There has been a lot of advice given to parents from the organization over the years.........mainly "don't have any"...........
It seems that the ones who would make the best parents (from the Society's point of view) are the very ones following this counsel and for the most part are deciding against children. Our cong. has many childless couples...........they're very theocratic.
This results (in many cases) the not so "spiritually strong" individuals being the ones who are raising families in many congregations.
(I mentioned recently about a pioneer couple being interviewed at a District Convention several years ago.........when asked by the DO about their goals...........they mentioned they had "vowed" to never own a house, and "vowed" to never have children...........DO said "that's great!".......most of the audience applauded.......)
In any case, the people the organization feels shouldn't be having kids, (ones who don't follow the letter of the law) are the very ones raising families today in the congregations.
Is this the general trend in congregations you're familiar with?
I've seen people of all levels of participation ("spirituality") have children. Of course the advantages of childlessness have been emphasized over the years, but not as strongly as in the "don't have children" decades of the 1940's and 50's.
when asked by the DO about their goals...........they mentioned they had "vowed" to never own a house, and "vowed" to never have children...........
What this couple said is either untrue, unbalanced or just scripted to gain applause. Such comments from the stage draw attention to individuals as "fine examples". Perhaps they want such advancement in the organization. Or perhaps they realize that it is a very great financial advantage to not have kids. There is more to their motivation then thay are saying.
No balanced person ever makes "vows" that they might not keep. I once had an acquaintance tell me he "vowed" to Jehovah that if he got out of a tight situation, he'd remain single and serve Jehovah for the rest of his life. Well, he feels that Jehovah DID deliver him. Then he asked me if I thought he should keep that vow! If he was so unsure, then the vow was made under duress and he shouldn't be held to it. Or should he? I didn't know the answer. I just thought it was all so silly.
The urge to have children can be quite strong, or an "accidental" child can come along. These things just happen, even to people with strong resolve.
I don't think this is really an issue any more in the organisation. Having kids or not having kids, no one cares and no one looks down on those that do and vica versa. I havn't read for a long time anything by the society suggesting no one should have kids...it's a ridiculous notion. decades ago with the 1975 fever this was more of an issue, not these days.
Most of the nicest JW's I've known usually had children.
