More than a dozen people have forwarded to me a video that is making its way via the internet concerning the rapid rise of Islam throughout the Western world. If you have not seen the video, let me summarize: the birthrate among Europeans has fallen well below replacement levels; the birthrate among Muslims is such that in time, Europe will cease to be Christian and will become Muslim.

Even in the United States, were it not for immigration, the birth rate has fallen below replacement level. Which raises a greater question: why are more and more people deciding not to have children? Is it because having children is an inconvenience? Does having children lower our standard of living? Have some had such difficult childhoods that they do not want to put their own children through similar experiences?

Whatever the answer-we have a problem! Recently in the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, Carl Djerassi, the 85-year old Austrian chemist who is credited with inventing 'the pill' openly lamented that the pill has led to a 'demographic catastrophe.' In an editorial (New York Times Magazine) R. Albert Mohler, Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, similarly argues that nothing in human history has had a more significant impact than artificial birth control.

We have gone through an era where people were encouraged not to have children because of the overcrowding of the planet. Now we need to say, clearly, that people who have means to provide for children, have not only an opportunity but an obligation to raise bright, creative, and healthy children to become stewards in the next generation.

Do you agree or disagree?