Our Family May Be a Circus, but We Aren't Freaks.

Not too long ago, Joel and I were at Wal-Mart with our usual cartful of family-sized groceries. When we got to the front of the line, nobody was behind us. As we placed our items on the conveyer belt, the clerk chatted with us, with a friendly smile. Then a young couple lined up behind us, and the mood changed.

The girl-woman began griping to her boyfriend about there being no "quick check" and how long this was taking. She spoke just loudly enough for me to be sure that she intended for me to hear her complaints that our purchase was taking too long. Couldn't we see that these important people behind us had important things to do at the lake, and we were taking up their valuable time purchasing vegetables and milk?

Never mind that the stranger was mistaken about quick checks at the store. At the time, at least two quick-check lines were open. Never mind that they were quite able to see the size of our load before they decided to queue behind us. What really bothered me was that she seemed indignant that we were buying enough groceries to feed a family of eight.

Yes, a family of eight. Go ahead, gasp now. (This was before little Nine came into creation.)Yes, we had the audacity not only to have six kids, all home at the same time, but to be buying sufficient groceries to keep them fed! And we were inconveniencing The Young and the Roostless by our mere presence.

So far in the past few years I've seen counties pass laws to dictate how many square feet or how many bedrooms a family must have per person; I've seen the eco-protestors attempting to illegalize or penalize the ownership of large vehicles. And I've seen state-published pamphlets targeting Spanish-speaking people with contraception propaganda that they don't bother distributing to English-speaking people.

What do all of these movements and thought-lines have in common? They all target large families and groups of people that frequently have them. Abortion and contraception literature is one of the few forms of racial discrimination that is not only allowed by the government but actually created and distributed by it.

European Christians now have negative population growth, and the US is coming closer to it daily. This is not good for the economy, nor is it good for the character of our nation. Places like France and Germany are in danger of losing their very cultural roots by the elimination of the cultures that have grown there for thousands of years, and the U.S. would be next, if those who scorn families had their way.

Large families are not caused by ignorance or lack of social consciousness. They are usually caused by the presence of values in the home, and affection between a husband and a wife. Next time I hear "You're pregnant? Don't you know what causes that?" I think I'll answer, simply, "Yes. Love."