Hi Friend,

In his book “Men and Marriage,” author George Gilder makes the salient point that it is family that causes a national economy to flourish.  He expands on the theme in his book Wealth and Poverty.  It is a profound and honest recognition of the absolute necessity of stable families to propel the flow of money to maintain an economy.

Gilder’s point may be the most underestimated factor that Congress and other national leaders consider when planning the national budget.

Why is family so important?

It may be explained by a discussion at Bible Study recently.  We were talking about the First Commandment where mankind is instructed, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”  He doesn’t use the term idols, He says gods.  I asked the group, “What are the gods our culture places before God?”

Among several ideas proposed, I suggested that one of the false gods our culture embraces is “reason”.  There were looks of skepticism on the faces of several members, so I asked, “Was it reasonable for you to have children?”  Quick as a flash a mother of three responded, “No!  They cost a lot of money, take an incredible amount of time and cause stress.”  It didn’t mean she didn’t love her children or that she regretted the decision to have them.  It was an honest recognition that something other than “reason” motivated her to give life to a human being.

If reason was her god, she would not have had children.

Is it reason that causes a soldier to risk his life on the battlefield so future generations will be blessed with a gift that he may lose?  Reason would say to do the safe thing and stay at home.

But the subject at hand is family.  As children were added to our family, we needed a larger car.  We gave thanks for the invention of the minivan and happily contributed to the national economy, eliminated the cheaper two-door sedan and purchased the larger vehicle in which all of us could fit comfortably.  That wasn’t all.  We purchased a house—with three bedrooms and added a fourth as the family increased in size.  And another bathroom.

We did not buy these things to improve the national economy.  We did it because having a family meant providing for kids—and kids have needs.

Like many other families we willingly paid higher taxes so the kids could be in a good school.  There were scout meetings and uniforms and band instruments and school clothes—the list is endless.  The food budget increased.  These added expenses were incurred because we now had a family.

A friend of mine never had children and was only married for a short period of time.  He had no need to buy anniversary presents or pay for a second ticket to see a movie or own more than a two-seater sports car that looked good parked next to his one-bedroom apartment.  He lamented the taxes he paid to provide a salary for schoolteachers or maintain a park for young people to play in their baseball league.

There is a reason the government offers parents a tax deduction.  Without parents a lot of our community would be unemployed.  It’s a small enough encouragement.

Before the government goes any further to pay for potential mothers to abort their children, legislators should ask about the consequences.  What will happen when no one has children? What will we have done by destroying the sexual identity of children too impressionable to know the damage it will cause?  If we don’t appreciate the unique benefit that both sexes bring to our culture, we won’t replenish our population.  Before we become too self-righteous about promoting homosexuality can we consider the benefit a husband and a wife make to the world by doing the unreasonable thing of bearing children?

Every day we see another proof that the Bible is true.  “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.  Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.’” (Genesis 1:27-28)

And in doing so we will create a robust economy.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien