Jimmy: "Hey now, those aren't tears. Are they?"
Ernie: "What's wrong with her?"
Alice: "I think she's just sad cuz she's the last one and she's worried that by the time it's her turn Mom and Dad might be out of gas."
Shelly: "Not want her?"
Jimmy: "You don't really believe that, do you Emily?"
Benji: "Of course, it's easy to understand why she might be worried. 1.7 kids per family, not to mention abortion..."
Jimmy: "Sshh! Benji! Don't ever say that word.
Shelly: "It's terrible!"
Julie: "If people only knew what they were doing...."
Pam: "Our family wouldn't be complete without you, Emily."
Emily: "But lots of people make promises about going to families, and then they break them."
Many of you may remember this seen from the film Saturday's Warrior when the Flenders children dispel little Emily's worries about being able to come to earth and go to their family, her chosen family. Well we don't exactly know how accurate this depiction is or how our families are chosen before this life or how exactly spirits are effected by our choices (at least I don't), but this scene gives us a lot to think about. Are we willing to live without a piece of our family because we decided that having children is too much trouble? What counsel are we given in respect to the number of children we have? And does it really matter how many children we have?
Elder Melvin J. Ballard said, "The greatest mission of woman is to give life, earth-life, through honorable marriage, to the waiting spirits, our Father’s spirit children who anxiously desire to come to dwell here in this mortal state." So we know that there are spirit children waiting to come to earth and it is our mission to multiple and replenish, so that like little Emily these spirits won't have to wait any longer than necessary for their turn on earth,but does this mean we all need to have dozens of children? No. True to the Faith gives counsel on this matter, "....you and your spouse will be prepared to prayerfully decide how many children to have and when to have them. Such decisions are between the two of you and the Lord." As sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father we claim the right to receive personal revelation from Him and to use our agency. The amount of children we have IS indeed important and DOES affect our families and the entire world, but each family is different with different circumstances and our Heavenly Father knows that. Okay so we know what the prophets have counseled in regards to having children and if the Flenders were a commandment keeping family, why was Emily so worried????
Let's key in bit on what Benji said, "Of course, it's easy to understand why she might be worried. 1.7 kids per family, not to mention abortion...". Emily was the youngest in a family of 8 children and she and her siblings were headed here to earth where as Benji said families are normally quite a bit smaller, seen as unnecessary and definitely under valued. According to The Demographic Winter the peak during the height of the Baby Boom was only 3.7 children per woman and by the mid 1970s the average number of children 80% of women was already down 1.8!! Isn't this shocking?? The Demographic Winter continues to explain that in just one more generation our population will begin to decrease because most developed countries do not have a fertility rate (The average number of children born / lifetime of the average woman in a population) of above 2.13 children per woman. Why does this matter? As fertility rates continue to decline, eventually the world population will also decline and this means that those of us in the younger generations will need to work harder, be more educated, and produce more in order to maintain our current standards of life and sustain the economy. Thus we see that families and children are imperative to our society and our future.
Some of you may be thinking, "This is crazy talk!!! We grew up hearing about over population and the depletion of the environment. How is it that the population will already be declining??? What about that other Saturday's Warrior Song Zero Population: 'Everyday the world is getting smaller by far. Bursting at the seems.....What can we do? Zero population is the answer my friend,without out it the rest of us are through....'?" This opinion that the world is being overpopulated stemmed mainly from Paul Ehrlich's book the Population Bomb and his ideas became widely common among college students in the 1970s and 80s and was taken to be truth, but it doesn't make much sense when we put them in the context of D&C 104: 17, "For the earth is full, and there is room enough to spare...."
So taking into account the counsels of the living prophets, scripture, and the statistics presented in The Demographic Winter, my opinion is that all of us Jimmys (those of us who have already received our bodies and come to our earthly families) have the obligation and privilege of seeing to it that all of the Emilys who are waiting to come to earth receive that opportunity. Have children. Once you are married, multiply and replenish. Before you are married, be good a sibling, aunt, or uncle and contribute to your family. Our lives, our situations, and the world we live in are not perfect, but having less children is not the solution. The solution is continuing to have families and teaching them correct principles, so that they can help improve our world. Is someone or something in your family missing? As the Matron reminds Emily before she comes to earth, "Now remember child, this family you are going to is one of the very best, but it's still a risky proposition. It's a stormy place down there and it's a stormy Saturday night.Be courageous and remember who you are." Our families are the very best for each and everyone one of us and as much pain and torment as they may cause at times, they are well worth it because of the joys we experience with them (and the societal benefits that come when the population increases). ;)
I've also included via YouTube Saturday's Warrior, for your enjoyment and because I'll be referencing it a lot over the semester. ;) And a link for you to watch Demographic Winter to be as enlightened as I was this week. :)
References
Stout, R. (Director). (2011). Demographic Winter
[Motion Picture].
Williams, B. (Director). (1989). Saturday's
Warrior [Motion Picture].
