The collapsing birthrate in the developed world

Homiletic and Pastoral Review | February 2001 | Fr John F. Kobler

[ex-snook]

"In the long run, however, Mohammed wins out. Christianity spreads primarily by conversion. Islam by conversion and reproduction. "

Any chance of recovery or have we doomed ourselves?

[wideawake]

The Catholic Church has been witnessing to the evils of birth control, abortion and casual sex since before the Constitution was signed.

There'd be twenty million more people in this developed country without abortion, for starters.

[antidisestablishment]

Added incentive for larger Christian families. :)

[okie_tech]

Truthfully it looks pretty bad. Reason #1 for hating selfish Baby Boomers, the worst generation. They didn't have enough kids to support them in their old age and then they sold out their countries from underneath their own children that they did have by importing millions of third world workers.

[okie_tech]

Mormans as a percentage of the population will be absolutely huge in 50 years because of this.

[Cicero]

As I've been saying on other threads, we owe Osama Bin Laden a debt of thanks for starting this war too soon. It was his biggest miscalculation. If the Muslims had waited another 50 years or so, Europe would have aborted itself into oblivion, and the Muslim guest-workers there would have outnumbered their ex-Christian hosts. The US balance would not have been as bad as that, but it would have been much worse than it is now. Now, though, just possibly, people may begin to wake up from the shock, although it's very late in the day.

Fixing a demographic disaster like the one the Culture of Death has inflicted on itself will take 25 years or more. And reversal will only be possible if Europeans and Americans can throw off the decadence into which they have drifted and find new energy and purpose.

[ex-snook]

"The Catholic Church has been witnessing to the evils of birth control, abortion and casual sex "

Then Catholics just may be the last Christian remnant as the West kill itself off.

[antidisestablishment]

Actually the LDS Church has "moderated" its stand on large families. There has already been a decline in LDS family size and it will probably continue to decrease.

Of course, wars result in higher birth rates though the increased births rarely exceed the number of casualties.

[wideawake]

Maybe - if all Catholics would just listen to their Church's teaching on life.

[gcruse]

Just the way you like it :)

[Dumb_Ox]

the moral fibber of Catholics in general.

Would this moral fibber be the conscience of, say, "Catholics for a Free Choice"? Or Clinton, perhaps? Typos can be insightful, on occasion.

[SocialMeltdown]

There are many reasons for the decline.

Two of my favorites are first "affluenza". Once a people become rich, they become complacent. We, in the west, have achieved social stability beyond our wildest dreams and now we don't need excess children.

The second reason that I favor is simply that the western/modern lifestyle precludes having many children. Large families in the past used to be an economic benefit because children could work on farms and cottage industries to help the family.

Today, a large family is an economic liability.

It costs a great deal of money to rear children in an affluent society and so fewer children get a larger percentage of the family income.

You all know the parent with one or two children who shower them with everything popular culture produces. If not for tremendous social to “keep you kid competative”, families would have more money to spend on more children.

[Arthur McGowan]

Twenty million? More like 45 million! And that's 45 million more people under the age of 30!

[Arthur McGowan]

Twenty million? More like 45 million! And that's 45 million more people under the age of 30!

[JmyBryan]

As women become more powerful, affluent and intelligent, many find that being pregnant and raising children isn't the only way to go. Hence, less births. It'll happen in any culture that allows women freedom.

[Campion]

Humanae Vitae ... it's not just a good idea ... it's the [natural] law.

[wimpycat]

OK everybody! All married Freepers of reproductive age, stop typing and start breeding! We've got a lot of catching up to do!!

[Campion]

It'll happen in any culture that allows women freedom.

Extinction is the natural result of allowing women freedom?

We aren't talking about people have slightly smaller families. If you have an average birthrate well under 2.0 children per woman, you're talking about the eventual extinction of the culture. The mathematics are not very forgiving.

I'd suggest that maybe women don't have enough freedom. They have the freedom to do what men do, but not the freedom to be mothers. My wife just conceived our fourth child. You ought to hear the flak she's getting from her own parents over it.

[Clemenza]

Too many overeducated women or men is a disease which could be cured by a return to COMMON SENSE. We should also defund NPR, PBS and the liberal arts programs in the universities.

YUPPIE BOBOS MUST DIE!!!

Thats my rant for today.

[workerbee]

My wife just conceived our fourth child. You ought to hear the flak she's getting from her own parents over it.

I know a couple in their mid-30s with 7 kids. You can imagine the shocked looks and comments that total strangers seem perfectly within their rights to give them. This is bad enough, but the youngest child has Downs Syndrome, and I've heard people actually say things to the effect of "it serves you right" to the parents, as if they deserved such a thing because of their audacity in choosing to have a large family. "Choice" is a one-way street, apparently.