Humans Were Meant to Be Here: Guest Column

We are a blessing to be preserved, multiplied, and redeemed.

For a long time, if you encountered a writer warning about declining global birth rates, it was a safe bet you were reading a right-leaning or Christian publication. But that appears to be changing. In the last couple of years, mainstream news outlets seem to have caught on that the problem civilization now faces is not too many but too few babies, and some are sounding the alarm. Recent stories in The SpectatorThe New York Times, and The Washington Post all clearly describe why a shrinking and aging society is a bad thing and try to identify the causes behind this population “bust.” 

The fear of a population “bomb” haunts mainstream psyche greatly due to Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 The Population Bomb, where he famously declared in the opening line that, “The battle to feed all of humanity is over,” and predicted mass starvation due to overpopulation.  

This of course never happened, and in fact, global food production vastly outpaced population growth, making it easier than ever to feed everyone. Facts aside, the baby-banning ideology persists. 

Earlier this month, The Washington Post editorial board ran a response to the surge of critical comments they’ve received on stories about declining birth rates. As anyone familiar with the comments section under controversial (or really any) articles can imagine, a litany of bad arguments had been unfolding. One commenter wrote that, “Endless growth—whether that’s of the population or the economy—is an unachievable fantasy.” Another declared, “Now is the time to reject growthist ideology for good.” Many cited climate change, overcrowding and, of course, running out of food as reasons to encourage lower birth rates.  

The Post did a surprisingly nice job of refuting these. It pointed out that having more young and creative minds is precisely how mankind has enjoyed an unprecedented technological boom over the last two centuries: “Ingenuity and innovation have repeatedly empowered humanity to overcome ecological constraints,” and have “liberated much of humanity from misery.”  

Imposing population constraints on developing nations would also, it said, “amount to a kind of environmental imperialism,” denying to poor countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America precisely the opportunities for growth and improved living standards that richer, western countries have long enjoyed. And, they added, there is simply no evidence it would help the environment:   

Productivity growth can take the world in directions that are benign for the physical and social environment. Growth can mean less pollution, more forests and better health. 

Of course, the real reason The Post caught flak from many of its readers wasn’t environmentalism or economics, but something better described as a “mood” instilled in the popular imagination by books like The Population Bomb and in a host of sci-fi moviesIt’s a sense, seemingly shared by more today than ever before, that humans are bad, that our activity is inherently exploitative, and that the world would be better off with fewer of us. 

In this way of thinking, people are a disease on the planet—a species whose inventions have allowed us to bypass the checks and balances of natural selection and multiply out of control. In short, we don’t really belong here; not in such high numbers. And a large reduction in our population could only be beneficial.  

But what if human beings are good, actually? Not in a moral sense, but in the sense that we’re meant to be here? What if this world was specifically designed to support us and thrive under human stewardship? What if the way we continually defy the doomsday predictions of writers like Ehrlich through innovation and discovery shows that we are more than just another species devouring resources? 

This, of course, is exactly how the Bible describes human beings. And it’s why, despite the race’s fallen condition, Christians view human life as a blessing to be preserved, multiplied, and redeemed; and the human mind and spirit as resources more inexhaustible than any material we consume. 

We bear a certain resemblance to our Maker in that we can, in our limited and creaturely way, also create. Which is why a lack of new humans is not good news, and why I’m happy to see that some mainstream publications are starting to realize this—even if The Population Bomb still haunts their comments sections. 

This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris. If you’re a fan of Breakpoint, leave a review on your favorite podcast app. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org. 

Copyright 2024 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

Nearly Half of U.S. Adults Under 50 Don’t Plan to Have Children: Pew Research

New data from Pew Research Center shows nearly half of adults under 50 in America don’t plan to have children.

Researchers found a staggering 47% of adults surveyed said they are “unlikely to ever have kids.”

When asked the reasons for choosing not to have children, most did not blame the economy or the rising cost of living. Instead, 57% told Pew that they simply don’t want kids. Forty-four percent said they “want to focus on other things.” Pew writes that most of these adults also said that “not having kids has made it easier for them to afford the things they want, have time for hobbies and interests, and save for the future.”

Interestingly, researchers found that among 18 – 49 year-olds, women were actually more likely than men to say that they simply don’t want to have kids.

These numbers are up drastically from 2018, when 61% of adults under 50 said they planned to have children someday.

All of this underscores how our society seems to view children as, at best, an accessory, and, at worst, a burden.

Society doesn’t treat children like they are a blessing from the Lord. Instead, people have been told that children will somehow stop them from doing what they want.

This is evidenced by the fact that earlier this year medical researchers reported that voluntary sterilizations are on the rise among 18 – 30 year-olds.

The fact is, children are good for society. We’ve seen in other countries how low birth rates hurt the economy, contribute to labor shortages, and make it harder to care for the elderly. In 2020, a Chinese Communist Part official admitted the country needed to do more to raise its birthrate in order to “meet labor demands.”

Many of the people who participated in Pew’s survey even said that “parents have it easier when it comes to having someone to care for them as they age.”

But more than just being good for society, children are a blessing. Children are an incredible responsibility, but they’re also an incredible joy. As John Stonestreet once said, “Every person bears the image of God, so whenever families produce children, they mirror God to the world. Sure kids are sometimes irritating, but they’re often hilarious, and they always remind us that life isn’t about ourselves.”

That’s a message more Americans should take to heart.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Share of Adults Who Have “Never Married” Rises in Arkansas

A rising share of adults in Arkansas have never married, according to reports from the federal government.

In June, Pew Research published an analysis showing “a record-high share of 40-year-olds in the U.S. have never been married.” The article notes that,

As of 2021, 25% of 40-year-olds in the United States had never been married. This was a significant increase from 20% in 2010, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.

This isn’t simply a nationwide trend. Census Bureau data specifically for Arkansas shows a rising share of adults have never married as well.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey found that 17% of men ages 35-44 and 12.6% of women ages 35-44 reported having never married. By 2021, those percentages had increased to 23.8% of men and 18% of women ages 35-44.

Similar increases were seen among other age groups.

Overall, married Arkansans dropped from 51% of the population in 2010 to 48.9% in 2021.

Cohabitation could be one explanation for the rising percentage of adults who have never married, but Pew Research actually found that most 40-year-olds who have never married were not living with a romantic partner. The article notes that nationwide, “In 2022, [only] 22% of never-married adults ages 40 to 44 were cohabiting.”

More and more, adults in America — including in Arkansas — seem to be either delaying marriage or simply forgoing marriage entirely.

Research repeatedly has shown that healthy marriages are good for adults, good for children, and good for society.

Cohabitation creates relationships that are less happy and less healthy. Meanwhile, children with a married mother and father are less likely to live in poverty.

Married couples report more satisfaction across the board than cohabiting couples, and marriage is also broadly connected with better health and wellbeing. 

As social commentator John Stone Street noted last year,

Marriage is a part of the created order. Though some marriages will tragically end for various reasons and others may want marriage but struggle to find it, the Church can provide vital community for all of its members, while still promoting marriage for the God-given good that it is. And when marriages hit rocky ground, resources like Focus on the Family’s Hope Restored conferences, are available for those willing to fight for reconciliation … with incredible stories of success. 

Ultimately, though, a successful marriage requires the same thing as Christianity, a commitment to something bigger than ourselves.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.