I mentioned last time that you might be surprised at which European countries have the healthiest birthrates. Perhaps you thought of some of the “family-friendly” southern European countries like Italy, Greece and Spain. In fact, these nations have some of the lowest fertility rates in the world (about 1.3 children per couple).

However, childlessness is peculiarly high in Germany and Austria, too. Shorto cites a study that found that 27.8 percent of German women born in 1960 were childless. This rate is “far higher than in any other European country. (The rate in France, for example, was 10.7.) When European women age 18 to 34 were asked in another study to state their ideal number of children, 16.6 percent of those in Germany and 12.6 percent in Austria answered ‘none.’ (In Italy, by comparison, this figure was 3.8 percent.) The main reason seems to be a basic change in attitudes on the part of some women as to their ‘natural’ role.”

To modern, post-Christian Europeans, childlessness is emerging as an ideal lifestyle. Why is this?

The thinking of a nation or society can become, in the words of the Apostle Paul (Romans 1), “futile” and people’s hearts “darkened”. Eventually, the “truth of God” is exchanged for a lie, resulting in direct consequences in the relationship between man and woman. I suspect that the Western world in general - and Europe in particular - is farther along this road than any of us would like to imagine.

How does this play out?

Let’s start with the fact that the European countries with the healthiest birthrates are the Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands; England and France are also relatively better off. Why would these countries - which would certainly be reckoned as some of the most “post-Christian” - be better off than the ostensibly more “religious” Roman Catholic south? Shorto points to a problem deeply rooted in the relationship between man and woman that is embedded in the “culture” of family life in the southern tier of Mediterranean nations, Germany and Austria. The problem is with the willingness of the fathers to be full partners in the home and in the raising of children.

Fathers in the nations with the healthiest birth rates are significantly more committed to a “partnership” model of marriage. Dutch fathers, for instance, “change more diapers, pick up more kids after soccer practice and clean up the living room more often than Italian fathers; therefore, relative to the population, there are more Dutch babies than Italian babies being born. As Mencarini said, ‘It’s about how much the man participates in child care.’”

Shorto argues that this is also the case in the United States, which enjoys the highest fertility rate of almost any developed country. In addition to the flexibility of U.S. society and the American job market, he points to “the relatively conservative and religiously oriented nature of American society, which both encourage larger families. It’s also true that mores have evolved in the U.S. to the point where not only is it socially acceptable for fathers to be active participants in raising children, but it’s also often socially unacceptable for them to do otherwise.”

Our good friends, Dave and Claudia Arp, who started their work of “Marriage Alive” in Europe, have being teaching a Biblically-based partnership model of marriage for years. It’s interesting that European social scientists are now uncovering empirical data that supports the direction of their teaching. (I’d encourage you to take a look at Dave and Claudia’s website .)

Shorto concludes his NY Times article with a dark glance at the future. He quotes Carl Haub of the Population Reference Bureau: “You can’t keep going with a completely upside-down age distribution, with the pyramid standing on its point. You can’t have a country where everybody lives in a nursing home.”

Please pray for Europe!

An article by Russell Shorto on “Childless Europe” appears this weekend in the New York Times Magazine online. I’d encourage you to read the entire article (you have to sign up, but it’s free and the New York Times is the national newspaper of record). Shorto points out that Germany and most other European countries have a birth-rate today that is dramatically below even a “replacement” level for the current population. Some have compared the situation to standing at the edge of a precipice. Here are some pungent insights from the article:

‘Europe is infected by a strange lack of desire for the future,’ Pope Benedict proclaimed in 2006. ‘Children, our future, are perceived as a threat to the present.’ In Germany, where the births-to-deaths ratio now results in an annual population loss of roughly 100,000, Ursula von der Leyen, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s family minister (and a mother of seven), declared two years ago that if her country didn’t reverse its plummeting birthrate, ‘We will have to turn out the light.’…

The Canadian conservative Mark Steyn, author of the 2006 best seller America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, has warned his fellow North Americans, whose birthrates are relatively high, that, regarding their European allies, ‘These countries are going out of business,’ and that while at the end of the 21st century there may ’still be a geographical area on the map marked as Italy or the Netherlands,’ these will ‘merely be designations for real estate.’…

Venice has lost more than half its population since 1950; its residents believe their city is destined to become a Venice-themed attraction. Is the same going to happen to Europe as a whole? Might the United States see its closest ally decay into a real-life Euro Disney?

Next time, I’ll share some startling insights from the rest of the article; in particular, why several European countries are exceptions to this trend. (It’s not the ones you’d think of!)

Meanwhile, please pray for Europe; in particular for “Haus Nazareth” to be a light in the gloom for people in Berlin.

Our family at The Wedding

This update is “a wee bit tardy”, as my old Scottish fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Brass, would have said; but, we’ll try to make up for it with pictures!

Historic Christian Church

On Saturday we celebrated Charissa and Davin’s marriage in the old historic Capitol City Christian Church in Boise. The building dates from the early 1900s and is a fine example of the “round” church architectural style (it’s on the National Historic list). It was a wonderful time with many old friends (and some new ones as well). We really wish that all of you could have joined us!

After the ceremony, we went to the “Rose Room” on Idaho Street for the reception. (Dad had the second dance with the bride and even earned a compliment - Charissa has amazing rhythm, so that’s praise indeed!) The following morning -near noon - about twenty folk from the wedding party gathered for breakfast/brunch at our house and watched presents being opened. A very special “Thank You!” to all!

Now the new couple is on their way to Germany, where they’ll spend two months working in Berlin. (Davin has some overseas requirements linked to his major in International Relations and Charissa wants to do an internship there in trauma therapy with her German godfather, Arne.) Hopefully, Mom and Dad will link up with them in July — if we can sell or rent our home by then. (Prayer request!)

As far as the remodeling in “Haus Nazareth”, things are pretty much at a stand-still until the funds come in to pay the bills that have already accumulated. I’ll try to explain this more specifically in a future blog or email; but for right now: Thanks for your thinking of us and your prayers. Please know how much you’re appreciated!

Davin and Charissa

Finally, I have a moment to catch you up a bit on our lives:

I’ve been teaching a very intensive 3 week “Philosophy of Religion” course for Boise State University. It started two weeks ago. (I do this for a couple of reasons: to keep in touch with the academic world and friends there in the philosophy department; to expand my course preparation for possible teaching opportunities in Germany; to gather enough Social Security “quarter credits” to qualify for Medicare when I reach the right age… this is a little challenging because of our many years of overseas missions).

But most exciting: we are in the throes of preparation for Charissa and Davin’s wedding next Saturday (if you haven’t gotten an invitation yet, please pardon the oversight and shoot us back an email immediately!). We appreciate your prayers… coordinating all these things is getting a little wilder every day!