Jon Dykstra, Reformed Perspective, April 2013
This is not a Christian film; it’s just a film that argues everything Christians have been saying about the importance of the family, about the damage done by divorce, about what a blessing children are, about the threat of “gay marriage,” and about the harm caused by premarital sex, is exactly right. Christians had it right on every count.
Demographic Winter warns about a coming collapse in world population caused by a birth rate that is well below replacement levels in most developed countries. Unless things change dramatically, in 40 years the population of Russia will be halved. In Europe, things are little better. Couples need to have at least two children to keep the population level steady, but are instead having an average of just 1.3.
Who’s to blame? Expert after secular expert lays the blame at the feet of those attacking the family and encouraging divorce, abortion, “gay marriage,” contraception and cohabitation. We’re heading towards a crisis, they say, and the proper response is to strengthen the family, not plot its demise.
The findings of all the leading social scientists are so closely in accord with what the Bible says that one interviewee, a Phillip Longman, felt he had to make his motivations clear. In the film’s final scene, Longman explains:
“I’m not churched – I work for a progressive secular think tank… I have one child, adopted. So this is not a faith-based analysis. This is an analysis that, um… may eventually bring me to faith, but it’s not driven by faith. It just turns out this is where the facts take you when you look at population.”
This is not a Christian film; it is a film that will fascinate Christians.
While Demographic Winter is now 15 years old, the overpopulation lie it combats is still getting spouted today. So it’s wonderful then, that they’ve made it available for free viewing. Check it out below (and you can also check a more recent take on the overpopulation myth with the 2021 documentary BirthGap).
Watch Demographic Winter