Religion and population growth

You often hear people say that Islam is the fastest growing religion, and usually that is made simply as a statement with no explanation.

I wondered about that, especially in the light of the events since Sept. 11, which for many have turned people off religion altogether. Could it be that the fastest growing chunk of humanity is in fact the non-believers, a section of this faceless world that rarely get a mention?

As it is virtually impossible to justify these rather wild statements I thought that population growth might give me a few answers. For example, currently there are about 1.3 billion Muslims in the world which are made up of various mashab (sects). About one half of those reside in four countries, namely India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Indonesia with the latter being the most populous.

If we looked at projected population growth rates (this based on United Nations' figures) there will be just over 2 billion Muslims in the year 2050.

One of the most surprising set of figures comes out of a Russia who currently has a population of about 150 million. It is projected to have only 118 million by the year 2050 which is a huge decrease. In the same period of time the United States will go from 290 million to 420 million, and we can only hope they all don't turn out to be soldiers.

South Africa is another country on the population decline as currently they have 44 million, but in 2050 this could be down to 31 million. The Congo is predicted to treble its population from currently 60 million to 181 million in 40 years time. Angola will double whereas Japan, from a current 130 million, will shrivel to 100 million by the year 2050.

China has obviously made a huge effort to stem the baby flow over the past 10 years.

If we simply take India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh then the Muslim population will grow by 180 million over the next 20 years, and that is three times the current population of the United Kingdom and also of France.

No one can claim a religion is growing without making clear reference to population growth, and in doing so, and particularly in the case of Islam, they should be looking at this as an opportunity to solve their internal struggles.

If the next generation of Muslims can be educated in a manner that opens their minds to pluralism, freedom of thought and expression, religious understanding and harmony then we might as the human race stand a chance of living together peacefully. If that is neglected then we will confirm our own stupidity and continue this age-old and senseless battle based on religious hatred.

DAVID WALLIS, Medan, North Sumatra