Washingtonian female journalist with one kid slams Republican candidates for having too many children. Santorum has seven kids, Romney has five, and Ron Paul has five. Ironically, she didn't slam Gingrich for divorcing two wives and marrying a third. Michele Bachmann fostered many kids, but I don't know if she has any of her own. [GJ - Bachmann - five of her own kids, 23 foster children] Sarah Palin had five kids:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney
WashPost's Miller Slams 'Smug' Romney and Santorum for Their Large Families, By Tim Graham | March 03, 2012
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2012/03/03/washposts-miller-slams-smug-romney-and-santorum-their-large-families
Washington Post religion columnist Lisa Miller has one child, and she seems quite smug about it. She thanks God “I live in a time and place where I can get up every morning and go to work, and with the money I earn help feed and educate my child.” But in her Saturday column, the slams the Republican candidates for their “smug fecundity,” that they turned their women into retrograde doormats who make babies.
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Catholic fertility rate links:
Secularism is often blamed for low fertility, but is it more
accurate to say belief in evolution is to blame? Here are the rates
of belief in evolutionism in Europe and the US:
Catholic countries have Europe's lowest birth rates: Britain's population
set to rise as women have children later in life
World Distribution of Catholics 1950 to 2000 (map):
Catholic Church in decline in US as a percent of the population:
| Catholic | 57.2 | 26.2% | 25.1% | -1.1% |
 | ||||
| Baptist | 36.1 | 19.3% | 15.8% | -3.5% |
| ||||
| No religion | 34.2 | 8.2% | 15.0% | 6.8% |
| ||||
| Christian, generic | 32.4 | 14.8% | 14.2% | -0.6% |
| ||||
| Mainline Protestant | 29.4 | 18.7% | 12.9% | -5.8% |
http://www.bigquestionsonline.com/columns/phillip-longman/survival-of-the-godliest
Catholics haven't grown at all as a percent of the US population despite massive immigration of Catholics into the US:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1716987,00.html
For
some groups, their relatively steady number of adherents over the years hides a
remarkable amount of coming and going. Simply counting Catholics since 1972, for
example, you would get the impression that its population had remained fairly
static — at about 25% of adult Americans (the current number is 23.9%). But the
Pew report shows that of all those raised Catholic, a third have left the
church. (That means that roughly one out of every 10 people in America is a
former Catholic, and that ex-Catholics are almost as numerous as the America's
second biggest religious group, Southern Baptists.) But Catholicism has made up
for the losses by adding converts (2.6% of the population) and, more
significantly, enjoying an influx of new immigrants, mostly
Hispanic.
Times Graphic for the above story::
US Catholic Church bad off if it weren't for
immigrants:http://www.podles.org/dialogue/us-catholicism-decline-and-fall-272.htm
The
decline of the Catholic Church in the United States and in Europe is apparent to
anyone who looks at the statistics. The American statistics would be comparable
to the far worse European ones if it were not for the influx of Hispanic,
Vietnamese, and Filipino Catholics. Catholics of European descent are a
vanishing race.
Catholics
lose the most members except for JWs who have a 2/3rds turn-over
rate:
In
the U.S., all the major denominations have seen their numbers decline in recent
years, but the Catholic Church has taken the biggest hit. Since the 1960s, four
American-born Catholics have left the church for every one who has converted,
according to a 2009 Pew study. In 2008 alone, Catholic membership declined by
400,000. More than 1,000 parishes have closed since 1995, and the number of
priests has fallen from about 49,000 to 40,000 during that same period. Some
3,400 Catholic parishes in the U.S. now lack a resident priest. “Catholicism is
in decline across America,” says sociologist David Carlin.
What about in Europe?
The situation there is even more dire, especially in the most historically devout countries. In 1991, 84 percent of the Irish population attended Mass at least once a week. Today the weekly attendance figure is less than 50 percent. In Spain, 81 percent of the population identifies itself as Catholic, but two-thirds say they seldom or never attend services. And the priest shortage is acute—in England and Wales, the church ordained only 16 clergy members in all of 2009.
What about in Europe?
The situation there is even more dire, especially in the most historically devout countries. In 1991, 84 percent of the Irish population attended Mass at least once a week. Today the weekly attendance figure is less than 50 percent. In Spain, 81 percent of the population identifies itself as Catholic, but two-thirds say they seldom or never attend services. And the priest shortage is acute—in England and Wales, the church ordained only 16 clergy members in all of 2009.
Church
attendance affects fertility rate:
Church
service attendance and number of offspring according to the World Value Survey
1981-2004[9]Church
service attendanceNumber of offspringnever1.67only on
holidays1.78once per month2.01once per week2.23more frequently2.5
US
Fertility in Decline:
US birthrate falls below replacement level; 41% of births to single
mothers:
