Stop Having Children!

You can buy this T-shirt and proclaim that you have "No Baby On Board" and that you'd like everyone to "Stop having children!" Teachers, wear this to the next parent-teacher conference and I'm *sure* it will inspire a thought-provoking and intelligent response from parents and administrators alike!

I found this T-shirt while browsing a blog called Child-Free By Choice, obviously a place not applicable to me, but found during an interesting discussion on Catherine's blog. Is it out of line NOT to have children? Biblically unacceptable to purposely prevent not just "too many" children, but any at all from joining your family?

Well...

First off, most people really aren't looking to line their lives up with the Bible. They just aren't. We might as well forget that one unless the culture changes. That doesn't mean that we have to just shut up if we feel "children are a blessing" or that we shouldn't *try* to influence the culture. A good culture, my friend, would be the ideal cradle for Christendom to spread, wouldn't you think? I'd imagine a given person would be far more likely to become a Christian in a Christian environment than in an atheist or agnostic one. But I digress.

I think a good plenty of people, even people who believe in the Bible, may wish to prevent having children for various reasons. Mind you, I won't address "prevention" taking the form of abortions and the like... I'm just talking about perhaps sterilzation by choice and what-not. Some folks had a hard childhood and don't want to make the same mistakes with their kids. Others may be committed to missionary or other work and feel that they ought not have children. The Apostle Paul, we must remember, was not toting his seven children about in a minivan and breaking out the cheese and crackers mid-sermon for a squalling kid. So, I'm not going to even try to judge that because that's totally between *those couples* and God.

Barring medical problems and personal conviction, the general pattern of life, we must agree, involves children. How difficult it must be, if you've made the choice to remain childless, to hear questions about your family and fertility (or perceived lack thereof) everywhere you go? I want to vomit three times during every Mothers' Day sermon; I've no doubt that childless women want to vomit five and run screaming from the room at the same time. Not a pretty picture, folks.

I can't really get into someone else's mind and question their judgment on why they're not going to have children. And I can totally get why "childfree" couples would want a haven from some of the ignorance others display toward their choice. But I think the shirt goes a bit far. Please note that in the interests of common decency and decorum, I have NOT linked to the "Un-Family Values" male thong underwear. Nor will I conjecture what the underwear is trying to "say" and whether the statement is "sexy." Nope. Not gonna do it.