Is it ethical to have children? (page 2)

ShirleyW

I think they always had some kind of thing about waiting until the new system to have kids. I remember a family who's two kids are 10-15 years older than I am and I remember the dad saying when he and his wife got married which was probably in the late 30's or so that they were saying that couples should wait to have kids and they actually waited for some time until some "new light" from a drunken Knorr or whoever was the Top Dog then said you could have kids. Such a f***ked up organization telling folks when to have kids, then they keep flip flopping back and forth

sir82

There was a WT study article in the late 80's. Its title was something like "Responsible Child-Bearing in this Time of the End".

It laid out much of what the OP consists of - why it is not "wise" to have children now. Of course, the primary reason they gave was so that the young married couple could pioneer.

The article went over like a lead balloon. The WTS seemed to sense this and have not revisited the issue ever since (pretty odd in an era in which WT study themes repeat every 12-24 months or so).

And, of course, any kids born in the late 80's are now having kids of their own, so "This Time of the End" wasn't so much at the "end".

Finkelstein

Wait one day the WTS will realize their numbers have dropped to a point of concern then they will be saying things like " what a grand fulfilling and joyous experience it is to have children ! ".

GrreatTeacher

It was actually a thing in the late eighties and nineties. Spiritual people did not have kids. The most spiritual people pioneered, but others were pressured to not have children as well, and many buckled under the pressure, lamenting they would wait until the new system.

Three of my closest friends from that time period have never had kids. Only one of them pioneered.

People who had kids were considered spiritually weak.

cofty

WT study article in the mid 80s called "Responsible Childbearing in the Time of the End". Basically the message was don't have kids. It was right around the time we started a family.

ETA - Sir82 already mentioned this article.

pale.emperor

Since waking up, I've always wondered how far does this thinking go?

I mean, if i genuinely believed that armageddon is "just around the corner", that we're "in the last seconds, of the last minute of the last days" then i wouldn't even bother taking medicine, buying new clothes or buying a house - let alone have kids.

Just goes to show that deep down, really, we probably wasn't that convinced it was just around the corner.

Onager

Ethically for Non-JW's having 2 children puts a neutral load on the system. The parents die, the kids take their place. Currently my wife and I only have 1 kid so we're having a positive effect and doing our bit to save the planet!

stan livedeath

back in the late '60's / early 70's there was a very high expectation of armageddon coming very soon--like 1975. i got married at 20--in 1968. most of the young dubs around my age were getting married too. most of them had kids within the first few years of getting married. so much for them really believing the hype.

i wonder how many of the current crop of teens / twenties dubs really believe we are in the last days ? i think--none.

armageddon is just wishful thinking of the generation before me--those with 9 toes in the coffin. give it a few years and i wouldnt be surprised if the watchtower--or j-worg or whatever it rebrands itself--quietly drops the whole armageddon thing...just like they are with the blood nonsense.

Steel

is this the reason some of the ubers in my cong don't have children?

Is it ethical to have children?

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