CNN on people choosing not to have children....

There is a Southern Baptist FOOL on there talking as if people are obligated to have children. One of his STUPID comments was, "If you don't have children you remain an adolescent." :crazy:

Corpo-Master ain't gonna like it.

Add my :crazy: to yours.

We're both in our twenties and have decided to WAIT to have children... So, we're still kids ourselves? I'm confused. :shrug:

Nothing wrong with waiting! It was definitely the best decision for me. I traveled & did my own thing before I settled down with a family, & I don't feel like I missed anything.

And, both of my daughters are healthy, smart little hellions. :loveya:


I'd do it over again the same way.

My first was due on my 36th birthday, but he came a few weeks early. My second was due a couple weeks before my 38th birthday, again came a little early.

I am so glad I waited, though I sometimes still feel like I am missing something, I know I got the chance to focus on what I wanted.

Nothing is to be gained from rushing into having children, and besides... we have to get prepared for our own little brood of hellions! :)

Ever since my relatives moved back to the Midwest and became Southern Baptists, I have researched the Religious Right.

He's one of their prominent theologians and president of the Southwest Theological Seminary.

The column is entitled "Deliberate Childlessness."

I proudly sent it to the relatives; we were childless by choice for 15 years. We adopted at 40ish.

And we've been happy, happy, happy, and so has Beloved Princess.

Enjoy .. I give you ...

http://www.bpnews.net/bpcolumn.asp?ID=1910 .

His whole argument was just so bizarre. As if people who choose not to have children are narcissistic and selfish. I don't get why a personal decision like that should be so offensive to him.

are narcissistic and selfish. For instance, in my family there's a terrible genetic disease that everybody has a 50% chance of developing and it's fatal. So some went ahead and had children because they were whining "I want children of my own". Now the kids are caught up in this awful cycle and are in their teen years, with no cure in sight (thanks to Repukes). I don't even know if they have been told what's lurking in their DNA, but they did see their grandmother die of it.

it will make you even sicker. You'll be glad to know that he and Richard Land (the Ethics Commissioner), both of the Southern Baptist Convention, get more time with the President than key members of Congress.

and wishes he didn't have them. Thus, he resents those of us who chose to wait and be sure we really wanted ours.

Next thing he'll be saying that you're scum if you have kids and still want them.

People like that have their undies in a wad if anywhere someone might be happy.

Some people who have a lot of kids quickly probably look back and wonder what they might have missed. I suppose the same is true for those who never have children.

Either way, what's "adolescent" is to launch tirades against people whose personal decisions differ from your own.

"Either way, what is 'adolescent' is to launch tirades against people whose personal decisions differ from you own."

Exactly!

By the way, Ol' Al and his wife (Albert Mohler) only have TWO children. Hmmm ... how is it that, using no birth control, they only had two kids? Hmmm .. they could be not being open about having used birth control themselves ... or they ...

Anyway ...

:P

I have wondered more than once about what it must be like to be married to one of those jerks.

They want to ban birth control, of course.
Who knows what else?

Why do these people want to control everything? I just can't wrap my mind around those attitudes. I don't understand it at all.

I started a short time ago by setting up a monthly donation to NARAL.

Quote:

One of the earliest laws passed by Hitler once he came to power in 1933, was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage. This law stated that all newly married couples would get a government loan of 1000 marks which was about 9 months average income. 800,000 newly weds took up this offer. This loan was not to be simply paid back. The birth of one child meant that 25% of the loan did not have to be paid back. Two children meant that 50% of the loan need not be paid back. Four children meant that the entire loan was cleared.

The aim of the law was very simple - to encourage newly weds to have as many children as they could. There was also a more long term and sinister aspect to this : as Germany grew she would need more soldiers and mothers; hence a booming population was needed with young boys being groomed into being soldiers and young girls being groomed into being young mothers. If "lebensraum" was to be carried out, Hitler needed the population to fill the spaces gained in the eastern Europe

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Women_Nazi_Germany.htm

More evidence that America is becoming Nazi-land.

