NPR has a new story about the Quiverfull Movement – a sect of Christianity that believes they should have as many children as they can. (Come to think of it, that’s a bit like Mormon teachings – which says families should have as many children as they can handle.)
It’s originally based on Psalms 127:3-5
Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
Ignoring the obvious gender preference here, the verse is essentially saying that having sons will enable you to beat-back your enemies with superior numbers.
From the article:
Among some conservative Christians, a movement is giving new meaning to the biblical mandate to “be fruitful and multiply.”
The movement, called Quiverfull, is based on Psalm 127… Those in the Quiverfull movement shun birth control, believing that God will give them the right number of children. It turns out, that’s a lot of kids.
I have to admit that it’s irritating when people believe God will intervene to bring about the right situation – and then use that to avoid any planning. This kind of action could easily lead to overpopulation. I don’t know how many people the earth could support, but if everyone did this, the global population would skyrocket.
“We just started thinking, ‘God is sovereign over life and death. God opens and closes the womb,’ ” Kelly says. “That’s what his word says, so why we’re trying to fiddle around and controlling ourselves, we need to stop doing that.”
This lack of foresight and personal responsibility is galling.
Their friends do, too. The average family at their evangelical church has 8.5 kids. They are children who the Swansons hope will spread the message of Christ.
Wow.
That’s also the hope of Nancy Campbell, a leader of the Quiverfull movement and author of Be Fruitful and Multiply.
“The womb is such a powerful weapon; it’s a weapon against the enemy,” Campbell says.
Campbell has 35 grandchildren. She and her husband stopped at six kids, and it is her great regret.
“I think, help! Imagine if we had had more of these children!” Campbell says, adding, “My greatest impact is through my children. The more children I have, the more ability I have to impact the world for God.”
A Christian God, that is. Campbell says if believers don’t starting reproducing in large numbers, biblical Christianity will lose its voice.
How about actually coming up with some decent evidence to convert people? I guess indoctrinating children is a whole lot easier when it comes to dominating the world with your religious views.
“We look across the Islamic world and we see that they are outnumbering us in their family size, and they are in many places and many countries taking over those nations, without a jihad, just by multiplication,” Campbell says.”
Admittedly, I think it is scary how fast some parts of the Muslim world is reproducing. However, fertility rates actually vary from one Islamic nation to the next, and the fertility rates have been dropping – Iran, for example, is down to about 1.71 children born/woman. Thirty years ago, that was much higher. The right-wing media likes to play up the high reproduction rates of some Middle Eastern nations though – because they’re very big on promoting fear.
“They speak about, ‘If everyone starts having eight children or 12 children, imagine in three generations what we’ll be able to do,’ ” Joyce says. ” ‘We’ll be able to take over both halls of Congress, we’ll be able to reclaim sinful cities like San Francisco for the faithful, and we’ll be able to wage very effective massive boycotts against companies that are going against God’s will.’ “
Yikes. These people and their legion of indoctrinated children are hoping to take over. It’s like some bad Christian Dominionist fantasy.
When [Misty and Seth Huckstead] were 23, already with four children, he had a vasectomy. But they searched the Bible and concluded that sterilization was an affront to God.
An affront to God? Well, I guess all the logical arguments in the world can’t make them change their minds – they’re doing what god wants.
Misty says she’ll have as many children as possible. She loves having babies and believes it’s the proper role for women.
The proper place for women: barefoot and pregnant.
By the way, I just noticed The Friendly Atheist has a short post about the Quivefull Movement.
“Those in the Quiverfull movement shun birth control, believing that God will give them the right number of children.”
Isn’t religion amazing? It leads some people to ignore the most obvious examples of cause and effect. If you have unprotected sex a lot, you’ll have a lot of babies. If you use birth control, you’ll have few babies. Could it be simpler?
And anyway, if god is all-powerful, isn’t it capable of giving you the “right number of children” regardless of what you do?
I find their viewpoint absolutely, stunningly stupid.
I heard that story too. I was also struck by the fear-mongering and bigotry involved in the mention of how fast those dastardly Moslems are breeding.
I once saw a car with a “God is my co-pilot” bumper sticker, but the “co-” was cut out. I almost pulled over for fear that the fundamoron thought that God was really driving the car.
Giant families, biblical literalism/anti-intellectualism and a tightly defined in-group; three of the best ways to get the worst out of people (poverty, ignorance, fear).
