Seven

The human population has just surpassed 7 billion. Some would shrug. "What difference does it make?" is the common attitude toward population rise by those who are either undereducated or overfed. It makes little or no difference to those who manage to live with the lion's share of natural resources, technological advances and food. To the child born today on the edge of growing desert in Africa, it means a life of continued pain and suffering. While some well-fed equivocators may calculate the sustainability of human life in the hundreds of billions based on current climate conditions and technology, the growing millions of hungry human beings will not be so glib.

Attending to the quality of life of all human beings and other cohabitants of this planet is ultimately dependent on population and the fair distribution of resources. The same care that is taken in planning the release of wolves into the wild by conservationists should be focused on human population in the planning of human habitats, but it isn't. In China, for example, architects proudly figure out how to cram tens of thousands of people into one city block of apartments. The same architects may decry the one-child policy as cruel or unfair.

One of the poisons of religious ignorance is a delusion that it will all be OK. A belief that some divine plan absolves the individual from measurable responsibility on a planet with limited and measurable resources. Some of the more educated and less religious think they are entitled to the same behaviors of reproduction everyone else is. Producing five or six children is seen as a matter of personal discretion, devoid of any social or environmental considerations. In fact, the statement "I have five children" belies the prevalent misconception that entails the possession of other human beings. Rather than seeing the profound step of producing a free and separate human being as a lifelong responsibility, many still see it as a reproductive right for their edification and enjoyment. A sad bid for immortality perhaps.

Lifespan of Our Sun

There is no immortality. There are no magical loaves and fishes. There are only arable acres of land and desert. There are potable waters and poisoned waters. The planet itself has a limited life. Our own sun is halfway through its natural life. When that is over, the planet will die.

It is easy to stretch and yawn with complacency over these realities. This is not the way of a humanist. The humanist understands that physical realities determine the quality of human existence as much as mental states. The humanist embraces the power of intelligence, education and science. The practicing humanist employees these in decisions about every aspect of life. The practice of humanism is a practice of overcoming habit and impulse through mindfulness and compassion. For those who feel the urge to sexually reproduce, this is especially challenging.