"Parenthood is not a hobby, but represents one of the most crucial opportunities for the making of saints found in this life." WHAT???

Thanks for posting. Now I must go get pregnant immediately! I dare not tarry for a moment, lest I be damned. :rofl:

What a jerk.

But that probably has more to do with my librul lifestyle, and the fact that I let them watch SpongeBob.

SpongeBob is the downfall of civilization as we know it! Repent! Repent!

Hi keeba! ;)

for some reason all the people this guy objects to being childless are all...white.

I'm starting to think you can't be an upper rank part of the Southern Baptists and not have a racial agenda.

in a five pound sack. Patriarchal, controlling neo-fascist bullshit.

The lifestyles of those childless-by-choice people sound pretty darn appealing to me. Disclaimer - never had a relationship, much less kids, kids, generally dislike kids that aren't well behaved, which includes about 90% of those I see. No flames intended - whatever floats yer boat.

Like I said, we were childless by choice for over 15 years. Then, as the Fates would have it, we were blessed with Her Royal Highness, Beloved Daughter.

So, sometimes things change.

DUers, the important terms, to me, are CHOICE and PLANNED PARENTHOOD (in the sense that if that kid comes out of the shoot, he or she winds up in a LOVING home).

I recognize that disgusting crud when I see it!

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog.php ...

Kneel before me, DUers! Do I know my Religious Wrongies or not?

know have never had children.

My wife's mother has four other siblings. All of the siblings had kids except one of my wife's uncles. He pretty much put all of the kids through (or is putting through) college, including my wife. Pretty cool for an adolescent! :shrug:

We believe our decision not to have children gives us a lot more time to volunteer in our community, as well as being honorary auntie and uncle to all of our friends' kids. To take it a step further, we believe it's our obligation to give back.

Julie

My husband and I will celebrate 25 years in February. We have had a wonderful life that we have shared with dogs that we have rescued. Our 4 year-old, Jean, in my sig line, goes with me when I protest every Wednesday night with Code Pink. Never a complaint.

Also childless by design with dogs, cats and parrot:)
25 years! where did that time go? It was a blink of the eye.
tib

It's true. I can't believe how fast the time has gone, and we still have so much we want to do. Remember 'time flies when your having fun'?

I wonder if there has ever been a study of summer vs. winter marriages surviving? That would be very interesting to know.

Because of the cheese on their genitals?

:shrug:

for you have sinned!

:puke:


LOL

just wrong

:rofl:

over it.

The more kids they have, the more people they can brainwash.

let somebody else pay for the ingrateful leeches. ;-)

Its a good think people hump like bunnies, as if rationality
were involved the race would die out.

Children give the man a little "kingdom" to rule over to fulfill his place as a patriarch.

Keeping women pregnant keeps them from getting jobs, having any independence, etc.

I say this as someone who has 4 kids--I am definitely NOT anti-child; I'd probably have more if I could (and could afford them!) because I really, really like babies.

But this is their reasoning; has nothing to do with loving/wanting babies or children.

that is just obscene. he seems like the "patriarch" type of wingnut.

I'm sure that some people sincerely believe that a six-week old fetus is a person, but I think the majority want control over women's lives. Some men, especially, see their control over women slipping through their fingers and they're trying to regain their status.

Pregnancy is the path to maturity. Whatever.

I should tell my cousin that. One time my grandmother surprised me by telling her that she needed to go to church and be more devoted to God to get pregnant. :eyes: Ridiculous because my church's youth minister's wife got pregnant with four babies and she lost them all. And a family friend who's husband does a lot with our church got pregnant once and lost that baby. Just because you can't have children doesn't mean anything.

>One time my grandmother surprised me by telling her that she needed to go to church and be more devoted to God to get pregnant<

I have two girlfriends that don't have kids because they're infertile. They've both been through treatments, tried everything, and it just didn't work. More "devotion to God" doesn't work. It's a medical condition, and especially heartbreaking for those who truly wanted a baby and can't have one. The well-meaning can be very cruel.

:cry:

Julie

Not to mention his greased-up left palm.

