Have more children, says Mizoram church

AIZAWL: The Presbyterian Church, Mizoram's largest church, has said it will preach against birth control across the predominantly Christian state.
"Newly born denotes continuation of God's creation... It is God's blessing on human beings. Who are we to stop or control it?" said Rev. Zosangliana Colney, executive secretary of the Mizoram Synod. "Mizoram is sparsely populated compared to all other Indian states, and it is felt by many NGOs also that birth control is not a necessity here," he added.
Last year, three presbyteries, Dampa, Lunglei and Ramlai East, had asked the Synod to propagate no-birth control policy. Prior to this, the Synod had passed resolutions against the government's birth control policy twice in 1976 and 1985.
"If god still wants his creation to continue here on earth, he will surely balance life here on earth," Colney said. According Presbyterian Church statistics, the birth rate among church members was 18.77 per cent against the death rate of 4.97 per cent.
Major NGOs in Mizoram, which has a population of about 900,000, were the opinion that birth control was not ideal for Mizos. The latest church population census revealed that there are 4,39,587 members in the Presbyterian Church alone. The total number of Christians in the state is 8,49,962.