#8 3/17/2009 A Quiver Full of What??

Children. Yes. A quiver full of children is what those who follow the Quiverfull movement strive for. If you are not familiar with this conservative evangelical denomination of Christianity, then please click HERE to get a much better explanation than what I will attempt to give you. I am Roman Catholic, so I am giving you a disclaimer now that I will definitely have a bias. That was your warning.

After reading about Quiverfulls and their beliefs, I can definitely see where they are coming from. Like many evangelicals, they take the Bible very literally. Usually groups focus on specific verses/chapters/books from which they derive most of their beliefs. The Specific verses that the Quiverfulls use are Psalm 127:3-5, several verses on fertility in Genesis, 1 Samuel 1:5-6 and Isaiah 66:9. All of these verses contain references to obedience to God and letting fertility take its course. Here is the main verse mentioned earlier from Psalms:

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

(King James Version)

Quiverfulls believe that children are being provided by God to add to his living army, to join the fight against evil in the world. The Children are being referred to as arrows, precious ammunition for the army. Members are being called to "be fruitful and multiply" without the moderation that comes with natural family planning and contraception. They emerged through the settling dust of the acceptance of birth control among the different conservative evangelical groups just as strongly opposed as ever to the thought of interfering with God's plan for a quiver full of children.

But this isn't just about having a lot of kids, there are strong patriarchal undertones to this rare religious denomination. They follow the Bible's "father knows best" policy and advocated female submissiveness. "Feminism is a totally self-consistent system aimed at rejecting God's role for women," says Mary Pride, a Quiverfull author who is part of a new feminism. This feminism isn't one that we are readily aware of, not the one that supports the woman's right to choose, equal job opportunities, reproductive rights, etc. No, she is against all these things. She believes that women need to step up to the maternal role they were created for and fight abortion by having as many kids as God brings them.

Now I am 100% against abortion and birth control, but I'm pretty sure that if a woman is responsible enough to realize she doesn't have the proper situation or the financial ability to support 6-20 children, then she has the right to choose other paths. I believe that women should be equal in the workplace and shouldn't have to be subjugated to men, something that the Bible says was okay at that point in history. This doesn't necessarily mean that it should be applicable in today's world.

Do you think that Quiverfulls are correct in interpreting that the Bible is saying that women should have as many babies as possible to help build up God's army?

(If you want to read the original Newsweek article, click HERE.)