{"id":267,"date":"2009-12-22T15:12:38","date_gmt":"2009-12-22T15:12:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/kingdomofpriests\/2009\/12\/europe-is-dying-says-britains-chief-rabbi-blaming-darwinism.html"},"modified":"2009-12-22T15:12:38","modified_gmt":"2009-12-22T15:12:38","slug":"europe-is-dying-says-britains-chief-rabbi-blaming-darwinism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/kingdomofpriests\/2009\/12\/europe-is-dying-says-britains-chief-rabbi-blaming-darwinism.html","title":{"rendered":"“Europe Is Dying,” Says Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Blaming Darwinism"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wow, I don’t know how I missed this headline from last month, in the UK’s Daily Record<\/a>. British Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks really pulls no punches:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Chief Rabbi blames population fall on ‘selfish’ Darwinians <\/p>\n

EUROPE is “dying” because the continent’s secular culture has made people too selfish to have children, the Chief Rabbi has said. <\/p>\n

Lord Sacks said European society’s focus on consumerism and instant gratification had left little room for the sacrifice involved in parenthood. <\/p>\n

Describing this as “one of the unsayable truths of our time”, he warned: “We are undergoing the moral equivalent of climate change and no one is talking about it.” <\/p>\n

The Chief Rabbi’s provocative comments came as he delivered the annual lecture for theology think-tank Theos in central London last night. <\/p>\n

He argued that neo-Darwinian attacks on religion — typified by Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion<\/i> — were leading to a population crisis in Europe. <\/p>\n

Lord Sacks pointed out that Europe was the most secular region in the world, and also the only continent experiencing population decline. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

He said: “Wherever you turn today — Jewish, Christian or Muslim — the more religious the community, the larger on average are their families. <\/p>\n

“The major assault on religion today comes from the neo-Darwinians.” <\/p>\n

The Chief Rabbi said being a parent involved a “massive sacrifice” of money, attention, time and emotional energy. <\/p>\n

Referring to an ancient Greek historian to make his point, he questioned where this selflessness could be found in modern Europe. <\/p>\n

“In that culture, where will you find space for the concept of sacrifice for the sake of generations not yet born?” he said. <\/p>\n

“Europe is dying, exactly as Polybius said about ancient Greece in the third pre-Christian century.” <\/p>\n

Lord Sacks added: “Albert Camus once said, ‘The only serious philosophical question is why should I not commit suicide?’. <\/p>\n

“I think he was wrong. The only serious philosophical question is, why should I have a child? Our culture is not giving an easy answer to that question.” <\/p>\n

Lord Sacks, 61, has been Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth since 1991. <\/p>\n

He was knighted in 2005 for services to the community and interfaith relations and awarded a peerage in July this year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow, I don’t know how I missed this headline from last month, in the UK’s Daily Record. British Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks really pulls no punches: Chief Rabbi blames population fall on ‘selfish’ Darwinians  EUROPE is “dying” because the continent’s secular culture has made people too selfish to have children, the Chief Rabbi has said. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifes-origins-evolution"],"yoast_head":"\n"Europe Is Dying," Says Britain's Chief Rabbi, Blaming Darwinism - Kingdom of Priests<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/kingdomofpriests\/2009\/12\/europe-is-dying-says-britains-chief-rabbi-blaming-darwinism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Europe Is Dying," Says Britain's Chief Rabbi, Blaming Darwinism - Kingdom of Priests\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wow, I don’t know how I missed this headline from last month, in the UK’s Daily Record. 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