Posted on 01/30/2019 7:54:49 AM PST by SeekAndFind
One of the first commands from God recorded in the Bible was for Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. In other words, go make a bunch of babies. For generations upon generations, God's people have done an admirable job of obeying that command. Not so much now, though. A new study claims that conservative Protestants are "becoming less fruitful."
Analyzing data gathered from 1972-2016, the authors of the study confronted the belief that higher fertility rates are connected to "religious commitment and belief." In their research, a drop in birth rates was a trend they discovered among both conservative Protestants and mainline Protestants. A 16 percent drop in birth rates was found in both groups. Since conservatives started with a higher baseline of children per household than their mainline counterparts, conservatives are still having children at a higher rate. However, the study did uncover some surprising trends.
The accepted wisdom has been that higher church attendance is connected to higher birth rates. The data from 1972 mostly bears this out: conservative Protestants who attended church regularly averaged 2.89 kids per household; those among that group who attended church less regularly saw a slightly lower number with 2.83 kids per household. Mainline Protestants adhered to the same pattern, and overall, their birthrate, at 2.48 kids per household, was lower than conservatives.
Conservative Protestants who attend church regularly now have a birth rate of 2.5 kids per household. Mainline Protestants who attend church regularly, however, did not see their birthrate drop. In fact, the data points to a slight uptick among that group.
The study also reveals that Roman Catholics who attend Mass regularly saw an increase in the birthrate from 2.62 kids per household to 2.72. Like Protestants, though, Catholics who are less faithful are having fewer children.
The study's abstract concludes, "Unless offset by switching, our findings portend future population declines for conservative Protestants, notably, ones that are not attenuated by greater religious commitment." The question, then, appears to be if this trend underlines the belief that conservative Christianity is entering the beginning of their end.
Thankfully, God has promised to build Christ's kingdom through faith and not through physical lineage. While the trend of having fewer children isn't necessarily good, conservative Protestants can rest in the promises of God and not fear for the continued existence of Christ's Church.
This is not a good development.
Maybe they see a bleak future for future children...
Well, this conservative Catholic did his part. Now the challenge is to keep the kids conservative despite the forces pulling them elsewhere in today’s society.
Sorry, I’m 52 years old.
People of faith use birth control, just as others do. That seems to be clear. And perhaps people of faith are delaying marriage, which is a trend seen overall in our culture in recent decades. Which results in less time in which to have children.
Well. I guess we all have to become Orthodox Mormons/S
Seeking sister wives! /S
It must be global warming so that the ovaries and nads are struggling with inconsistent temperaturs in their carbon footprints?/S
Its very, very cold here, this might warm you:
There once was a hockey team called the NADS , BTW, a team of the North American Demolitions commercial league.
At games you could here the fans cheering:
” GO! GO_NADS, GO!”
The thing is...if one, as a Conservative Christian, looks at the world around them and sees the things going on out there, it’ll give one pause as to whether or not someone wants to raise children in such a world.
The rise in demands for homosexual & trans-sexual ‘rights’, growing hostility towards Christians, and a host of other horrid things going on all over the world...the only way it’s going to stop is for the Return of Jesus Christ.
RE: Sorry, I’m 52 years old.
But do you have kids?
The politicians know that. They also know who is having babies. They have done what any self-loathing opportunist would do: abandon the Conservatives and embrace the newly-arrived and multiplying like rabbits you know who.
Conservative Catholic/Methodist couple here had 5.
I say bull to this. I see more at mass than ever.
Ten.
Meanwhile the Muslims have four wives and 10 kids with each on our welfare system.
RE: Ten
Good !! Are they all married and having children? If so, you’ve done your job :)
Because of the high cost of living almost every family has to have two incomes. The cost of daycare is outrageous, so having children is costly. I don’t know what the answer is.
Birth Control is easy.
None is married yet, and fortunately, they also have no children. My oldest is going to college after 9 years in the military. Second works for an advertising company. Third lives at home while going to college, but he’ll be moving out this year. Fourth is in the Marine Corps. The rest are 18 and under.
well, there’s still lots of time to add to the Conservative Christian Demographics :)
Yes, there’s plenty of demographic potential. Married first, jobs ...
Compared to?
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