Be Fruitful and Multiply

Sometimes I get hit with debilitating guilt and worry re Ivo and Burl. About the stinky crappy mean hot and dirty world ruled by greedy selfish incestuous oligarchs we live in and how my sweet boys are gonna have to live here - as the world gets worse and worse- long after I'm just a memory.


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I believe that Ivo and Burl will be in good shape to elbow their way to the topside of the sinking ship. They have good strong healthy bodies, clever creative minds, spirits poured in and overflowing with love wonder hope and happiness. I just can't stand to think of them in a world where water takes the place of oil as the oligarchs struggle to keep 90% of everything and pit the rest of us against each other to divvy up the rest. I hate that our good (us upper-lower-middle-class-types) is always already built on the backs of slaves. Not metaphorical slaves, not hyperbolic slaves. Real slaves chained into debt bondage, forced labor, sweatshop factories. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

When I feel this way, a little overwhelmed by the power of 2, I remind myself that Ryan and I can/do take good care of our little guys, that we are among the luckiest people on the planet and we can prepare them to expect joy. We can shore them up to face challenges and hard work with confidence and optimism. I'm seriously thinking of downplaying compassion and empathy though, because how do you live in such a lopsided world where most people don't have health care, education, food, water...
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In some ways, the boys act like a finger in the dam for me - cuz I must be ok for them. I will be a good parent and I know that the most important stuff, attitude-orientation-wise, is modelled not taught... I just am a little shaky on how to get them to embrace this world that I'm just so-so about. And while I think my boys will continue to be wonderful human beings, I don't think they're gonna save the world or really improve the lives of anyone they don't actually meet.
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So it was with these thoughts swirling around that I became aware of the Duggar family who just welcomed their 17th kid. They don't plan to put an end to their purposeful procreation. According to an article that they link to on their website,

The girls – and their 39-year-old mother – don skirts or dresses (no pants) and
white socks. The boys – and their father – dress most days in the same colored
polo shirts and slacks or jeans, with black socks. The sameness of their attire
helps with laundry and organization.

The girls embrace a similar hairstyle, long and pulled back with a clip, flowing to near their waistlines. The boys' hair is closely cropped, often cemented into position with gel.

The girls do most of the cooking, though they've been taught to change a tire and check the oil. The boys are trained to fix the cars and make home repairs, though they cook occasionally – mostly on the grill.

Gross-me-out-dorito! - as my sister Chrissy (5th of 7 siblings) used to say. This family is Xian with a capital X. They ascribe to the Quiverfull branch of a movement which has come to be called natalism. They believe that practicing birth control breaks the "commandment" God gave Noah to be fruitful and multiply. They are civic-minded too, applying themselves to the redress of the industrial world's #1 problem, (white) "race-suicide" with an eye to forming their own conservative voting blocks.
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Plus this is a homeschooling family and neither parent attended college. Roll call!

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Look at this NYTimes article from 071204 and this article from the Nation from 271106. And this one from the 191005 edition SFGate is the most fun. Quiverfull gals have authored books titled, A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ and, my fav, The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality the author of which proclaims, "My body is not my own" and "Family planning is the mother of abortion." Good times!
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Well, I feel better now. Disgust and indignation always beat out my depressive tendencies. If only the answer were unchecked population growth!