(Uh-oh. Quiverfull has migrated across the Pond. Meet Britain's answer to the Duggars...)
DEBBIE SHEPHERD lovingly cradles her 15-month-old daughter above the bump that shows the world she is pregnant again.
And when the child arrives it will be one of 13 children born to Debbie, 44, and hubby Stephen, who have vowed to have as many kids as she can bear.
Strict born-again Christians from Grantham, Lincs, their beliefs stem from controversial American movement Quiverfull.
They view their children — aged 15 months to 20 years — as blessings from God which should not be controlled using contraception or abortion.
55 comments
"I don’t really want a career. It’s not important. I like sewing, floristry and crafts, anything to do with the home."
Homeschooling should be illegal. I read the article; and this [2 hours a day of "school"?] is pure brainwashing. Every child deserves an education. These poor kids aren't getting one. Not even close.
I'm pretty sure these folks don't know where babies come from, let alone simple math. If everyone had this many kids, we'd all be dead pretty quick.
Fundies have realized that they're not quite bright enough to actually survive, so they'll keep themselves in the world through sheer force of numbers. Law of averages says that at least one of the kids from these families will make a half-decent member of society. Quiverfull and it's sister beliefs are just making more meat for the fundie grinder.
@ Bass X: The father says they're not on the dole, but they do get "child benefits."
I feel sorry for the older kids, born before the parents converted. They came so close to living decent, non-fundied-up lives. Maybe they still will, even the girl who says she wants to live like her mother.
As a software developer in the UK, I sincerely hope this doesn't happen to me!
There's been an unpleasant increase of fundiness in the UK recently. Very disturbing.
The name Quiverfull comes from the idea that one should have a "full quiver" of children to use as weapons of God. They do not want a lot of children because they love them, they want them as a commodity.
Also, you can't control children with contraception or abortion. Unless you're forcing them to use/not use contraception or have/not have an abortion.
According to Stephen, budgeting for a large family is not difficult.
He says: “I no longer work in IT. I’m based at home and perform religious music in Christian venues, which is our main source of income.
“The earnings are a fraction of what I got before. I draw child benefit but I’m not on the dole.
So having the government send you support checks for your children isn't being on the dole according to fundie logic now?
This entire movement is based on outbreeding the evil non-believers and increaseing thier already overwhelming majority. The fact that the majority also believe in strict homeschooling and raiseing thier children as ultra fundies scares the crap out of me.
Of course overpopulation, overconsumption, pollution, and global warming never enters thier heads because Jesus is going to end the world any day now. Why should they care about preserving the world they live in?
Disgusting is what it is...
Fucking hell!
In principle, I have no objection to any fellow citizen of the UK having as many kids as they want.
What I do object to is that fact that I'm almost certainly helping to support them.
Getting pregnant again soon after you've had a baby isn't good for your body.
Having so many children and so many pregnancies close together that your children end up raising each other isn't good for your children.
Making more children than your money can support isn't good for society OR your children.
I don't presume to speak for God, but don't you think any sensible deity would rather you have a few children and raise them the best you can? Quality, not quantity sort of thing? A quiver full of arrows that suck doesn't do jack shit.
actually, I've just come to the realization that the entire developing world has every right to rebel and "dethrone" us a-la french revolution for our "let them eat cake"-like arrogance:
we have ginormous carbon footprints, flush our toilets with potable water, feed corn to our cars, and now we've also got people trying to outbreed them.
@ GreenEyedLilo - every family in the UK gets child benefits. Not sure how much it is or if it goes up for each child though...
It's not illegal. If they want 13 kids, that's their business.
nothing about religion is illegal. doesn't make it any less fucking stupid and bad for everyone
Speaking as the oldest of 6 kids, there's no way any of those 13 kids are going to get the attention and quality time that they need and deserve. I have a child of my own too, and I'm concerned about that when I have another. But what does a person's psychological well-being matter to fundies? Fuck them for further fucking up the world by becoming baby machines for god.
Speaking as the oldest of 6 kids, there's no way any of those 13 kids are going to get the attention and quality time that they need and deserve. I have a child of my own too, and I'm concerned about that when I have another. But what does a person's psychological well-being matter to fundies? Fuck them for further fucking up the world by becoming baby machines for god.
Child Benefit is paid to everyone in the UK regardless of their financial situation (it is actually cheaper to admininstrate it this way, than to have all the bureaucracy involved in making it a Means Tested Benefit)
I hate the whole "Quiverfull" ideology. It's not about having kids to love them and see them become their own person, but to fulfil a political and idealogical goal. It is the vehicle through which some of the most noxious forms of patriarchy, oppression and abuse spread.
What I say now will probably cross the line into universally offensive, (as in offensive to sane folks and not just fundies) but shit like the above-described is exactly why much of the planet is a third-world hell-hole. I believe I am sick of the undereducated, the ignorant, and the usesless claiming that they're doing the rest of us a favor by reproducing. Birth control should not be an option, but rather MANDATORY.
The tragic thing about this...the truly, truly tragic thing? I am CERTAIN that as Mummy was barking out litters for Jesus, you know that her kids were recruited the moment they could hold a bottle to play nannies to help out. Not to mention, it's not a stretch to think that when they were old enough to hold jobs, they were likely put to work that way, too. I sincerely doubt those kids ever had a true childhood.
So, she want to die in childbirth, like her great-great-great-grandmother.
Do they really have time to take care of all those children?
So, where did I go wrong? Why were not my husband and I "blessed" with any children?
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.
