A short time ago there was an interview published in the NYT with the new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. A number of Catholic and other commentators caught this little section:
How many members of the Episcopal Church are there in this country?
About 2.2 million. It used to be larger percentagewise, but Episcopalians tend to be better-educated and tend to reproduce at lower rates than some other denominations. Roman Catholics and Mormons both have theological reasons for producing lots of children.
Episcopalians aren’t interested in replenishing their ranks by having children?
No. It’s probably the opposite. We encourage people to pay attention to the stewardship of the earth and not use more than their portion.
Now you might understand why a variety of Catholics have responded critically to this. In the wake of this particular interview, the PB's office has yet to clarify these remarks, even though a number of folks have drawn attention to this.
So what exactly is being said here? Well, I suppose it could be argued that the first statement is generally correct in one facet - that there are theological reasons for having lots of children. I say having, rather than "producing", because producing is a term from industry, which makes products, and children are not "products". Second, that first statement has the uncomfortable link between education level and the size of one's family. That is a hornet's nest waiting to be poked. You may ask two things: is it true that there is such a connnection? And then you may ask: is it good? Sometimes the true and the good do not overlap...
It is really that second statement which I want to look at. Is the PB saying that having less children trumps having more because of the virtue of "the stewardship of the earth" and not using "more than their portion"? Well, as the father of 4 children, and hoping to adopt one more (there is still one more seat in the mini van) I must disagree. Children - people - are about the stewardship of lives, the stewardship of joy, the stewardship of that which is made in the image of God. I want to expand on this, but I must phone home and say hello to them, and remind myself of the blessing that I have.
The newest member of the Chaplain's Stewardship Committee offers his response:
Since I only have 4 weeks left before the end of term, let me offer a bit of free advice for those of you about to graduate and set off on your careers and life. Parenting is a vocation. I believe it is true that not everyone is called to that vocation. But for those of you who are called to that vocation, know that it is a godly one. It is not irresponsible to have children, even, dare I say, what we might today consider "many" children. You don't need a whole pile of "stuff" for that to happen. An acquaintance of mine once commented that they couldn't have any more kids because their house was not big enough. I replied (he who owns 980 square feet of domesticity) two words: bunk beds. Seriously, what kids need is more love, not more stuff. It is an illusion of our consumer society that we need a certain level of affluence to have a certain size of family.
Having kids certainly teaches you about stewardship of the earth. No scrap goes wasted - you end up eating everyone's leftovers. Want to learn about sharing resources? Put 4 kids in one room with one set of toys... also useful for teaching conflict management.
Having children is but one way in which we imitate God our Creator. We choose joy. We choose life.
related posts: Dame Julian, Jesus and procreation the joy of sex
My years working in schools have given me a deep appreciation for the calling of parenthood. The parents' attitudes towards the importance of their role are written on the faces of every child. Some of the most emotionally neglected are the best dressed.
To embrace parenting as a vocation these days has become radically counter-culture though. Pretty tough to rise above the belittling progressive lies and dedicate yourself to a life of love and sacrifice when the overriding message is that true fulfilment can only come from a career.
I say all this as someone who has no kids, and probably never will. But my kids are my biz and somedays I'm impressed by the irony that it was the tree of a certain kind of knowledge that led us astray in the first place.
That particular tree sells us short.
Posted by: Leslie | November 28, 2006 at 05:08 PM
thanks for your thoughts, Leslie.
Posted by: joseph | November 28, 2006 at 10:08 PM
Great post, Joe. I found +Schori's comments ridiculous. Besides numerous statements in the Bible that children are a gift from God, what about the collapsing fertility rates across the western world? Even in the US, fertility is barely at replacement level. She should be saying, "We need more klds--now!"
Your point about the language of production in reference to having children is spot on. The best word, I think, is "procreate", reminding us that, when we have children, we are participating in God's work of creation.
Posted by: Scott Gilbreath | November 28, 2006 at 10:59 PM
Joe, I really liked the post. There does seem to be a feeling of antipathy to having children lately. I only have the one, but she has been such a joy. Even though it is often hard work, that is the cost of anything worthwhile.
Posted by: Stephen London | November 29, 2006 at 03:07 PM
Scott - that's the word I was looking for! I think I parked my brain for a minute or two.
Posted by: joseph | November 29, 2006 at 09:09 PM