It seems to me (and I admit I have no hard statistics to back this up) that atheist couples tend to be childless, or at least more so than religious couples. I have several ideas as to why this is, but I'd like to get some other peoples' thoughts.
The reason I'm prompted to raise this question has to do with my own personal struggle to decide whether I ever want children myself. I've never been the type of person to make decisions based on what other people want me to do, and any conclusions that I come to are entirely the result of my own introspection and rationality. Atheists are independent freethinkers by nature, and for this reason I think many of us tend to make lifestyle choices that aren't always consistent with cultural norms.
Just my opinion on the issue.
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Sorry but your boat don't float as far as I'm concerned .... I have 2 daughters and a step son.
One biological son; one adopted daughter; one scruffy, sycophant Strassenhund; and if you ask my mate, I'm one of the kids, too.
Two biological sons between me and my god-fearing wife of 30 years. No problems. Both boys are atheists and naturals at it.
I'm childless, but I'm also 23, in the armed forces, and going to college. So being childless fits my life. I'd say that the decision to have a child at any point in life is merely a matter of personal choices and circumstances. It's got nothing to do with atheism or religion, period.
I'm childless, but I'm also 23, in the armed forces, and going to college. So being childless fits my life. I'd say that the decision to have a child at any point in life is merely a matter of personal choices and circumstances. It's got nothing to do with atheism or religion, period.
I have 2 kids. My wife and I decided when it would be best to have them and then we had them. The difference between us(atheists) and the religious people around us is that we have no rules related to having children. Depending on what flavor of religion they follow, believers are told to "go forth and multiply"....some more than others, some are told they can't use contraception, some are told that they are less of a person if they don't breed like rabbits. We are not constrained by any of that.....we decide if and when it would be best for us to reproduce. I think that ultimately results in us having fewer kids. We know that having a litter like the Duggars have is generally not good from a social or financial standpoint.
Love the Meaning of Life reference.
I would point out, though, that at times it has been sectarian forces pushing for procreation. Turn of the 20th century, Roosevelt, race suicide... And Dutch Reformed or not, Roosevelt didn't believe in any supernatural beings but himself. Even if he did, he and his ilk were taking a socio-political stance on the subject.
I have two kids, and just as Thin Grey Line writes, my wife sometimes counts me as one of the kids...
Religion seems to us procreation as a tactic to spread the religion. That is why the Catholic Church forbids to use contraception.