Edited to apologize for the imagery.

for that awful image. I shudder to think that falafel could reproduce. If one person should remain out of the gene pool it's O'Liely. That in itself is a reason for abortion. To bad his mother didn't have one.

He never grew up ...

I'm remarrying in less than a month. I always wanted two children because I was an only child and it was boring as hell, but, see, I'm gonna be 36 a week after my wedding and, well, he wants his own child.

He's never been married. I have. I have one child. A corker - a beautiful, intelligent (they're considering skipping him a grade), fun, sweet little boy.

I don't want another child. Why?

Well, for purely selfish reasons. I'm only 5'1" and my baby boy was 10 pounds, 2 ounces and RUINED my body. I can't lose weight (I'm not fat, but fatter than I would like), I'm top-heavy, I have heart-burn all the time (didn't before the baby), my digestion is slow, etc.

Obesity and diabetes run in my family. I don't want to go through this again.

I understand the need - especially when the person is smart, well-adjusted, would be a good father - to want your own child and this man is going to be my husband. I would LOVE to have children with him IF I thought I wouldn't turn into - and this is vanity - the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

Am I being selfish or silly or tired?

As you said yourself: "for purely selfish reasons"

If the only reason you don't want to have another kid is what you are afraid it will do to your body, then it does sound that way. IMHO, There are many pros and cons of having a kid, and your physical appearance should be your last concern.You also mentioned your age, I really don't see anything wrong with a 36 yo having a kid.

Personally, I would not get involved with anyone if they made it clear that they didn't want to have a kid with me. Consider what you would think if he was the one who already had a kid and didn't want to have one with you for what you perceived to be selfish reasons.

I really am having tons of digestive problems, that I've left unchecked and untreated because I was a single Mom for so many years and didn't have the money and/or insurance (which will not be a problem upon our marriage).

And - he's not going to leave me if I can't have kids. I've already expressed that my age concerns me. He's a bit younger than me (33 today!). I've told him our window is limited. I'm not going through this past 40 - period.

And this is my dilemma. I WANT kids with him, but I don't WANT to go through that burdeon again. That's why it's so difficult. *sigh*

But you are afraid of the pregnancy? That's a normal and rational fear, IMO. My pregnancy was hell.

It's a decision that only you and your fiance can make.

If you REALLY want to have another child, the nine months of hell is something you'd be willing to endure, assuming you don't expect to have any serious health issues.

Take care of your health problems first, that should be the priority before any pregnancy, anyway. Once you feel better, generally, you will be in a more clear state of mind to make the decision. Find out if getting pregnant really had something to do with your digestive problems, it may have been unrelated, just bad timing. Even if it did it may not get any worse even if you do get pregnant again. You need to find out, you can't make decisions in the dark, you know?

Good luck, hon. :hug:

As a single, childless guy I have little perspective on what pregnancy and childbirth does to a woman physically or emotionally, but sounds like you are willing to consider dealing with it again.
If you have medical concerns you should, of course, check with a doctor to see if there could be any legitimate health issues in having another baby. You said you do want kids with him, so you are willing to deal with the financial aspect make any lifestyle changes that come with having a baby and raising a kid, which is a long term commitment. Pregnancy and recovery is short term and you have been there before so you are going to have to decide if it is something you are willing to go through again.

or is it just the birthing? With the birthing could you have a c-section? My aunt has three kids and I think she had a c-section with at least two of them and than she had her tubes tied after she and my uncle had their daughter last year or so (she's the cutest thing). I do see your dilemma but I think it sounds like the guy you're marrying is understanding and really loves you for who you are and not whether or not you will have a child together. :hug:

you have the right to do what you want with it-as long as you don't hurt anyone else.

that "ruin" your body - a lot of this is just aging. it's not necessarily attributed to having children. i have four sons, a friend has none, but we're both 50 and are having the same type of body changes. i think it's hormonal, although it's easy to say that for all the little aches, pains, and extra pounds!

if you really want to lose the weight, it will come off.

but the real question is: are you and he ready internally to have a child? is your relationship good? is this a deal breaker for your man? that's a lot more important than the external stuff.

