The Endtime Family: Children of God

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7 Children Years ago, the Children of God became parents, and now the Grandchildren of God are in the process of doing so, as well. Few religious movements survive, let alone grow, unless they produce children in significant numbers and retain most of them when they reach adulthood. Children are the fulfillment of the Law of Love that so strikingly sets the Family apart from other Christian religious movements of our era, and for many outsiders the way the Family treats its children is the ultimate test of its spiritual worthiness. Fertility Over the years, the GSS has asked, “What do you think is the ideal number of children for a family to have?” Table 7.1 compares the Family’s responses to those from the 1996 GSS. The most common number of children considered ideal by the American public is just two, while it is four in the Family. However, the majority of Family members refuse to pick a number, selecting instead, “as many as you want.” One out of nine selected “don’t know.” Thus, most members of the Family are really not prepared to accept the notion that a couple should plan the number of children to have. A mother of six who selected “as many as you want” wrote in “as many as possible.” A father of four wrote, “as many as God wants.” A mother of two wrote, “as many as God gives.” Another item taken from the 1996 GSS asked: “How many children have you ever had? Please count all that were born alive at any time (including any you had from a previous marriage).” The final columns of table 7.1 compare the answers from respondents who were age thirty or older. A fifth of American adults older than their twenties have never had a child, compared with less than 6 percent of Family members. About half of these Family respondents 141 have six or more children, whereas a majority among GSS respondents have two or fewer. Thirty percent of Family members have eight or more children, compared with only 1 percent of Americans aged thirty or above. This is a monumental difference in fertility, to the advantage of the Family . It has become fashionable among secular intellectuals to extol the virtues of childlessness or small families, yet this attitude is suicidal. More than 65 percent of the GSS respondents have had two or fewer children. One might think that two is a sufficient number of children per couple to sustain the size of a population, but a slightly higher number is required because some children will die before reaching adulthood. The 2,298 GSS respondents age thirty and over have had an average of 2.1, which is just at the replacement level. Although some will continue to have children after completing the survey, the average is only this high because it includes many members of older generations in which the birth rates were higher than they are today. On average, the Family respondents have 5.4 children, and many of them are still producing babies. Whether or not the Battle of Armageddon comes tomorrow, the end of a world is at hand. It is a small world, but vital, and it is called the family. Within families, most people are born, develop into adults, make love, have children, and eventually die. Without a healthy family, personalities become warped, love 142 Children Table 7.1. Ideal and Actual Number of Children Ideal Number Age 30+, Actual of Children Number of children... Number of children . . . Family 1996 GSS Family 1996 GSS 0 0.1% 1.2% 5.7% 20.0% 1 0.2% 2.8% 8.5% 14.8% 2 2.4% 54.7% 7.9% 30.4% 3 6.0% 20.9% 9.5% 17.3% 4 10.5% 8.3% 9.9% 9.3% 5 4.2% 1.1% 7.5% 4.0% 6 2.4% 0.6% 10.7% 2.1% 7 or more 3.2% 0.4% 40.3% 2.2% As many as you want 59.5% 6.1% Don’t know 11.5% 4.0% TOTAL 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% This table is based on 999 cases (ideal) and 507 cases (actual) for the Family, and 1,960 cases (ideal) and 2,298 cases (actual) for the General Social Survey. is violently unstable, and the number of children dwindles far...