I think part of the “slippery slope” has been the shift from saying married couples “may” use contraception to the assumption that married couples “will” contracept, and indeed, they must, because having a lot of children is, like, kind of lower class, and pretty gross, when you think about it.
Just yesterday, a FReeper asked how many babies I had “popped out.” He probably would have said “pooped out,” if he thought I was black or poor.
Good points. I’ve also heard that people should limit the number of children they have because of their carbon footprint.
There are underlying assumptions behind such suggestions, that people will use birth control, and be expected to do so.
It’s such a tricky area of life anyway. On a personal note, my late wife and I had two children, and were open to more. We never conceived again after our 2nd child. So you just never know about what will happen.
a) The Catholic Church and increasingly more Protestants espouse “Natural Family Planning.” The practice has much to unpack, but at the moment don’t expect the greater culture or most churches to help you along. And it’s rare to find OB/GYN’s who even know or care to discuss NFP. (And NFP, not just within the framework of pregnancy, but even how to approach other reproductive health issues. The medical establishment in this country prescribes birth control pills for just about every female ailment in the book!)
So it’s up to Christians to, in a sense ‘take back control’ as it were — and hand things back to God. NFP is a complete mentality shift from a contraceptive approach.
b) Speaking of large families, the loss of extended family structures has sterilized family life and communal culture in the ‘developed world.’ First world communities are so fragmented and isolated.
I have lived in poorer (maybe not 3rd world, but 2nd world) countries where children are out in the playground till evening and it’s just a given that someone is always watching...a grandparent or relative is always around, and neighbors are practically family. And groups coming together out and about to eat, or celebrate, play music, or have coffee and sweets...whether out in the city marketplace or in the neighborhood...it’s just organic. Not something you plan in advance.
Our society on the other hand, no longer fosters a culture in which families take care of each other through the generations. Most second and third world countries cannot afford the likes of convalescent homes and the like, but even if you were to explain the concept of one ...it’d be anathema to many.