"They shall inherit the earth..."
Hat-tip to Becky Miller for linking to an interesting article by Philip Longman, The Return of Patriarchy.
Becky comments:
Becky comments:
It's fascinating - well worth reading all the way through. It's certainly not written from a Christian perspective at all, but it backs up the Biblical truths that children are not only a souce of economic power but also of political power and military power. (That collection of verses is also very much worth reading.)The article begins:
His conclusion is basically this: Blessed are the conservative religious groups and their many children, for they shall inherit the earth.
Across the globe, people are choosing to have fewer children or none at all. Governments are desperate to halt the trend, but their influence seems to stop at the bedroom door. Are some societies destined to become extinct? Hardly. It’s more likely that conservatives will inherit the Earth. Like it or not, a growing proportion of the next generation will be born into families who believe that father knows best.This was especially poignant and something I have often thought about:
Many childless, middle-aged people may regret the life choices that are leading to the extinction of their family lines, and yet they have no sons or daughters with whom to share their newfound wisdom. The plurality of citizens who have only one child may be able to invest lavishly in that child’s education, but a single child will only replace one parent, not both. Meanwhile, the descendants of parents who have three or more children will be hugely overrepresented in subsequent generations, and so will the values and ideas that led their parents to have large families.Be sure to read Becky's excellent followup post, "No army ever won a battle with empty quivers."
posted by Crystal Paine at 9:40 AM
7 Comments:
ummm... just a comment, not an obnoxious one... but "Blessed are..." are the words of Jesus, who was referring to the meek, the poor, and the persecuted. Can we honestly take this Scriptural assignment of blessedness and apply it to our own designations of the advantages of the political/cultural power that may come from large families?
I am not suggesting that family life is not "blessed." But the author mentioned here is taking explicit Scriptural references way out of context.
Crystal- when you call Becky's post 'excellent', are you supporting the idea that one of the objectives of having a large family is to win the culture war that is facing us in America? (Children are our "soldiers in the fight", so to speak?) Just thought I'd ask for a little clarification. Becky's viewpoint is very interesting!
Hi, Tami! I believe that the Scriptural mandate to "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it" still stands strong today.
I have written on this in the past, some I'm going to copy some of what I've said there in this comment:
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Let's "Overpopulate" the World!
I was getting really discouraged last week over the degrading attitudes expressed here and elsewhere concerning children. As I thought about it more, I started to get excited because I realized that Christians have a great opportunity. If the heathen are choosing not to have children--or to have their "allotted" 1.5 children-- Christians can eventually take over because we'll be the only ones left!
Think with me for a moment: If a Godly couple raises 4 children for the glory of God and those four children each have four children and on and on it goes, within 10 generations they will have raised up an army of God-honoring citizens who can have a huge impact on the world! And, how much greater if they all had 7 children or 10 children or 17 children!
Let's "overpopulate" the world, to the glory of God!
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Read Kim's post here on why the world needs our children:
http://inashoe.blogspot.com/2005/10/overpopulation_112973036617426832.html
We want to raise children that the world needs. Children who love the Lord their God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Children who will stand up to face these cultural battles with courage and a Biblical worldview. Children who will do what's right, no matter what. Children who will impact this world for generations and generations to come.
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Anyway, let me know if that explains my view any better or if you need further clarification. Thanks!
Crystal - I was surprised and happy when I stopped by for my daily visit to your site and saw my name! : ) Glad you liked my posts.
MM - "blessed are the ...." were not Phillip Longman's words. That was my tongue-in-cheek summation of his main point. His article was all about how conservative religious groups (not just Christians but Muslims as well) are the ones having children, and therefore will control the politics of the future. So I took the literary construction of "blessed are the so-and-sos for they will such-and-such" and used it to summarize his article. It wasn't meant to be blasphemous in any way - I meant it as a literary allusion, not an out-of-context quotation.
Becky :)
Dont ya worry, I would not call your allusion "blasphemous"!
... but I do think the inversion of the notion "inheriting the earth" from Jesus' sense (IE, the surprising sense wherein the social minorities and the persecuted and the oppressed win the day in God's upside-down Kingdom) to the sense of attaining cultural leverage through family size IS a reversal of Biblical principles. The idea that the powerful are the blessed, or that we should desire to become powerful in order to be the blessed, is just not part of the Sermon on the Mount.
... it IS possible for an army to win a battle if it can gain new "arrows" through conversion. Christianity is a faith that gains its people through baptism... as well as by births, if Christian parents do their job correctly.
I was just reading an article that talked about how the early Church increased in size and territory by about 40% per year for its first two centuries (this is huge), and in a time of persecution when Christians were forced to AVOID family life because of the fear of death and torment.
On the other hand, it is true that religions like Islam are "overtaking" Europe simply by means of their higher birth rates. That is terrible...
I find Longman's article encouraging! Choosing against God's ways inevitably leads to defeat.
Thanks Crystal. I also agree that Christians should have a high view of children and family. My husband and I also desire to raise spiritually strong children to the glory of God.
I do follow mm's train of thought (I think- it's hard to glean someone's full thoughts from a few written statements, right?) when she alludes to the thought that earthly 'power'- through numbers or human strength- is not neccessarily God's way of blessing.
We as Christians don't have to seek governmental or societal power or try to 'take over' anything. That doesn't seem to be God's way in Scripture. Rather, God seems to delight in using the weak, helpless 'underdogs' to do His greatest work. In this way, God receives all the glory and honor.
I am NOT suggesting that Christians should 'roll over' and not take an active part in government and seek to be culturally engaged in order to protect the freedom we currently have and also to spread the gospel. But it is important that we remember that God does not need the influence of a political party or a majority population in order for His kingdom to flourish and even thrive.
Let's not be afraid of the future. Our battle is spiritual, not physical, and it cannot be lost, because it is God's battle and He will always prevail.
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