Having pets instead of children is selfish

[RampantIvy]

According to the pope

"Couples who do not procreate deny themselves the joys of parenthood, a decision which “diminishes us, takes away our humanity”, he said.

As he isn't a parent he has no right to say this IMO. What a knob.

Link here

I believe he said they should adopt…

Yes, because it's that easy - just rock up to social services and ask for a child of your chosen age and sex ...

@BachAndByte yes, he did say they should adopt. Have you ever been infertile and had someone say to you to just adopt....?

I will pay attention to what the pope says about being childfree by choice when he starts paying attention to my views on theological doctrine & canon law.

@Jobseeker19 lots of people would like to welcome immigrants into the U.K. workforce with open arms, but unfortunately our government doesn’t seem to get on board with that.

[quote Silverswirl]@QueBarbaridad because you are basically enslaving an animal for your own fun and entertainment. No matter how fun and comfortable you makes it’s life, it’s just a fun comfortable prison cell with you as it’s master and the animal is your property.[/quote]
It was more the exception for dogs and cats that intrigued me.

Sometimes they have one, and that’s it, but they have dogs and cats that take the place of children. This may make people laugh but it is a reality.”

So even one isn’t enough! And if a family has one child and pets that’s especially hilarious! Far from being the Cool Pope TM, I think this clearly demonstrates that he’s just a silly knob like the rest of them.

Looking at one country in isolation, Japan is on the brink of a population crisis.

• Currently approx 127,000,000 people live in Japan, at current birth rates this will drop to less than 100,000,000 by 2049 and to 53,000,000 by 2100.

• by 2036 1 in 3 people in Japan will be elderly - will there be enough taxpayers do fund the economy and enough workers to care for the elderly?

This is a good read - Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53409521

The leader of the world’s largest paedophile ring lecturing on how many children people have….

Well they certainly need practising catholics to keep having children, boys preferably, to abuse.

If you are taking that sort of view, humans are just one of billions of species yet singlehandedly, we are destroying the planet.

We’re not destroying the planet, we’re just making it unhabitable for future generations of mass human settlement. The planet will rock on perfectly well long after we’ve gone.

Just the Pope saying Catholic stuff. 🤷

@supermoonrising it will, in some form. We stand to knock out thousands of species with us though.

The most straightforward way to lower the birthrate is to give women access to education and reliable birth control. It turns out women, when given the choice and other options, know what they want and it's rarely raising six children in poverty.

A popular strategy to raise the birthrate is to bully women and restrict their rights. Look at what is beginning to happen in China and the US.

It's easy to dismiss attitudes like this but actually we need to be vigilant in defending the right of women not to be forced to reproduce. It is under increasing threat. Women must not be reduced to baby-making machines.

@3mealsaday absolutely right and brilliantly put.

Bollocks.

Life isn't black and white, there's a million reasons why a Catholic couple doesn't want or can't have children, including harrowing reasons. The Pope should stop flapping his gums on things that aren't black and white.

[quote TyrannosaurusRegina]@BachAndByte yes, he did say they should adopt. Have you ever been infertile and had someone say to you to just adopt....?[/quote]
Yes, which is why I thought his statement was ridiculous. I’m not sure my sarcasm came through though!

If he's so bloody interested in increasing the number of Catholics who would happily propagate the species, then maybe he should allow nuns and priests to marry. They're devout and would follow his dictums regarding contraception and procreation, I'm sure.

Otherwise, he needs to stay out of other people's bedrooms. Figuratively speaking.

@Jobseeker19 but immigrants have been coming to the UK for years (my parents for one). The birth rate is still low, I think 1.5 now.

We will be competing for immigrants because they will have more power because lots of countries will want them & will make it financially attractive for them.

We have already lost 1m apparently due to covid & Brexit so I'm not sure it will be attractive enough.

I definitely think the panic stems from white people not breeding as much and if the issue truly is about looking after an aging population then people wouldn't care as immigrants can come and help.

Which is why I stated it is unconscious racism.

I agree that the disapproval over some developing countries birth rates has roots in racism. I have no problem with immigrants coming to help (some do) however I think it's a little off to assume that's what they want to do.

I actually quite like this pope (as pope's go, I'm not Catholic) but that's a really twatty remark. Children are a choice, parenthood is not always joyful.

Catholicism is a mind virus and he wants to infect as many children as possible so they pay money to his organisation in the future

Such a strange hill to die on for ol' Popeykins. Don't think popes can have pets in the Vatican so he's probs just bitter.

I have had dogs and cats all my married life (42 years) and not feel I am selfish in the slightest. It is more selfish to have children.

I thinks dogs and cats are much nicer than children, far less hassle and less expensive

Shockarooney!!

@mydogisthebest yes but the saddest thing is they don’t live very long! 14/15 years is nothing for an amazing dog

My cat did live until 22 and I loved the bones of him but it was sort of like living with a slightly weird acquaintance you met down the pub one night and followed you home and never left. (He was a stray) it wasn’t like the relationship I had with my dog.

You’re not meant to take Catholicism seriously are you? Isn’t it all supposed to be a bit of a laugh?