ProgressOhio

Isn't it time we stop praising people who insist on overstepping their bounds reproductively?

Consider the Duggar family of Tonitown, Arkansas.  The subject of a TV reality show and an AP feature story published in The Dispatch today, the Duggars have 17 children and another one on the way.  All of the kids, whose names start with J, are home schooled. (My heart goes out to Jedidiah, #11.)

We're supposed to find this kind of non-stop breeding admirable? If everyone behaved this way, the earth's population would be at an unsustainable 60 billion or so, and we'd all be eating Soylent Green.  Add to that the crushing effects of CO2 emissions generated by each of us Americans, and you have a global pollution crisis caused by inconsiderate parents.

Uterus-with-a-head moms (as comic Carlos Mencia would describe them) like Mrs. Duggar don't deserve our respect.  According to the AP article, she said "she and her husband will continue to have children as long as God wills it."  Given this logic, infertile couples need not seek treatment. Extra-blessed couples like the Duggars will supply more than enough humans to populate the earth.

Belief in large families (except in areas where family farm laborers are truly necessary to sustain the group) is almost always fueled by religion. So it is with the Duggars. "Jim Bob Duggar, a former member of the Arkansas Legislature and an unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate, has not been specific when asked how he supports such a big family. But he said he was guided by a seminar about 20 years ago that blends finance and religion."  No surprise that Jim Bob is vague about how he supports 17 kids.

Religious arrogance -- and especially the belief that one's DNA is superior -- does not excuse any of us from practicing responsible breeding and parenting.

I know from experience: motherhood is great. I'm just saying, don't wear it out.