Clearly pregnancy takes a big toll on your body, and not just in the sense of vanity. You would be putting your health at risk. And there's nothing wrong with you for being concerned about the effect on your body. Excuse me, but last time I checked, we lived in a sexist, appearance-obsessed culture. Trying to live up to the beauty and weight standards is like another full-time job for most women so why should you feel guilty for not wanting to undertake a physical ordeal that would eradicate all your previous efforts? You're not being silly at all. Realistic, from where I sit. Talk it over with your husband, if you haven't already. And don't let him dismiss or trivialize your issues. It's YOUR body.

Hope that helps. :hug:

it depends on what your doctor says. If he says it wouldn't be good for your health than I wouldn't risk it personally. I'm short too so I wonder if I would go through that when/if I have kids. I'm 5'1 if not a little bit shorter. For some reason I always have this worry I won't have kids. :\ My Mom was just a little taller than me when she had my brother and I but when she was my age she was super skinny.

Don't let anyone tell you differently.You don't have to explain anything. There is nothing selfish about not wanting to do harm to the body that is yours. If obesity and diabetes run in your family, and you suffer from heartburn and indigestion, then pregnancy is indeed a risk for you. In fact, pregnancy is a dangerous medical condition for any woman, even with no underlying health problems.

Worrying about weight gain is not "vanity." It's worrying about your OWN HEALTH. Obesity leads to so many other problems. If you don't want to have a child, don't.

Don't ever feel guilty for making a choice about your body that you feel is right for you.

in your marriage...

I was warned in my teens due to some endocrine tests I had that I might have fertility problems...(I had the tests done for health reasons)...

so when my hubby and I were considering marriage...I made it abundantly clear I wanted kids but had no idea based on what the doctor had said whether I could have em...he was okay either way.

turns out i was fertile myrtle...so I had no problems...

as for body changes...I had two and today after working out...I am getting back to my original size ...slowly but surely...

"Be fruitful and multiply" for instance and something about how a "barren women" is worthless. :crazy:

this was a super long time ago and population was a big thing. Now if you're barren you're not really worthless. ;)

While I don't support his position that all people should have children (hell, some of them shouldn't even have pets) why is everyone here so worked up over this man's opinion? His opinion is worth no more nore any less than anyone's here, however ignorant it might be. It is just that: an opinion. The people at whom we should be pissed are the media that gives this guy and his ilk a platform from which to speak...

subjectProdigal

And his ilk have the ears of the people who wield power in this country. That makes me awful nervous.

the reason this person has 'sway' with those in power is because those in power believe he has 'sway' with the general population (or some large percentage of it). If he couldn't speak on a wide basis to the populace from the media pulpit then those in power would not give a rip. Remember, those in power want one of two things...to line their pockets with the baubles so easily obtained by those in power or to HOLD that power so they can continue with the former.

subjectProdigal

is apparently so cash rich that it sponsors, produces and/or pushes radio programs with its ministers as hosts.

The Southern Baptist Convention is the top-of-the-pyramid for all of its affiliate Southern Baptist Churches; I call it an administrative body. It funds and supervises the theological seminaries, a website, conventions and resolutions, and position papers, etc. All of the churches are supposedly independent, but I notice that any church who deviates from the patriarchal, anti-feminist, anti-gay agenda/propaganda is relatively quickly eliminated from the State's Southern Baptist Convention's rolls. Huge pressure comes from the top, seemingly, to tow the organizational line.

Very scary stuff, in my humble opinion.

I have decided that not one dime of the Maat family money will ever go to a Southern Baptist church, for some of that money flows up to that odious SBC. That's why I won't be contributing to Joel Osteen or Rick Warren (particularly not their churches); I have no idea what money goes where.

Putting things in context is not something that fundies do. That is what makes them so dangerous.

Opposed to many other sects of Christianity that look for the symbollic meaning, the greater message.

You're supposed to ignore the parts in that book that you don't like! Only the progressive-sounding parts are still relevant today.

