Malthusian Horrors

July 27, 2004 Emerald Isle –

Here is a grisly poem written long ago that will knock your socks off... Malthusian Horrors Illustrated in Verse.

Of the many lies that have produced the culture of abortion, theories of population growth have formed a philosophical foundation. It is safe to say that the father of overpopulation theory is Thomas Malthus (1766-1834).

Malthus, was a clergyman of the Church of England and a professor of Political Economy. In 1798, he wrote an essay (An Essay on Population) which became the most important, most adored and most widely read treatise on overpopulation and population control. He wrote that population grows geometrically but food production grows arithmetically, eventually producing food shortages, creating famine.

For example an arithmetic ratio would advance in the following way, 2, 4, 6, 8 ..., while a geometric ratio of growth would look like this: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 ... His ideas were used to promulgate the idea that small families were ideal for the sake of enough food for everyone.

His work caused much guilt in the hearts of people who had lots of children, and he scared off many who would dare. While the God of the Bible, said, “Be Fruitful and Multiply”, over and over again, the philosophy of wicked Malthus, said, “shame on you for having so many children…how could you be so selfish.”

Stephen Leacock (1869-1944) wrote a poem that illustrates the depressing implications of Malthus’ theory as they worked their way out in the lives of real people.

“Oh! Mr. Malthus!
"MOTHER, Mother, here comes Malthus,
Mother, hold me tight!
Look! It's Mr. Malthus, Mother!
Hide me out of sight."
This was the cry of little Jane
In bed she moaning lay,
Delirious with Stomach Pain,
That would not go away.
All because her small Existence
Over-pressed upon Subsistence;
Human Numbers didn't need her;
Human Effort couldn't feed her.
Little Janie didn't know
The Geometric Ratio.
Poor Wee Janie had never done
Course Economics No. 1;
Never reached in Education
Theories of Population, --
Theories which tend to show

Just how far our Food will go,
Mathematically found
Just enough to go around.
This, my little Jane, is why
Pauper Children have to die.

Pauper Children underfed
Die delirious in Bed;
Thus at Malthus's Command
Match Supply with true Demand.
Jane who should have gently died
Started up and wildly cried, --
"Look, mother, look, he's there again
I see him at the Window Pane,
Father, -- don't let him, -- he's behind
That shadow on the window blind, --"
In vain the anxious parents soothe, --
What can avail their useless Love?
"Darling, lie down again; don't mind;
Branches are moving in the Wind."
With panting Breath, with Eyes that stare,
Again she cries, "He's there, he's there!"
The frightened Parents look, aghast,
Is it that something really passed?
What is it that they seem to scan,
Ghost or Abstraction, Dream or Man? --
That long drawn Face, the cloven Lip,
The crooked Fingers all a-grip,
The sunken Face, cadaverous,
The dress, Ah, God deliver us!
What awful Sacrilege is that?
The Choker and the Shovel Hat,
The Costume black and sinister,

The dress of God's own minister!
What fiend could ever urge a Man
To personate a Clergyman!
The Father strides with angry fist
"Out, out! you damned Economist!"
His wife restrains his threatening Paw, --
"William, it's economic Law!"
She shrieks, -- "Oh William! don't you know
The Geometric Ratio? --
William, God means it for the best
Our Darling's taken! we've transgressed -- "
And crying, "Two times two makes four,"
She crashes swooning to the Floor.
And when her Senses come again
Janie had passed from mortal Pain

And scowling Malthus had moved on
Murm'ring, "That's one more Infant gone,"
To other Windows, one by one; --
Later he came and took their Son.
With Jane and John gone, out of seven,
They kept at five and just broke even.
"Mary," the chastened Father said,
"I feel God's wisdom; two are dead
The world has only food for five,
Quintuplets are the thing that thrive."
She sobbed, -- "We'll do it if we can!
But, oh that awful Malthus Man.

This poem written so many years ago, during the Great Depression, makes clear the sadnesses associated with Malthus misguided theory of striving for lower population. Now, as the ethic of human dispensability has taken hold in the hearts of the people of the global village, these sadnesses are being multiplied in every country on the planet.

Collectively, we have exterminated nearly one billion children worldwide through abortion. Malthus, and his inaccurate theory paved the way. The poem can be found at “Representative Poetry Online: http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem1283.html

Beach Life

We have been reading, swimming, reading, swimming, reading , swimming. We left the house twice in eight days. I cannot describe how nice it was to sit and write and read and just be together.

One particular joy: I was able to surf everyday on the giant NC waves.

Claudia became my surfer girl

The kayaking is much too much fun…

Problem; The girls did something that they did not think through. The implications of their creativity did not come to light until they were in the water. The painted their toe nails. They did not realize that they had made themselves shark lures. Imagine the attraction their kicking feet would arouse moving slowly through the water. Shark bait. Blair made it clear that all were safe to swim anytime, except during shark dinner time.

Tryon Palace

One day, we went to Tryon Palace in New Bern which was the first capital of North Carolina before the Revolution and then for a while after.


The buildings were wonderful sights to behold. It has a Colonial Williamsburg feel to it… really nice.

