EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Two, Number Six July/August 1993 STEALING THE BLESSING Excerpts from Six Billion and More: Human Population Regulation and Christian Ethics by Susan P. Bratton, Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville KY 1991, reprinted with permission. Despite the winding turns of history, the Bible offers basic values that remain a useful foundation for ethical discourse on reproductive issues. . . . First, reproduction in all of creation is a blessing of God and should be a great joy for humankind. . . . Second, having many children is not a substitute for faith in God. . . . The future rests in Christ, with or without procreation. Nowhere is it stated in the Bible that humans have any rights to subsistence above those of other creatures, and nowhere is it implied humans may do as they please with the earth. . . . The blessing to be fruitful and multiply is a shared blessing. . . . Humans should not steal the blessing from the rest of creation. . . . Blessings cannot be wrenched away from others or demanded from God, and remain blessings. Every act of procreation must be balanced by acts of stewardship and caring. Home     Table of Contents