So what if I don't have kids and instead choose to enjoy my life by going out, playing, and travelling as I wish? If I pay my bills and meet my obligations as every other adult in society, then why do I need to procreate? Screw him.

Oh yeah, and EVERYONE who does the family thing is a paragon of responsibility. Like Susan Smith (pushed her two little boys into a lake) and Scott Peterson (murdered his pregnant wife), not to mention all the other shitty, neglectful, abusive, and murderous parent you cannot go a day without seeing in the news. Good thing they chose to fulfull their parental destinies. Sure made them mature, huh? :eyes:

H.L. Mencken defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy".

I'm SO sick of people looking down their damn nose at me cuz I don't have 938 kids! Uh excuse ME, where's MY tax break!?!??!??!!?!?! Where's MY pat on the back for BEING RESPONSIBLE and not contributing to overpopulating this fucking planet any more than it already is?!?!?!!? Kiss my ass!!!!!!!!

Lu Cifer, and I'm going to go crank one off now JUST OUT OF SPITE to this retard Baptist minister turd!!!!! Thank GOD for abortion and masturbation! There! Ya don't like that DO YOU?! Well, I don't like being treated like SHIT cuz I don't have a house full of water-head mongolid baby childern just to FIT IN with this retarded society so again KISS MY ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're living the life of hedonistic luxury. That is, when we're not working harder so our breeder counterparts can take little Chad and Tiffany to soccer or ballet lessons. Or waiting at the counter while the convenience store clerk gets the key so we can get our cigarettes or booze from the locked cabinet because Concerned Christian Parents can't take enough responsibility for their offspring and need the government (that they usually despise per Rush's instructions) to intervene. And you better have proper ID, despite the fact that you are CLEARLY over the age of majority because, again...

Just pay your lion's share of taxes and shaddup you selfish non-breeder!!

you're apart of the single agenda. :sarcasm:

Like how they say gay people have an "agenda." Heh. For the most part I enjoy being single myself but sometimes there are those mothering urges in me. I'm still young though. :) So I don't feel quite so bad.

...till the earth is overrun with them. God told them to do it, dontchaknow.

:crazy:

That attitude really has me worried - the hardright fundamentalists are coming into the stores with at least four or five kids in tow (each).

Pretty soon they will be in every local office (Oh, what a thought!). We just defeated two of them in the local school board election - by electing progressives! Yeah!

would love to have a big family. Of course I could change my mind tomorrow but I'd love to have at least five kids. :blush: My dad wanted that many but it ended up just being my brother and I (when we were younger he was hyperactive and made up for all of those kids though haha). Maybe us liberals need to catch up. ;)

Beloved Daughter is quite enough for me - keeping her motivated to do her homework assignments (rather than shop or think about shopping) seems like a 24/7 job!

Take care, Peace, and Happy New Year (I'm already thinking ahead)!

Once more, I'm doubley concerned for humanity because it is freaks like him who are having litters, and the more educated, thoughtful liberals who are having fewer childeren (as a general rule).

I have given this simple mathematics problem a lot of thought recently. I conclude that the world is fucked. Can't we just give them an island, maybe even a contitent, where they can go to inbreed at will??? Please, just leave the rest of civilized humanity alone.

This man is totally jealous!

I knew I didn't want kids by the time I was 16 years old. I'm a few *ahem* years older now...let me put it this way...if I were a horse I'd be put put to pasture. I told my husband before we got married that if he wanted kids, he'd better find someone else, cause no way no how was I having children.

I have never regretted it (neither has my hubby)...and I'm telling you...this guy is pissed off at people like me. He is SO jealous of my freedom. Well, all I can say to him is:

Neener-neener!

As a childless adult, we contribute plenty in help, taxes and support to relatives, friends and neighbors who have children. Often we serve as a confidante, an intermediary, and a help to parents who need a break or a helping hand.

To categorize people as somehow less because they choose not to have children is outrageous. We are, by the way, likely the FIRST people who would volunteer to look after a child if a parent becomes sick or is killed - more likely to look out for a child's welfare in the neighborhood, and more likely to serve as another adult figure in a child's life.

