How many people does God need?

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So I currently read an article stating there are approximately 7.5 billion humans on the planet. And there will be even more in the coming years.

I also read the more humans there are the more this planet will suffer due to limited resources, humans are slowly destroying wildlife, etc.

I can also see our planet has changed due to the increase in population and I don’t find it very pretty. I am actually worried about our beautiful planet.

I do not have children myself as I am still single and slowly getting old. I’m in my late 30s.

I am a new convert to the Catholic Faith and I’ve been hearing and reading a lot about how the CC desires its members to have as many children as possible.

I never really thought about this until now. Why does the CC demand humans have as many children as possible? I have an issue with that concept because as I have traveled around the world in the last few years (that’s a nice part about being single and childless, you can take the time to travel), I have seen with my own eyes that this planet truly has enough people on it. Why add more to it?

If God created the planet, wouldn’t He want us to take care of it instead of destroying it with more humans? Can’t we do with what we already have?

How many humans does God need on this planet?

The more humans there are, the more problems!

If anyone could kindly explain to me why humans need to keep adding to the planet, please.
 
You are sadly mistaken/fooled by the narrative that overpopulation is a problem. The very people who authored the article on it recanted their study and said they purposefully altered their findings to suit their wanted outcome.

As for Catholics saying they should have as many kids as possible, God himself commanded that we be fruitful and multiply. There is also the teaching that we should use our bodies the way God intended and not abuse them so spacing children for the health of both spouses is important.
 
God doesn’t need anyone. He wants everyone to be with Him, but He doesn’t need them.
Chemical said:
I also read the more humans there are the more this planet will suffer due to limited resources, humans are slowly destroying wildlife, etc.
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Malthus and his doomer theories have been debunked already. Don’t fall for them. The environment has been doing fine. Doom sayers have been spreading their environmental gloom for over 80 years and for over 80 years they have been dead WRONG (least you forget, the UN told everyone the world was supposed to be flooded back in 2000)


Chemical said:
Why does the CC demand humans have as many children as possible?
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Because God wants as many people with Him in heaven as possible.
 
No I’m not fooled. Like I just stated I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

So God commanded humans multiply to the point of causing wildlife to disappear and destroying trees to make more space for humans?
 
So God wants bllions and trillions of humans with Him? Is He that lonely?
 
Humans were made stewards of the planet. They are responsible for it. We are told to be fruitful & multiply. Science is also showing that contrary to some reports, the populations are declining. Some countries have even taken to trying to provide incentives for people to have children because their numbers - birth rates dropping - more aging people - have in fact dropped.
 
Ahaha. The CC does not “demand humans have as many children as possible”.

Where did you even get that?

Also, while you were travelling (like many of us have travelled, and had different experiences than you), did you not notice that the vast majority of all the land you flew over, is unoccupied by humans? Unless your plane was just flying low over Hong Kong, then you shut the plane window and only opened it again while flying low over India, you must’ve noticed… Our planet is almost entirely unpopulated. We’re not actually crowded. Also, many countries are not even having enough babies to replace their own populations, much less grow them, so I’d avoid getting too worried about that. Also, apparently the planet is actually ‘greening’, because increased CO2 in the atmosphere is creating a ‘greenhouse’ effect that feeds trees and other plants more effectively, so they’re getting a boost in growth.

You say: “The more humans there are, the more problems.”

I say: “Sure. Equally true: The more humans there are, the more solutions, the more love, the more beauty, the more joy.”

I’m concerned that the fears you’re expressing might come more from media you’re reading, that’s telling you to think of humans as some kind of blight on the earth? You know that we’re not actually wiping trees off the planet, right? Plenty of countries with massive forested space (like mine) replant forests whenever (tiny) patches are logged. Sure, there are some countries (typically with still developing economies) who aren’t great at environmental sustainability, but as their wealth increases we have good reason to believe they’re going to practice more sustainable land use (including forestry). It’s honestly going to be okay. I think the most disturbing factor in this conversation is probably the misinformation in social media (and also mass media) over the years that gets people whipped up into fears like this. I’d suggest you turn it off and go outside where you live. Depending on where it is, there may be forests you can go hang out in. (Where I live, there are forests basically forever, in every direction.)

