Birth Control accepted by Religious Leaders

I have often wondered something. What if when the birth control pill was first introduced, birth control was accepted by various religious leaders around the globe. They made the decision that the pill, condoms, and so on are acceptable since they only prevent fertilization. However abortion and any drugs that could cause abortions would be against their religious belief.

I would like to stay away from any religious discussions and focus on the impact on population growth and economic developments. I am not being critical of anyone's religious beliefs. I tried to find some discussion about this on this forum but I was not able to find any.

I am aware that this is a controversial topic and if the moderators feel that is it should not be on this board, I understand.
 

Buzz

Banned
I want to say this could prevent AIDs from becoming the problem it did, but there is evidence that the virus was already in America before the third world population boom after 1950.

Or if the theory of it not spreading widespread until Patient Zero is true, then it could nip HIV in the bud.

Africa would have a lot less STDs,

But you have to get Birth Control to the poor people and teach them. And make them want to take it. Some countries want more people and people sometimes want bigger families for economic reasons.

India would have a lot less people
 
Isn't that OTL? To my knowledge, neither Islam nor Judaism nor Hinduism have a severe condemnation of birth control, nor a central authority that could enforce it anyway. Among Christians, there is more central authority and more condemnation, but at the same time, adherents don't always follow the orders of the central authority, so it's a bit hard to gauge the impact. And a large number of Protestants, especially after the 1930 Lambeth conference, have allowed contraception.
 
And even many Catholics exercise birth control and the much scorned rhythm method isn't totally ineffective. You will notice that even Catholic countries have reasonably normal birth rates depending on their relative wealth.

In the modern world economics define birth rates, not religion or social norms.
 
Didn't the Catholic Church embrace it initially in the 60s?

No. There was support for it in the Pontifical Commission on Birth Control called by St. John XXIII and Bl. Paul VI to report their recommendations to the Pope, but it never got official support from the Magisterium ("official support" here defined as an encyclical, at least). As early as 1960, the future St. John Paul II condemned contraceptives, and Paul VI invited him to Rome to advise him on the subject (the Polish government refused to allow him to go).
 
. . . focus on the impact on population growth and economic developments. . .
We might want to check out the East Asia Miracle. I read an economist who said some Asia countries had a surge of population just at the time some other factors came on line which allowed them to really benefit from the increases in population.
 
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