Perhaps you share Purple's concern over the tone of the current political primaries, and their assaults on our incumbent President. For those of you who are Christians, consider the Bible, Mark's Gospel, Chapter 3, Verses 24 and 25:

"If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand."

For those of other persuasions, the logic of that bit of scripture may also ring true. America and our world surely have problems:

• We have over-spent our income, and face excessive debt, home foreclosures and unemployment.
• Rapidly increasing global population, coupled with rising per capita consumption of resources, and resulting pollution of the atmosphere, land, fresh water and oceans, threaten the sustainability of our planet's ecosystems.
• Excessive population growth in less developed lands leads to violence, genocide, starvation, and turmoil within and between nations.
• Nuclear armament is proliferating.

Things are bad enough here; they are worse in other places, and we are not immune to ills elsewhere spreading to America.

These threats demand a unified national response. Instead, we see presidential candidates broadcasting half-truths and falsehoods about rivals, financed by huge sums of money from anonymous donors. No candidate has proposed a comprehensive menu of positive, credible solutions. Any such would entail voter sacrifices: higher taxes, fewer entitlements, and repudiation of partisan ideologies and dogma. But by foregoing hard choices in the interest of political expediency, each candidate declares himself unwilling to do what is needed to save our diverse nation.

Recently campaign focus has shifted to religion and the financing of contraception. This shift offers the unintended consequence of introducing the issue of exploding global population, which Purple believes underlies most other ills - unemployment, ecological damage, civic unrest, and nuclear proliferation.

Consider these facts: Our planet has 7 billion inhabitants, 3.5 times what it had 81 years ago, 7 times that of 1800, and 35 times the 200 million at the time of Christ. The forecast is 10.5 billion by 2050.

Average annual population increases during those periods were:
• 1 AD - 1800: 0.4 million
• 1800 - 1930: 7.7 million
• 1930 - 2011: 61.7 million
• 2011 - 2050: 89.7 million

Earth's physical resources are finite, locked in place, with one exception, a daily infusion of sunlight – solar energy. Technology and demand are raising the per capita consumption of these resources and the load on the earth's ecological systems. It doesn't take a degree in mathematics to realize this trend leads eventually to disaster. Then, life on the planet becomes unsustainable, a moment probably preceded by violent conflict over dwindling supplies of water, land, food, and energy, accompanied by climate disruption. This Apocalypse can only be prevented by prompt collective action, developed not only within a party, but also between parties. "A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand."

Stemming the population explosion requires limiting births to a no-growth average of 2.1 children per woman. This level has been reached voluntarily in many developed societies where women are educated and empowered to plan their pregnancies through use of contraceptives. Where they are not, populations explode and misery follows. For those of us concerned with abortion, one should recognize that virtually all abortions are to terminate unwanted and unplanned pregnancies. Therefore, enabling women to plan their families will greatly reduce abortions, as well as stabilize global population.

The Bible makes no reference to family planning or contraception. And how can one who is "pro life" (who among us, in a general sense, is not?) object to a process that reduces abortion and stems life-threatening increases in global population. But that seems to be what some presidential candidates are endorsing.

What a tragedy it would be if the kingdom that is America were to fall over such an unnecessary division.