Also, maybe it’s the babies you’re going to have, who save the Amazon 😉 Don’t you want someone to save the Amazon? (I assume that’s the main thing you’re talking about when you say “trees”.) It’s gotta be someone’s babies who save the Amazon. Maybe it’ll be yours.
 
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God is not just a father, but THE Father of all life. Wouldn’t you want all your children with you in paradise if you gave them life?

Try having some kids of your own, it’ll change your perspective on life immensely.
Chemical said:
Is He that lonely?
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Again, God doesn’t need anything. He wants us all with Him because His love for us is infinite. It’s not that hard to understand friend.
 
You have to remember God is in control. He controls the number of people on the planet. He knows what He’s doing… all we have to do is trust that, besides not everyone can have children.

You are right though, we do have to take care of this planet, the number of people on the planet isn’t what’s killing it… its what we do with the planet that’s killing it.
 
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Responsible in what way exactly? To have many children as possible or to protect the planet? I’m confused of the first few sentences you wrote.
 
There is no limit to how many people there are!!! God made everyone in his image, on purpose and for a purpose. Every single person is a gift from God, so there can never be too many of them!!! ❤️
 
Because Catholics have big families and my parish priest had also said something about having as many children. Not to mention Catholics in general believe in the “be fruitful and multiply” more than the average Protestant. Also, that’s what I was told when I was in my RCIA classes…to have children! I’ve had other Catholics themselves tell me it’s “important to have a lot of children”.

I’ve been all over the world. China, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Norway, Russia, Australia and other places. What I saw in China and India pretty much did it. Lots of people there! I almost had an anxiety attack lol.

Maybe you’re right. Maybe I shouldn’t read what the media says and just ignore it and act like everything’s all right.

Yes I was talking about the Amazon and the place I live. I’ve seen trees get destroyed so new pointless buildings can be put up so humans can do their pointless businesses there. And new schools. New restaurants. Etc.

I don’t think I’ll get married and have kids. Haven’t found the right person. As a new convert, the concept of having kids the way Catholics see it doesn’t really have my interest.
 
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Overpopulation alarmism is basically a scapegoat to keep people, corporations, and governments from having just laws and just practices.

Our solar system can easily support over a trillion people.
 
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I don’t think I’ll have children. Not to mention I’m not married and I’m getting old.

I guess I can’t understand God. I don’t know His ways.
 
For thousands of years there were many people who never saw the age of 20. When a person had children, many did not make it to adulthood, and if the parent did live a longer life, it was their children that provided for them in their old age. There was no social security, housing benefits, food stamps, medical care etc. Children meant you had a roof over your head in your old age and food provided.

The Church has been here a very long time. Because God asked us to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the sick, people have responded to this message by building schools, building orphanages, helping the handicapped and elderly, feeding the poor, and building societies. That is where hospitals came from, and universities, and medicine. Plus, architecture, literature, art, music. We see the massive oak trees that these institutions are but the church was there in the beginning, motivating people to build and respond to need. We are standing on the shoulders of giants and enjoying the view.

If you feel you can live a productive active life as a single, well guess what. There’s plenty of room for people just like that in the church too.
 
Haha yeah, China and India are definitely the stereotypical two places on planet earth that would give anyone a panic attack about crunched-together overpopulation. But they’re definitely the exceptions on this planet, haha.

If you feel called to the single life, that’s fine! It’s not a sin to stay single. It’s often good to make commitments though, so maybe looking into something like ‘Consecrated Single Life’ might be good for you, so you don’t feel characterized just by what you’re ‘not doing’, but can be intentional about what you are doing?

I also don’t think I’d characterize human businesses as “pointless”, haha. If humans are going to live, and trade with one another, they’re going to run some kind of business. The humans have intrinsic value; the businesses have extrinsic value. But definitely, making all these things environmentally sustainable is a good idea. “Human flourishing” and “ecological flourishing” aren’t either/or propositions. We’re just still working out the exact how-to of it all.
 
But other parts of our solar system are not suitable for life.
 
What is there to be confused about?

God said to be fruitful & multiple. That’s pretty clear. How’ve we handled that?

God made Adam steward over His creation. Well, how’ve we as humans handled it?
 
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