by Dave Roberts » Fri Sep 06, 2019 6:45 am
Interestingly, to give context, I'm certain that by now Al has read "The Death of White Christian America." The author traces the decline of mainline protestant denominations in part to their declining birthrate, especially among Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and United Methodists. At the same time, the author notes the steadily higher birthrates among Blacks and more recent Hispanic immigrants. I suspect, but cannot confirm, that this type of statistics lies behind the fear-driven birthrate push since the birthrate among Baptists is also declining. One of the factors that Al does not address is not perpetual adolescence but the postponement of marriage and child-bearing due to the costs of education. To use a personal example, our daughter-in-law had to take a year off between her bachelor's and master's degrees to work in order to have a small nest egg for graduate school and still came out owing money. Also, my wife and I were doing our best to become parents from the time I left seminary. We became parents when I was forty and she was thirty-eight. We had tried to adopt and had been approved but the agency promised children to a lot of couples and took the ones who could make a larger contribution. My wife and I had been through every testing and fertility assistance procedure available in the late 1970's. I guess I take Al's slaps at those who aren't parents at 21 with a bit of ire and realize how many people who have trouble conceiving he is driving away from churches with this totally non-empathetic drivel that doesn't look beyond his declining denominational statistics. William, I hope this gives you my context, and this is no "drive-by comment."