I was the only member of my family (well, except my youngest sister) without children, and my grown nieces and nephews love me to death - I was the fun uncle. And I'm still the fun uncle.

This awful, petty attempt to ostracize members of extended families is unconscionable.

No kids for me either.

For many, many years, I thought I was the only woman alive who knew in her teens that she did not want children....

Nice to see you :hi:

:hi:

animals. We have higher intelligence, and the ability to make choices. We don't just breed out of instinct--or at least most of us don't.

Desired effect: ACHIEVED.

jesus didn't have kids.

that is funny!

:hi:

... if you believe in the Grail Heresy, like I do - at least he fathered a child with Mary Magdalene. But he had no hand in raising one during his lifetime.

no wonder they pass the collection plate so much...they're still tryin' to pay off his back child-support!

this would all be too funny if it weren't so damned pathetic. i never ever ever ever had one day of maternal instinct, and probably thanks to one night in the emergency room following a horrible IUD experience, i never had to deal with it. i love my nephews and niece to death and love little children (when they're not being brats). i tell my nephews, who are the coolest things on this planet, now in their 20s, to call me auntie barren as a joke. i've never been made to feel like there was anything wrong with me except by the female fundie types, who give me that perplexed look - "o you didn't want to have children?" :crazy:

I made my choice ten years ago.

I have news for that fsckhead; I've met several people who were adolescent (mentally) w/kids. :scared:

As another poster mentioned, we're not lower order animals that fsck like bunnies.

And I also want to know what he is doing to create the jobs tha all these unwanted children will be needing. More news for that nazi: we're overpopulated in the U.S. relative to the available number of jobs. Is he planning on the welfare that will be needed for all these kids when they hit 18 & can't find a job? :mad:

I'll have a hundred kids if and only if you give me....

A planet all my own to raise them on.

While I don't support his position that all people should have children (hell, some of them shouldn't even have pets) why is everyone here so worked up over this man's opinion? His opinion is worth no more nor any less than anyone's here, however ignorant it might be. It is just that: an opinion. The people at whom we should be pissed are the media that gives this guy and his ilk a platform from which to speak...

subjectProdigal

I am thoroughly SICK AND TIRED of all these nutcases like him always being on television. There is something seriously wrong when most of the people interviewed on television are just nuts, but are treated with respect and even catered to. Just like they treat that MORAN in the White House as if he is entitled to respect.

be mad at the media that gives amplification to his voice. Heck, I feel sorry for him if he feels that way...but I can be damned upset at CNN for making his opinion seem more 'worthy' than others by taking it nationwide...

subjectProdigal

Childfree people (that is, people who do not have children and do not want to have any ever) and childfree women especially have a different experience in American culture than wat you may have grown up with. We are often told that we are unnatural, selfish, will change our minds. we don't know what love is, we will die bitter and alone, etc etc - by strangers. Can you imagine someone walking up to you and your family and saying, "Boy, that child sure was a mistake, wasn't he? Bet you're sorry!" not once but many times? Being made to justify personal reproductive choices again and again? (Many of us don't, mind; a lot of us will just tell those people to fuck off.) Now imagine hearing that from your friends, your family, and from nearly every part of society - that your decision is wrong, unnatural, sinful, ugly, selfish, evil. etc. This goes double or more for women; there are still many who believe that women are only good for what's between their legs and once they reach menopause, they may as well die.

Add the patina of religious respectibility, and you can see why some people get annoyed with this sort of horseshit.

Yes, I'm childfree and no, I don't particularly like children (why do so many childfree feel compelled to add "but I love children"? Loving children is only required if you're having some!)

but 'childed' makes it sound like it happened to me like a car accident would...we planned for the two little ones we have. And to be honest, if someone told me my decisions were a mistake, I would probably laugh them off because they can't possibly know the ins and outs of my life that lead to the decisions I have made. And once again, the man is entitled to his opinion just as you are entitled to yours. Why are people so threatened? The people at which our ire should be directed are the morons giving this guy a microphone to spread his opinion.

