Hello Gospel,

I remember *feeling* pressure when I was of childbearing age, but what I came to understand was that that was not *doctrine.* That was me feeling afraid of the process of engaging in decision-making that was right for our situation, and learning to lay down the fear of what others thought.

That’s all easier said than done, but each couple has the responsibility to work with each other and with God to make these decisions.

And the reality is that every person, and every family, and every situation is different.

Some people struggle in large families, some don’t.
Some struggle in small families, some don’t.
Some leaders in our church have lots of children, some don’t.

Just as you hope to not be judged for “only” having three (your words), please don’t judge those who choose otherwise. Part of the teaching of the Church is that we shouldn’t judge each other on these kinds of things.

I decided to approve this comment so as to let people recognize the kind of thought processes that are sometimes used to try to explain (or explain away) our history, our beliefs, and our lifestyle.

My invitation is to seek understanding about Mormons from Mormons, especially from studying the teachings of the leaders of the Church and personal exploration of scriptural truth, including from the Book of Mormon. You can’t understand, for example, our celebration of marriage, family, and having children unless you understand our doctrine of the eternal nature of the family and the whole purpose of the earth and its creation. Saving the earth for the sake of saving it is not our end goal, even as caring for the earth matters.

1 Nephi 17:36
36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited….

I am reminded of something one of our leaders, Russell M. Nelson once said:

“[O]ur religion is known by the fruit of its branches. Recently I met with government officials from a land far from here who were deeply impressed with the Church and its efforts throughout the world. They liked our teachings about the family and wanted copies of our proclamation to the world and guidebooks for family home evening. They wanted to know more about our welfare program and humanitarian help. We complied as we could and then shifted attention from what we do to why we do it. I explained with an analogy to a tree. “You are attracted by various fruits of our faith,” I said. “They are plentiful and powerful. But you cannot savor this fruit unless you know the tree that produces it. And you cannot understand the tree unless you comprehend its roots. With our religion, you cannot have the fruits without the roots.” This they understood.” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/04/roots-and-branches?lang=eng

On the flip side of admiration that then-Elder Nelson talks about, critics of the Church or of Mormons also tend to think that they can understand our faith by trying to understand its branches. But you can’t understand our faith and choices (paying tithing, getting married, having families) without understand the roots of our doctrinal teachings and how it is that we come to know the truth of those things.

However, now that the Mormon church has acquired more followers than the great Jewish religion has Jews all over the world, it is now important for the Church to revise this belief of having too many children and think of Mother Earth. Each additional mouth to feed in this overpopulated Earth of 7+ Billion people means one square mile of ocean life destroyed, 14 sq miles of forest land cleared and the destruction of habitat for no less than 15 sub-species on earth to sustain that one extra person… Surely God wouldn’t support that!

And whatever the US constitution says about people having the right to practice their faith and propagate any religion of their choice yaada yaada, it is ESSENTIAL for all humans to realize that we are residents on a space ship, a self sustaining, water containing, oxygen rich and limited land area providing satellite, the ONLY ONE in the entire Universe that can sustain and nurture life — called Planet Earth — and that we ALL share with all the endangered species whether a macaw, or a shark or a tiger that is going extinct all over due to humans overbreeding. Plus as someone whose great grandparents and grand parents themselves had no less than 7 children, I can clearly state how if NOT controlled, overbreeding can hurt a country — look at India and China. Or worse, look at how the middle eastern countries are all falling apart with war prevalent all over — this is because way back in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s when the Gulf countries discovered that they were floating on oil and thus sinking in $, they threw their Bedouin way of existence in harmony with the desert and instead of stopping at 2 kids, went on to have an average of 7 children per family. How can a land that does not have water and is non-conducive to vegetation and that barely supported 3 per family, now sustain 7? No wonder that as time went on it manifested in the form of familial and clan tensions leading to the current day wars that caused the destruction of their existential lifestyle… If the world does not contain its population now, we will have chaos in the future…

With this I urge all Mormons to change their beliefs and stop at 2 children. Several of you don’t believe in polygamy anymore, right? So similarly suggest rethinking this belief of having too many children, for the same of mother Earth… Please don’t say that it is your choice and others have no right to comment. That is NOT true because we all share this Earth and it is every human’s responsibility to ensure that our ocean’s are not polluted and the forests are not destroyed and the various species don’t go extinct. It is important we leave a great world out there for future generations, NOT an over-bred lineage… Please think and consider.