Natalists?

David Brooks calls us “natalists,” people who are having three, four and even more children.

All across the industrialized world, birthrates are falling – in Western Europe, in Canada and in many regions of the United States. People are marrying later and having fewer kids. But spread around this country, and concentrated in certain areas, the natalists defy these trends.

They are having three, four or more kids. Their personal identity is defined by parenthood. They are more spiritually, emotionally and physically invested in their homes than in any other sphere of life, having concluded that parenthood is the most enriching and elevating thing they can do. Very often they have sacrificed pleasures like sophisticated movies, restaurant dining and foreign travel, let alone competitive careers and disposable income, for the sake of their parental calling

And he says, “People who have enough kids for a basketball team are too busy to fight a culture war.” Not quite. I believe I am fighting a culture war every day as I raise my children. I am doing my dead level best to teach them to be “spiritually, emotionally and physically invested in their homes” and to “sacrifice pleasures” for the greater good of the kingdom of God. I pray for them, nurture them, teach them, and love them every single day, and this is how I “fight a culture war.” Culture is made up of people, and a Godly, Christlike culture is made up of people who are committed to living out the life of Christ in all areas of culture. Together we “natalists” can change the culture–peacefully, non-violently–but it’s a struggle nevertheless.

8 thoughts on “Natalists?

  1. Pingback: Semicolon » The Children of Men by P.D. James

  2. I like your comment on “Culture is made up of people”. How strange it is, that people forget such a simple fact.

    How many children do you have? Are you guys Houston-area homeschoolers?

  3. Engineer Husband and I have eight children, and yes, we homeschool in Clear Lake. I think I found your blog via Amanda Strassner’s old blog.

  4. “People who have enough kids for a basketball team are too busy to fight a culture war.”

    Just the opposite! Yay for Sherry and all the other warrior moms and dads out there, fighting the culture war with their quivers full of arrows! (Ps. 127:3-5)

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  6. “Together we “natalists” can change the culture–peacefully, non-violently–but it’s a struggle nevertheless.”

    Do America a favor and spare the children the ideology.
    Oh gee, how gracious! It’s hard work being non-violent isn’t?

  7. A baby making cult? Joy, just what the world needs… G-rated fanatics. Where have all the sane people gone?

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