There are a lot of opinions that I don't care for, many that are formed in ignorance, and some that downright offend me. However, they are just that. I can try to help change those opinions...but to say that person should stifle that opinion because I don't like it...well, that is just nuts.

subjectProdigal

I never said he should be stifled. Ridiculed, yes; but of course he has a right to his delusions, just as you have to yours.

with perfect clarity. But for people on this board to get so worked up about something that in reality doesn't affect you unless you choose to let it is rather odd. People here espouse ideas everyday that would make some people scream...and they would be incensed if someone had the nerve to call them the names that get thrown around here quite frequently. It is just hypocrisy...and quite funny...ridicule will never change anyone's mind...but understanding of their plight (that which made them think the way they do) and educating them just might.

subjectProdigal

If you want to feel sorry for those who have children go right ahead. Or if you want to feel some understanding for those who have crazy, bigoted beliefs, go right ahead. Me, I'll just go on laughing at those who think that the "willfully childless" are a threat to them ... because I am a threat to them.

despite how you might feel.

I do feel sorry for people with beliefs that are so shallow and so ignorant...heck, Jesus didn't have kids according to most Christian dogma...what would this man have said to Him? I don't know what you are thinking here; I have nothing against people with OR without children. I have two littles ones out of choice. My sister has none...out of choice. And I do not condemn her for it. She does not have any issue with me having children. Her decision is most likely well thought out as was ours. I simply find it funny that people direct their ire at the wrong target. People will spout the most ridiculous garbage from their mouths...CNN and their ilk are the ones giving this guy a voice...

subjectProdigal

I'm a woman within my years of fertility.

"They" don't want me to have premarital sex.
And "they" don't want me to have access to birth control.
And "they" don't want me to have access to a safe medical abortion if need be.
And "they" now want me to be "fruitful and multiply" despite my ability to support and raise that/those child/ren.

Here are some solutions:

1. A Handmaid's Tale
2. American Lebensboren program. Pay me to have your children.

Hmm...my wife and I are childless by choice (disconnected...uhh...ahem..."plumbing" here) and we like it that way. You can take the whole "be fruitful and multiply" command too far. Multiplying too much when there are insufficient resources to sustain it is wasteful and therefore a sinful act of poor stewardship. (Not that most Southern Baptists, being dispensational premilennialists/rapturists almost to a man, give a flying tinker's damn about stewardship of the earth, but...) God gave ya grey matter for a reason Mr. Mohler, it's not just up there to take up space. You ought to try using it sometimes, it's a lot of fun!

I don't see anything in the teachings of Christ to make a dogmatic statement either way...if you have kids, great! If you don't, great! Some people are cut out for parenthood...some are not. Sad thing is a good many folk who aren't cut out for it multiply like rabbits.

Phooey. I question the sanity of people who get that upset over what other people are doing with their weenies and hoo-hahs. :D

Todd in Beerbratistan

The Professor

:D

Is that supposed to be a slur? Who are these people that get on these shows and spout this nonsense?

Why does he have to say hateful things like this? Most people who have CHOSEN not to have children probably knew what they were doing.

>Most people who have CHOSEN not to have children probably knew what they were doing.<

Let's put it this way: I was joking with my girlfriends in high school that I would wait until the last available egg. I am a former nanny. I love children, I just didn't want to have any of my own. If being an egg donor was easier, I would have done it in a second, and been overjoyed to help someone else achieve their most heartfelt desire.

DH works in the software industry. He works VERY long hours (for instance, he once went two years with ONE DAY OFF,) and travels to meet clients and potential customers as well. If we had a child, I'd be showing the baby his picture and explaining what a wonderful person Daddy is, he's just not home this week. :scared:

We discussed this at great length before we got married and even afterwards. If we were going to have a child in our home, we would have adopted a foster child. There are roughly 250,000 kids languishing in the foster system around the USA; it would seem to me a much better thing to offer one of them a stable, loving home than to recreate our DNA, but that's just me.

Julie

I have a girlfriend who has a mother who won't get off my case about marriage/babies. Not to mention my own mother. Christ now I get to worry about being flanked by the MSM. This is becoming a tough fight here.

