What do you think?

This weekend Kris had to go to a PTA leadership training conference. So I took the boys to Houston to see Gran'mom and Gran'dad and Aunt Kerry all three of whom have had a lot of health problems over the past few months. Thankfully, grandchildren seem to be good medicine. I think we all had a really good time. We laughed a lot. I hope the aftershocks of having two busy little boys in the house were worth the fun for Mom, Dad, and Little Sister.

Now for the what do you think question. Consider Genesis 1:28, "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." I remember hearing a radio show several years ago on which the guests shared his opinion that we have pretty much completed the command to "fill the earth". He was advocating for zero population growth.

Considering the billion people with no access to sanitary water, and the millions of children who die every year from causes related to poor nutrition, and the vastness of our waste stream, and the tons of carbon dioxide we're pumping into the atmosphere, and the number of extinctions we've seen in the past 100 years, I'm inclined to agree with him.

I know it is typical for very conservative Christians to argue for big families. I've even heard some preachers (not mine) imply--just imply mind you, not come right out and say--that people who only had one or two children were less spiritual than those with big families.

Let me be clear, I'm not prepared at this point to say that having a big family is wrong. I'm just saying I think the idea of zero population growth is a good one.

So, what do you think, have we obeyed that command or should we still be trying to fill the earth?