I like to kid my evolutionist friends that evolution can’t be true because those who believe in it have fewer children than those who don’t, making belief in evolution “less adaptive” for our species (in evolution-speak) than not believing in it.
I don’t know if evolutionists having fewer children is actually a proven fact. But I do know that evolutionists tend not to be theists and it is a proven fact that those who are theists have more children than those who aren’t.
Take, for example, the widely reported poll last week about the relationship between patriotism, religion, and having children:
The importance of patriotism, faith in God, and having children is significantly lower among millennials and Generation Z, compared to previous generations.
In a new poll poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News1, nearly 80% of people aged 55-91 said being patriotic is important to them, while only 42% of millennials and Generation Z, or those aged 18-38, said the same. Thirty percent of millennials and Generation Z said religion was important, compared to the over 75% of baby boomers, with just over 30% of millennials and Generation Z saying it was important to have children. (Emphasis mine. The same poll also reported that 55% of baby boomers said it was important to have children.)2
The article goes on to state:
Areas where the younger generations had placed higher importance compared to boomers were tolerance for others and self fulfillment. (Emphasis mine.)
This last value – self fulfillment – is instructive. Because if one does not believe in God and an afterlife, an afterlife where one is rewarded for the sacrifices for others one makes in this life, then it is clear that someone who no longer believes in an afterlife is going to be much less willing to sacrifice themselves for their country or for their children than someone who doesn’t. After all, they believe they have only “this one life to live,” so why shouldn’t they “eat, drink, and be merry,” for tomorrow they die?
The fact of the matter is, it’s impossible to build a culture on selfishness. As its resources dwindle, that culture will eventually turn in on itself and implode. Case in point: America’s Social Security system.
A theistic culture, on the other hand, will flourish. Why? Because it gives its members a logical reason to sacrifice for each other. Case in point: the Amish.
The current Amish population is about 325,000, up from 6,300 in 1901. Now look at what a theistic world view implies for the Amish:
The Amish have kept their growth rate for over 100 years, and little evidence shows this growth rate changing. If the Amish continue to grow at their current rate, then they will surpass the current United States poplation (327.2 million people) in 215 years, provided no other factors impact or change the current growth rate.
I’m not saying I agree with everything the Amish believe. I’m just saying that God-fearing people will always, always flourish while God-denying people won’t.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
New Commandment Men’s Ministries helps churches recruit, train, organize and deploy teams of men who permanently adopt their widowed and single parents for the purpose of donating two hours of service to them one Saturday morning each month. We accomplish this with a free training site called “Meeting to Meet Needs.”
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- “Americans Have Shifted Dramatically on What Values Matter Most,” The Wall Street Journal, 8/25.2019
- “Importance of Patriotism, God, and Children Plummets Among Young People: Poll,” Washington Examiner, 8/25/2019
