Be Fruitful and Multiply: Christians and the ‘Birth Dearth’

Breakpoint with Charles Colson ^ | 4/18/2006 | Mark Earley

[Mr. Silverback]

I edit a national ag magazine. I recently saw some energy use projections from ExxonMobil that were sent to me because of the biodiesel implications. They were predicting that Japan's GDP would only grow 1.1% in the next 25 years, the most anemic growth of any country or region in their model. Even the Middle East was beating them handily.

There are links to further information at the source document.

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[wideawake]

Excellent article. More and more non-Catholic Christians are breaking their birth control addiction and it's a good thing to see.

Hopefully more Catholics will start doing the right thing as well.

Kudos to Mr. Colson.

[VeritatisSplendor]

My impression is that people are beginning to have more children, and at slightly younger ages than they used to. Of course I live in a town where people come to have children - those who want none, or one, probably wouldn't come here.

Mrs VS

[VeritatisSplendor]

My impression is that people are beginning to have more children, and at slightly younger ages than they used to. Of course I live in a town where people come to have children - those who want none, or one, probably wouldn't come here.

Mrs VS

[gondramB]

I understand why people middle class and up are having less kids - when you have another child its not like they come put and start working in the fields to support their parents..

A good school in Atlanta is $20,000 a year, you need to save several hundred thousand for the college years and todays Ipods and PCs cost more than yesterday's record players and notebooks. At birthday parties for 10 year olds they exchange $50 gift cards, healthcare is expensive and the days of parents having safe jobs for life are gone.

[Coldwater Creek]

Well move to a more affordable place.

[Cicero]

You don't have to give your children expensive toys. We have a lot of kids. They live pretty well, with a fair number of hand-me-down clothes, toys, and books, and when they get to a certain age they get jobs. They understand they will have to make their own way, at least they understand it as well as anyone understands the concept in this benighted culture.

The only problem I have with this argument is that even children from good, strong Evangelical or Catholic families can be corrupted and revolt against their parents' values. I hope they'll come around again, but the mainstream culture is rotten.

[gondramB]

"Well move to a more affordable place"

I've turned down jobs in California and Boston because Atlanta already is so much cheaper. And I turned down my dream teaching job because it wouldn't have paid enough to send my kids to the school I would have been teaching at.

I'm not knocking my life - I have great life, a great wife, a great job and I'm happy. but we aren't gonna be having three kids because we couldn't afford it and still be fair to the kids.

[Utahrd]

I'm not too sure what Mr Colson would think about us here in Utah.

We have (I'm pretty sure) one of the highest birth rates in the country and pretty much everyone here is a Republican. (If you count RINO's like Chris Cannon and his supporters.)

But 70% of the people here belong to a faith that Mr Colson would consider to be Apostate.

[SquirrelKing]

...birth dearth...

[Politicalmom]

I am raising four children in an Atlanta suburb.

I am a SAHM. My children give $10 presents. They don't need IPods. We have award winning city schools, and I love their school. If they want to get a fancy education, they will have to earn it themselves. We use the library, and our usual "vacation" is season passes to the water park, and maybe a driving trip to visit relatives.

My children have everything they need, and if they want something they don't have, we are happy to help them figure out how to earn it.

[HumanitysEdge]

I think the baby boomers' children - those who had children - fall into two groups.
1. The lonely onlies who may or may not have children.
2. Those of more devout families with two or more children, who want 2 or more children themselves.
Sterile creatures don't propogate, and the same is true for sterile cultures.

[Antoninus]

but we aren't gonna be having three kids because we couldn't afford it and still be fair to the kids.

Baloney. You could homeschool. That's tons cheaper than sending them to a $20K/year private school--and you'll probably end up with better educated kids.

I'm going back to my old tagline.

[gondramB]

"The only problem I have with this argument is that even children from good, strong Evangelical or Catholic families can be corrupted and revolt against their parents' values. I hope they'll come around again, but the mainstream culture is rotten."

There are no guarantees. But on average, kids with good, concerned but wise parents turn out better and when they have their own kids they turn out better too.

The cool thing about this lack of guarantees is that the individual can also break the mold in a positive way if he puts his mind to it.

[livius]

Good article! And he's right; it's not just a "cultural strategy," but says a lot about one's attitude towards life. Being willing to have children, especially a relatively large number of them, indicates faith in God, confidence, hope, and a positive attitude towards life and the future.

I guess it's not remarkable that liberals don't have many kids, then...talk about a group that is sunk in gloom and despair.

BTW, VS, lately I have noticed younger people with kids, and also young families with 3-4 kids. A very good sign!

[cusack7080]

For all the whining that libs do about child labor, they forget that that is what kids did prior to this century. They worked. No you cant pry them away from their self-absorbed pursuits.

[gondramB]

"My children have everything they need, and if they want something they don't have, we are happy to help them figure out how to earn it."

That sounds wonderful.

For myself though, I grew up being the poorest kid in a class of 200 and I don't want that for my kids. If I'd had other issues as a kid I'd probably be compensating for those too. :)

[Coldwater Creek]

Your kids can get a great private education for about 5,000 each in Memphis, no state tax and very affordable housing.

Our son has 5, lots of sacrifices, but the kids have never seen the inside of a government school.

[goalinestan]

I am not sure if God had a number in mind when he said be fruitful and multiply but at 6 billion people, I think we've accomplished it to a certain degree.

As a Christian parent with three kids (so apparently I am doing my part according to this article) I will say that the decision to have children is unique to each couple, and I don't believe should simply be a rubber-stamped mandate.

I have friends from college who are married but have simply chosen not to have children. We have similar values in just about everything, but they have made the decision not to. I don't condemn them for this, nor do I think others should.

On the contrary I have friends, who like my wife and I have 2,3,4 kids and they plan to have more.

Yes, it's easy to say "God will provide, so by all means have 6-8 kids and he will take care of the finances." I have no doubts about the Lord's ability to provide, but by the same token, God also gave us brains so we can know our financial limits - which are also unique to each couple.

For us, my wife stays at home, which I strongly support, but obviously that means that the financial burden falls entirely to me. I accept this without complaint, but I know that if we doubled the number of children we had, we would not be able to live at our current standard (which by the way includes a 14 year-old car and used clothes).

It makes me very uneasy when I see posters advocating a "one -size-fits-all, lets out breed the libs" approach. If Christ ever condemned anyone for not having children, it must be in a passage I've forgotten.

[gondramB]

"Baloney. You could homeschool. That's tons cheaper than sending them to a $20K/year private school--and you'll probably end up with better educated kids.

I'm going back to my old tagline."

Well then one of us can't work... I'm the natural teacher so homeschooling would be be about the same financially.