More adults, less children

They shall eat, but not be satisfied;
 they shall play the harlot, but not multiply;
 because they have forsaken the LORD
 to cherish harlotry.
  – Hosea 4:10

We have gone from being a child-centric society to an adult-centric society. And we can see the results all around us. Even the definition of marriage is being challenged to suit the needs of adults rather than children. Where did we go wrong?

We simply don't have as many children in society compared to the number of adults. This is the result of contraception and birth control. "Planned Parenthood" means smaller family sizes.

And young adults wait longer to get married. So there are more adults without children. Again, this is a product of contraception. Single adults have very different needs and desires than a married couple with children has.

In our mobile society we have lost the idea of extended families. Grandparents often live hundreds of miles from their grandchildren. So that once our children leave the home, our lives quickly revert to being centered around the needs of childless adults.

The result is that society has shifted from being child-centric -- where the needs of the child are most important -- to being adult-centric. Children need protection; adults desire freedom.

Society reflects this change by producing more TV programs and movies that cater to adult preferences. The "mature content" may be harmful to children, but it is left up to the parents to figure out how to protect their little ones from exposure to these sexual and violent images.

A child-centric society would not allow such shows to be so freely available. Society's sense of morality would restrict such activity. And where morality failed to be sufficient, then laws would be enacted to place barriers on such harmful activities. We used to have such a society before contraception became widespread, but over time these laws were abolished and morality declined.

Contraception and "planned parenthood" have had an astounding effect on the nature of society. Certainly, the Margaret Sanger's of the world must be pleased. She wasn't just an advocate of contraception and abortion; she also favored "free sex" and altering the nature of the family.

Contraception has tipped the scales in favor of adults over children. Pope Benedict XVI has talked about "the ecology of man". Here we see one of the "ecological" disasters that results from tampering with the natural balance.

Ironically, this shift began with the "baby boom" of the 1950s. One of the unique features of baby boom society was a generation of children that grew up without babies in the family. Whole neighborhoods were formed in the suburbs consisting of  young families with two children. As those children entered school, they didn't experience pregnant mothers or the birth of younger siblings or the aging and dying of grandparents. And they thought that this was a normal society, because this was all that they had ever experienced.

The baby boom was shaped by contraception, and the boomers went on to shape the adult-centric society of today.

Legalized abortion is the very embodiment of this adult-centric society. It says everything. Abortion is the act of the adults in society sanctioning the killing of a child in order that adults may pursue a more comfortable existence.

More adults, less children.