voice of America broadcast tell-
ling, them, in effect, that such £e-
ligioti'“ is' outmoded and inade
quate.”
Why go to the trouble of getting
a scholar—and a foreign scholar
at that—to speak, in a field in
which he is not especially well
known and make- a controversial
address which is bound to reflect
upon the United States?
misery and suffering by the cour- (N.C.W.C. News Service)
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