Published on February 19, 2024, 12:37 am

As per the very first decree God gives to mankind—be fruitful and multiply—we are called to sustain and nurture human life for wisdom and fulsome living. This essence of continuity seems to be fading in our current generation as we accumulate debt that threatens future generations—if there even will be any.

Evidence indicates a diminishing respect for the scripture that bids us to procreate. Our obedience appears sporadic, conforming more so to personal whim than divine directive. What we’re witnessing today is perhaps an antithesis of investing in those who follow us; it’s a path akin to self-extinction.

This worrying trend has deep foundations for my political conservatism. The declining replacement rate has been noticeable for some time now. In his 2011 work— ‘How Civilizations Die’, David Goldman highlighted the significant plunge in birth rates globally—an alarming curve that shows no signs of relenting.

Between 1960 and 2020, birth rates considerably declined worldwide including in America where rates dropped from 3.65 per couple in 1960 to 1.64 by 2020 despite a small spike related to COVID circumstances; a clear indication that humanity’s trajectory is still trending downward.

A recent article in the ‘Free Press’ partially attributes this phenomenon to growing political polarity between genders making relationships, and consequently offspring, increasingly rare. Fifty years prior, diverging political affiliations didn’t hamper romantic connections in America as much as they do today largely due robust societal structures back then.

These differences existed within communal institutions such as schools, churches, service clubs among others—which embraced differing party affiliations and ideologies leading to thriving larger communities viewed capable of addressing life’s challenges collectively while fostering growth and coherence amidst change.

America’s flourishing was hinged on its religious fabric unharmed by enforcement or coercion—a balance achieved by severing ties between religion and statecraft thereby quelling potential fanaticism erupting out of staunch faith doctrines that the state seeks to impose.

The famous religious wars witnessed in Europe particularly during the English Civil War served as lessons for American Founders, becoming a prism through which they abolished political sectarianism ensuring communal duties were performed by citizens free of any religious persuasions.

Yet in the 21st century America, politics and religion have increasingly become intertwined emblematized by Cultural Marxism—a belief system that regards its politics as possessing ultimate truth while dismissing other religions as deceptive instruments aiming to seize power and control.

This political dyad—Politics and Marxism, while yielding power, is innately unfavourable toward families. For instance, China’s birth rate plummeted despite a government push for more babies. In America too, we observed a pattern where levels of education and power seemed inversely correlated with birth rates.

The decline in birth rates emphasizes the need for divine commandment regarding human multiplication. “Make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in them,” commands God to Moses signifying the necessity of divine godliness within each individual fostering harmonious relationships that form societies, nations and communities thereof.

Without such a connection to transcendence beyond us, we are predisposed towards isolation ensnared in a self-circled trap incapable of but self-extinction—an expected casualty on the altar of an idealistic faux perfection. This propulsive transformation of politics into something akin to religious fervor has fatalistic implications thereby underlining why preserving places of faith within society from politically motivated interference is paramount if we wish to restore relationships, encourage procreation and conserve our heritage based on Christian worldview.