Birth Control A Statement of Christian Doctrine against the Neo-Malthusians   By: Halliday G. Sutherland (1882-1960)

A Statement of Christian Doctrine against the Neo Malthusians

BY

HALLIDAY G. SUTHERLAND, M.D. (Edin.)

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE ESSENTIAL FALLACIES OF MALTHUSIAN TEACHING

Section 1. MALTHUS AND THE NEO MALTHUSIANS. (a) Malthus (b) The Neo Malthusians

Section 2. TEACHING BASED ON FALSE PREMISES. (a) That Population progresses geometrically (b) That Food Supply progresses arithmetically (c) That Overpopulation is the cause of Poverty and Disease

Section 3. THE ROOT FALLACY

Section 4. WHAT OVERPOPULATION MEANS

Section 5. NO EVIDENCE OF OVERPOPULATION (a) In the Suez Canal Zone (b) In "Closed Countries" like Japan

Section 6. A NATURAL LAW CHECKING FERTILITY

Section 7. OVERPOPULATION IN THE FUTURE

Section 8. HOW NATIONS HAVE PERISHED

Section 9. PHYSICAL CATASTROPHES (a) Disease (b) War

Section 10. MORAL CATASTROPHES

CHAPTER II

THE FALSE DEDUCTIONS CONCERNING POVERTY

Section 1. BIRTH RATE AND POVERTY (a) Famines (b) Abundance (c) Wages

Section 2. POVERTY IN GREAT BRITAIN DUE TO OTHER CAUSES (a) Under development (b) Severance of the Inhabitants from the Soil

Section 3. CAUSES OF POVERTY IN INDIA

Section 4. POVERTY IN FACT CAUSES A HIGH BIRTHRATE (a) Malthusianism is an attack on the Poor (b) A Hindrance to Reform (c) A Quack Remedy for Poverty

Section 5. POVERTY AND CIVILISATION

CHAPTER III

HIGH BIRTH RATES NOT THE CAUSE OF HIGH DEATH RATES

Section 1. POVERTY AS NOW EXISTING

Section 2. HIGH BIRTH RATE NOT THE CAUSE OF HIGH DEATH RATE: PROVED FROM STATISTICS (a) Canada (b) Connaught

Section 3. A LOW BIRTH RATE NO GUARANTEE OF A LOW DEATH RATE

Section 4. VITAL STATISTICS OF FRANCE

Section 5. COEFFICIENTS OF CORRELATION

CHAPTER IV

HOW RELIGION AFFECTS THE BIRTHRATE

Section 1. FRENCH STATISTICS MISINTERPRETED BY MALTHUSIANS

Section 2. EVIDENCE FROM HOLLAND

Section 3. THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Section 4. THE SAME RESULTS IN ENGLAND

CHAPTER V

IS THERE A NATURAL LAW REGULATING THE PROPORTION OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS?

Section 1. THE THEORY OF THOMAS DOUBLEDAY REVIVED

Section 2. MR. PELL'S GENERALISATIONS CRITICISED

Section 3. THE LAW OF DECLINE

Section 4. ILLUSTRATED FROM GREEK HISTORY (a) Moral Catastrophe in Ancient Greece (b) The Physical Catastrophe induced by Selfishness

CHAPTER VI

THE FALLING BIRTH RATE IN ENGLAND: ITS CAUSES

Section 1. NOT, AS MALTHUSIANS ASSERT, DUE MAINLY TO CONTRACEPTIVES

Section 2. DECLINE IN FERTILITY DUE TO SOME NATURAL LAW

Section 3. AND TO CHARACTER OF OCCUPATION.

Section 4. AGGRAVATED DOUBTLESS BY MALTHUSIANISM

CHAPTER VII

THE EVILS OF ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROL

Section 1. NOT A PHYSICAL BENEFIT (a) A Cause of Sterility (b) Neuroses (c) Fibroid Tumours

Section 2. A SCANDALOUS SUGGESTION

Section 3. A CAUSE OF UNHAPPINESS IN MARRIAGE

Section 4. AN INSULT TO TRUE WOMANHOOD

Section 5. A DEGRADATION OF THE FEMALE SEX

Section 6. SPECIALLY HURTFUL TO THE POOR (a) Affecting the Young (b) Exposing the Poor to Experiment (c) Tending towards the Servile State

Section 7. A MENACE TO THE NATION (a) There is a Limit to lowering the Death rate (b) Birth Control tends to extinguish the Birth rate (c) A Danger to the Empire (d) The Dangers of Small Families

Section 8. THE PLOT AGAINST CHRISTENDOM

CHAPTER VIII

THE RELIGIOUS ARGUMENT AGAINST BIRTH CONTROL

Section 1. AN OFFENCE AGAINST THE LAW OF NATURE

Section 2. REFLECTED IN THE NORMAL CONSCIENCE

Section 3. EXPRESSED IN THE SCIENCE OF ETHICS

Section 4. BIRTH CONTROL CONDEMNED BY PROTESTANT CHURCHES

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER VIII

A NEO MALTHUSIAN ATTACK ON THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

CHAPTER IX

THE TEACHING OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON BIRTH CONTROL