Children are a blessing

By Tom Quiner

The Des Moines Register ran a piece this week about Iowa’s declining birth rate.

They were careful to suggest that abortion had nothing to do with the dilemma. The reporting pinned the blame on the high cost of raising children.

My friend John, who raised 11 children, was pretty bent out of shape about the story, titled “So where’s the stork?”. He e-mailed me his feelings on the subject:

“So, Where’s the Stork?” –“Iowa’s economy is starting to rebound …but the state still lags in production of a key commodity: babies…”

Well, duh!…if they didn’t abort them by the thousands (sure you have the stats), we might have a few more, you think? Plus, since when is a baby a “commodity”?!  Also, it just kills me when they trot out those supposed statistics about how much money it will cost to raise a child over X-number of years. What a bunch of bull*&%$!

Since when do you have to be a millionaire to have a baby? Here they are on one hand lamenting the low birth rate and in the very same article they publish disincentive propaganda for any young couple perhaps contemplating being parents: “Adjusting for inflation over 17 years, that figure comes to $301,970 for a middle-income, two parent, two-child family.”…and blah, blah, blah!  “Hey, honey, do we have an extra 1/4 of a million dollars plus change laying around? No? Well, guess we’ll have to have to scratch the “baby” commodity off of our list! By the way, pick up a 60″ big screen TV at Walmart on your way home from work–at least we can afford that!”

Oh, I’ve got to stop now while I’m able! My inner cynic is raging out of control when I see stuff like this.  Truly this must be what scripture refers to as the “contradiction of sinners” (KJV translation of Heb.12:3). Wow!