Having children is the mark of a 'successful' existance.

Luckily, as humans, we have other, psychological markers of success.

(I'm childless, btw, by choice. I would have screwed it up miserably.)

are having too much fun, and are not mired in domestic drudgery. They need to settle down, shut up, and make some babies. :sarcasm:

What he probably doesn't realize is that even after having children, couples don't necessarily fall into line and become traditional conservative parents.

People who have children for ALL the wrong reasons and then ignore them; expect everyone else to raise and take care of them; let them scream and run around and make a nuisance of themselves in public; don't pay attention to their health (mental and physical) or education; let them surf the web for the directions for the bombs they make in their bedrooms that the parents are too busy or bored to notice; have too many children because they know they can just get more welfare then; and don't worry about their child's self-esteem or self-worth.

Being a parent doesn't end once the child is out of diapers and too many "parents" today think it does - they don't want to take the time to be a parent, teach their children or discipline their children. I'm not talking about parents whose time is limited due to the two jobs they have to keep to pay for their kids' needs - I'm talking about the ones who don't want to ground them because then they have to stay home too and it's just easier to let them get away with stuff and the ones who don't want to bother to argue to set rules. "It's just too much of a hassle" isn't the chapter title in any child-rearing book I've ever seen. Being a parent means never thinking of yourself first again.

Not everyone should have children. Many people who do have them really shouldn't. I applaud those who chose to remain childless because they realize that's what right for them, whether it's for personal, financial, social or professional reasons.

I don't have children (I'm 39) and don't know that I will. I may, but I think I'd rather adopt a child or two than bring another one into this world - there are SO many wonderful children who need homes and personally I'd rather help one of them.

if they raise them not to vote republican

Most people with children don't have any jealously of the childfree, as they are very happy with their lives and the love they have in their families. However there are some that look at us with resentment, I have been told by some of the bitter ones about this. I'm not saying they don't love their children or that they are bad parents. We have certain freedoms they don't and they feel we should have to go through everything they do.

My fiancee and I have never asked or even thought about what school district an apartment or house is in when we consider such things.

We have been on our way home from dinner on a Friday night and decided to just turn the car go to the airport and go some where for the weekend.

For Christmas this year we well either go to NYC or the Caribbean for the weekend.

(minor but still something we are more free to do) We will not fight holiday shopping crowds and buy each other presents using the after holidays sales.

This year my fiancee was sitting with some ladies at her work who all have children and after being asked with a "pity look" what are we "two" doing for Christmas and telling them either the Caribbean or NYC, overheard one as they were leaving say "it's so unfair." Last year after a colleague was telling me about his family's Christmas, I began telling him about our trip we took for Christmas, to which he replied "Do you really think I want to hear about you and your girlfriend trampling all over the country and having a good time?" That is the attitude this guy that was on CNN has. I had enjoyed hearing about the fun he and his family had at Christmas, but he felt what I did was I guess "adolescent" and didn't care to hear about it.

Given the capricious nature of this economy, having children greatly increases your chances of living in poverty. You can have a great paying job today, and tomorrow, you're unemployed. Ask anyone in IT.

I have never made enough money in y entire life to raise a family. Never.

Or for that matter the schools that will help those children get jobs in the future, the ability to have children and not lose your chance of retiring before you're 80 because you don't have the income to put in your 401K, etc.

If I ever get decent health insurance again, I'm considering a vasectomy.

George Washington
William Shakespeare
Jesus (if you don't believe the DaVinci code)
Queen Elizabeth I
Mother Teresa
Rush Limbaugh

Every day children die because they were born to people who never should have had children. Anyone who decides not to have children should be praised for having the courage to make that decision.

Sounds fine to me!

:toast:

:rofl: You have a good attitude.

And I have children!:D

Why do you hate adolescents, Mr. Baptist? Are they to tempting or something? }(

I work in a school office where every one of us is a middle-aged parent / grandparent and we're all adolescent as hell! I'd put us at about 7th grade level.