Is This “Burning, Drowning World” No Place for More Kids?

The New Yorker published a review of two books, The Quickening and The Parenthood Dilemma, both of which “consider the ethics of procreation in the age of man-made climate change.” Indeed, the review was titled “The Morality of Having Kids in a Burning, Drowning World.” Here are just a few quotes from the fairly lengthy article:

“Should I have a child, their greenhouse gas emissions will cause roughly fifty square meters of sea ice to melt every year that they are alive,” Rush writes. “Just by existing, they will make the world a little less livable for everyone, themselves included.”

. . . a growing body of commentary that debates the morality and ethics of procreation in this burning, drowning world. “It seems increasingly clear,” Crist continues, “that we are living in a time of radical destabilisation of life on Earth which complicates the act of bearing children in ways that society has yet to grapple with.”

Perhaps having a child under any circumstances, given the unimaginably high emotional, financial, ecological, and existential stakes, is an act of outrageous presumption.

Across the West, birth rates are plunging, dropping to new lows every year. Now, despite all the hype about the supposed climate and population crises, the book review notes, “In a 2021 Pew survey of childless adults who say they likely will not have children, only five per cent specifically named climate change as the crucial factor, with an additional nine per cent citing ‘the state of the world.’” So only a small percentage of childless adults are likely to remain childless because of the environment. But, interestingly, a 2023 Morning Consult poll of parents in five countries found “among people who already have kids, more than half say that climate anxiety does influence how many children they plan to have.”

But should we be anxious about the climate and not have children (or have fewer children) in an effort to keep the world “livable for everyone”? No! Twice, God has commanded mankind to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. (Genesis 1:28)

And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it. (Genesis 9:7)

Scripture teaches that children are a blessing from the Lord—they are a good thing!

And Scripture teaches that children are a blessing from the Lord—they are a good thing! Really, the whole anti-natalist movement is motivated by pride. In his arrogance, mankind assumes he knows enough about our extremely complex climate (even when past predictions have been wrong over and over again) to control the climate and that he knows better than God and therefore not only doesn’t but shouldn’t obey God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply.” This is man being his own god as the devil tempted in Genesis 3:5.

Instead of arrogantly assuming we know more than God, as humans we must humble ourselves, acknowledge our limitations, and have wise dominion over creation for our good and God’s glory. And all that starts with having a biblical worldview of mankind, children, this earth, and our Creator God.

You can learn more about climate change in this article, “The Globe Is Warming, But It’s Not Your Fault!”

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This item was discussed Monday on Answers News with cohosts Dr. Jennifer Rivera, Bryan Osborne, and Dr. Georgia Purdom. Answers News is our weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum, broadcast on our Answers in Genesis YouTube channel, and posted to Answers TV. We also covered the following topics:

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Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.