[…] even need to think about global warming because only God can destroy the earth or avoid making decisions because ‘it’s in God’s hands’). As long as her beliefs don’t make her skirt personal responsibility or make irrational […]
I hate to disagree, but I know many people who are quiverfull who only have 1 or 2 children and some who have none. It isn’t a matter of “stupidity” we are well aware of how children are made. I can’t believe people and their hatred of what is right. The biggest difference is that we believe that children are a blessing not a curse or hardship.
It isn’t a matter of “stupidity” we are well aware of how children are made.
Yes, we know you aren’t stupid.
I can’t believe people and their hatred of what is right.
I think the major problem is that we disagree about what is right, and people try to push their ideas onto us by out-voting us with lots and lots of children.
There’s also a second worrying aspect to the “we’ll beat you by having more children” part of this – the earth can only support so many people. We can’t continue to grow the population at exponential rates. If we’re going to get into an “arms race” to control the planet by seeing who can have the most children, we’re all going to lose. We’ve got 7 billion people on this planet. Even relatively mild fertility rates of 4 children per person will increase the global population by 8x in 3 generations. I don’t think the earth can support 56 billion people. In that sense, the Quiverfull movement is playing chicken with the rest of the people on earth.
The biggest difference is that we believe that children are a blessing not a curse or hardship.
I don’t think that’s the difference at all; that’s a strawman. If people actually thought children were “a curse or hardship”, they’d have zero children. Most people don’t have zero children, even though most people are offended by the Quiverfull movement.
You should listen more and speak less. That way you sound wise to all not just the fools. For you see you neither understand the reason behind the movement or the movement itself.
It not simply a lack of understanding of the basic principle of cause and effect. Which by the way is just a less complex verison of the christian reap what you sow doctrine. It is a restoration of the Christian worldview of children.
For the world view children as a blessing only when it is a convience to them or when they in there own perception of sovereignty decide it to be. However the quiverful movement simply states or interpretes the bible as stating that children are a blessing from God. ps 127 and that it is the job of a Married couple to bring up a Godly offspring malachi 2.15
Following Christ is all about sacrificing this life for the next. Blessed are those who believe and have not seen.
I think the ‘children are burdens’ thing comes from the fact people are delaying marriage. it is sad the Fundie /QF marry their offspring so young because they are in the age group with the highest divorce rates. Some of these kids are talented and will not be allowed to do anymore than reproduce and even if they are unhappy will not be allowed divorce for any reason. To the above commenter Bible culture is much different than now. I dont think that verse is right to reproduce until your eyeballs fallout. It was a different place different time. Many Psalms are metaphors. The logic is flawed because the mental , physical, and financial is not considered. If everyone used this logic, you could bet more Andrea Yates would surface. Children aren’t blessings if you dont want them. that is asking for trouble if you make someone raise something they dont want to. Not all make good parents. BTW Jesus had no kids. We are no longer living under OT law. And I wish these QF supporters like Mary Pride could work for child services for one day. Maybe they would rethink their views ‘children are blessings to all’.
God does not make “cookie cutter Christians”, meaning each christian has to follow the individual path God has laid out for them….It is a personal relationship and we do not always follow closely, sometimes not at all. For some missionaries, they chose to leave behind their one or two children to let others raise them as they felt led by God into deepest darkest jungles to spread the Gospel.
In my case, with my husband suffering illness after illness in our 30 plus yrs of marriage, we felt no kids was best for our situation. I never wanted any anyway, so God had already made someone to be my husband’s life partner.
Joni Eareckson, a vibrant Christian, lives her life in a wheel chair after being crippled in a diving accident as a young woman. God gave her a husband who loves her deeply but they have no children.
Jesus never married nor had children as He was about HIs father’s business.
The problem is that sometimes we think that what God wants in our life is what He wants for every other christian, then we mistakenly try to put those ways of living on others as being the only way. Remember, there was only one Moses who led the Israelites out of Egypt, one Noah, one flood, only one David who slew Goliath, and one Mary who was visited by the Holy Spirit to become pregnant with Jesus.
I once helped a family much like the Duggars homeschool as they were on their way to having 12 kids. The wife said to me all she could ever think of as she was growing up was having babies. I told her all I could ever think of as I was growing up was having horses, which God has blessed me with 3.
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