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Population Control Fanatic Advocates “Voluntary Human Extinction” as Means to “Green” the Planet

Somewhat similar views held by Gorbachev, Cousteau, Suzuki and others

By Terry Vanderheyden

PORTLAND, November 16, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A population control fanatic is calling for massive world de-population - and therefore elimination of human reproduction - ostensibly for the purpose of revitalizing the planet’s ecosystem.

Describing human population growth as an “inexorable horror,” Voluntary Human Extinction Movement founder Les Knight said “It’s obvious that the intentional creation of another [human being] by anyone anywhere can’t be justified today,” according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.

“The hopeful alternative to the extinction of millions of species of plants and animals is the voluntary extinction of one species: Homo sapiens... us,” Knight stated, according to the VHEMT web site. “Each time another one of us decides to not add another one of us to the burgeoning billions already squatting on this ravaged planet, another ray of hope shines through the gloom.”

Although bizarre, Knight is not alone in his views – in the closing plenary session of the State of the World Forum convened in 1995 by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, philosopher/author Sam Keen endorsed a 90 percent reduction in world population. Other notable attendees at that conference included former US President George HW Bush, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Gorbachev candidly revealed the purpose of the conference: “We shall have to address the problem of controlling the world’s population.”

Population control activist and Canadian broadcaster David Suzuki, in a 1999 television series titled From Naked Ape to Superspecies, hosted American ant expert Edward O. Wilson. Wilson, a fellow population control extremist, claimed that “if all humanity disappeared the rest of life would benefit enormously . . . If the ants were all to disappear, the results would be close to catastrophic.” Wilson added that if humans disappeared, “the forests would grow back, the whole Earth would green up, the ocean would teem, and so on.”

Jacques Cousteau, the late, famed oceanographer and environmentalist, is said to have been quoted in a November 1991 UNESCO Courier stating, "One American burdens the earth much more than twenty Bangladesh...This is a terrible thing to say. In order to stabilize world populations, we must eliminate 350,000 people per day. It is a horrible thing to say, but it's just as bad not to say it."

In 1994, Pope John Paul II issued a letter to the then director of the United Nations Population Fund summing up the stand of the church succinctly: “In defence of the human person, the Church stands opposed to the imposition of limits on family size.” He slammed the organization for promoting population control with fear tactics. “All propaganda and misinformation directed at persuading couples that they must limit their family to one or two children should be steadfastly avoided, and couples that generously choose to have large families are to be supported,” he said.

The former Pope echoed these statements in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of Life), and in his apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio (The Family in the Modern World). In Evangelium Vitae he issued a stinging criticism of population controllers comparing them to the evil Egyptian Pharaoh who attempted to cull the Hebrew population.

The Pope wrote “The Pharaoh of old, haunted by the presence and increase of the children of Israel, submitted them to every kind of oppression and ordered that every male child born of the Hebrew women was to be killed (cf. Ex 1:7-22). Today not a few of the powerful of the earth act in the same way. They too are haunted by the current demographic growth, and fear that the most prolific and poorest peoples represent a threat for the well-being and peace of their own countries. Consequently, rather than wishing to face and solve these serious problems with respect for the dignity of individuals and families and for every person's inviolable right to life, they prefer to promote and impose by whatever means a massive programme of birth control. Even the economic help which they would be ready to give is unjustly made conditional on the acceptance of an anti-birth policy.”

John Paul offered a simple solution to poverty which can be exacerbated by large populations - sharing. “Solutions must be sought on the global level by establishing a true economy of communion and sharing of goods, in both the national and international order.”

Earlier this month, Pope Benedict XVI said a large family “constitutes a witness of faith, courage, and optimism.” Moreover, large families provide wealth to society, he said, “because without children there is no future!”

See San Francisco Chronicle coverage:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2005/11/16/gree...

See related LifeSiteNews.com Special Report:
The Inherent Racism Of Population Control
http://www.lifesite.net/waronfamily/Population_Control/Inher...
Pope John Paul II on Population Control And The Environment
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/aug/02082201.html
West Must Not Impose Population Control Policies on Africa Says Vatican
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/feb/03022003.html
Social Engineering Study Uses Radio For Population Control Propaganda
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/dec/00121503.html
2 Biased Studies Promote Population Control
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1998/oct/98100204.html
Massive Ontario Land Restrictions For Population Control
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/mar/99032901.html
World's elite gather to talk population – 1995 State of World Forum
http://www.lifesite.net/waronfamily/stateofworld/worldselite...

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