The superiority of Cattle over Sheep Summer Reading:

July 21, 2004
The superiority of Cattle over Sheep.
Summer Reading: I just read a delightful book by Teddy Roosevelt first published in 1885, entitled “Hunting Trips of a Ranchman’, in which he tells hundreds of hunting stories that give a wonderful picture of the state of the nation during the time. It was a time when the trappers and mountain men were getting scarce and though there were problems with Indians, they were waning. The spirit of the old west was still alive but being modified by westward movement and the increasing population of the nation.

Teddy Roosevelt had an 80 head cattle ranch in the Bad Lands of South Dakota. After a hail storm killed several sheep on his ranch. It was no loss in his mind. He writes:

“Cattle men hate sheep, because they eat the grass so close that cattle cannot live on the same ground. The sheep-herders are a morose, melancholy set of men, generally afoot, and with no companionship except that of the bleating idiots they are hired to guard. No man can associate with sheep and retain his self respect. Intellectually a sheep is about on the lowest level of the brute creation ; why the early Christians admired it, whether young or old, is to a cattle-man always a profound mystery.”

It is not very flattering that the Lord relates to us like sheep. When it comes to identifying ourselves, we have to admit that we are sheep. The sheep are not the other guys. The sheep are not the guys who don’t "get it". We are all sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

No matter what any of us are doing in the church, we should have the mark of humility upon us. Whatever new patterns we establish, they will carry with them some imperfections for which the grace of God is sufficient. In all our conveyances, we should remember four key The Mark of Humility - The recognition of our problem The Centrality of the Cross – the Lord’s supper The Preaching of the Word – Word saturated churches The Fulfillment of the Great Commission.

Forming Marriages for the Glory of God

Weddings of the First Kiss

On July 17, our church had one of the most joyous gatherings in its history. I have always been amazed at the happiness that I have seen in our meeting times and the joy that we experience by being together in the church. But on this day, people were especially happy. We were together in unity and in love to speed one of our young men into marriage.

We witnessed a marriage that was formed in a very unusual way… an exemplary way. It was formed through principles of courtship rather than dating. Throughout their courtship, the couple consulted the principles from the Bible rather than the principles that guide the common culture. Those who have an inside understanding of Trinity Baptist Church will know that I have rejected most of the processes and values of the modern dating system. And we are seeking to establish patterns that avoid the weaknesses of dating with our own children.
But why was this such an unusually happy day?

This wedding marked the conclusion of an exemplary courtship.
There was a method that was established at the beginning that led to marriage It was an orderly process that involved several things:

A. Screening the suitor: A father figure in the life of the bride required over100 questions to be answered and many hours of conversation, emails and meetings before he would even allow the suitor to speak to the bride to be. He had to be qualified FIRST.

B. The values and standards of the couple were thoroughly tested through personal questioning BEFORE heart strings started twanging. This is to verify if there any “show stoppers” in the relationship before emotional bonds were formed.

C. Respect for the counsels of the men of the church were considered. The groom sought counsel from the people in his life who knew him best. It was not an individualistic effort – or decision - but jointly with many counselors. In the abundance of counselors there is victory.

D. The whole church worked together to pull off the wedding and then committed great resources so that the wedding was absolutely wonderful, but not a financial burden on the families of the couple. We were tired because it was a lot of hard work, but we were thankful that our labors were effective for the encouragement and the prosperity of the couple. We worked hard because we believed in it.
E. The suitor paid a Bride price as a security of his commitments in the betrothal.
F. Betrothal period was marked by an unshakeable commitment to follow through witht he marriage.
G. The groom worked effectively to protect the sexual purity of the relationship. The couple established some rules to keep them out of sexual compromise during the courtship. For instance, they were always with chaperone. No backrubs. No Kissing. Time alone was limited.
There were some important assumptions regarding physical intimacy. First of all, kissing and other forms of physical intimacy were regarded as the territory of marriage alone.

H. The wedding kiss was the first kiss. Presiding over what I will call “weddings of the first kiss” is definitely an paradigm shattering experience. I have performed many weddings but have not seen as much joy in the kisses as I see in the “weddings of the first kiss”….There is an unparalleled happiness and purity to the moment. It is an explosion of joy unparalleled. I think that waiting until the wedding day must somehow concentrate and increase and sanctify the joy.
This couple believed that only after speaking vows of covenantal commitment does a man the permission to touch a woman. They took the position that if there were no vows, then there should be no rights of marital physical blessing. I agree completely.

The way we form marriages is important. The way churches help their people form marriages is important.

How can we overcome the forcefulness of the culture regarding how marriages are made?It helps to remember Penn’s face, smiling more that day than any day I have ever seen.It helps to remember the joy of the people participating in a wedding that was guided by God’s Word. It helps to have a principled battle plan to guide us. We have all of these going forward.

We were so very happy on this wedding day because we knew we had a good pattern for the future. We were very happy because of the direction this wedding day and courtship would take us. Our practices always take us in a direction. And, the practices of this courtship and marriage were the kind that we as a church want to foster among our young people. Not that everyone has to follow every aspect of this pattern, but that we have carefully considered our practices and that we work for marriages for the glory of God.