Saturday, January 28, 2012

Demographics in the USA and Europe

As many of you know, demographics is, in my opinion, the key factor in determining the future cultural direction of the West. As much as I am interested in religious conversion (here, and here, and here), and as much as I advocate welcoming Muslims into the household of God, the numbers of converts are just not large enough to make a big difference on a longterm societal level (right now).

So I was interested to find this article, about immigration and birth rates in the USA and Europe. The author says that most American babies will be Latinos. And that Europeans are also not having babies, but Muslim immigrants are, thus making 'Muhammad' the most popular male baby name in various european countries:
Europe is dying as its nations run out of babies. Three-quarters of Europeans live in societies with fertility rates below 1.5. In the 14th century, the bubonic plague wiped out 75 million people; and in the 21st century, a larger number will be lost in Europe through demographic suicide. 
Europe's demographic meltdown means it has to turn to immigrants for its workforce, and the vacuum is being filled by Muslims. From 1990 to 2010, the Muslim population of Europe grew from 30 million to 44 million. It will reach 58 million by 2030 and 10 European countries will be more than 10% Muslim.
His overall conclusion, which you can take or leave, is that immigration into the USA of Latinos (and mostly Mexicans), is an overall good deal for the country, especially when compared to Europe's situation.

4 comments:

jmw said...

I wonder if you have ever heard of this effort of Rwandans to evangelize Tanzania and combat Islam?

http://www.earevival.org/about_main.html

Abu Daoud said...

Hi Joel,

This is news to me, but thanks for the link.

May I ask what is your connection to Rwandan churches?

Peace

AD

jmw said...

As an Anglican, Archbishop Rwaje is my Archbishop and my clergy are canonically resident in Rwanda. Also, I know a missionary from Rwanda who heads up this Network.

Abu Daoud said...

Hi Joel,

Ok, so you are Anglican in jurisdiction but American in ethnicity, and ministering in the USA? Welcome to World Christianity :-)

Strange days we live in. Or maybe glocalized days is more precise.

Thanks for sharing this, and I pray for success for your Archbishop and the elders and deacons and laity under his oversight.