Should Parents’ Votes Count More? Unpacking J. D. Vance’s Attack on the “Childless Left”

Should Parents’ Votes Count More? Unpacking J. D. Vance’s Attack on the “Childless Left”

The answer to the question put forth by J. D. Vance, “should parents’ votes count more than those of the childless” is a resounding NO.

I’m not exactly sure if Vance defines himself as a conservative, a populist, or what.

But I find that people who are non-liberal, non-left tend to assume anyone who is single or childless is an anti-American, Democrat-voting, nuclear family hating heretic.

I’m a conservative woman who arrived into middle age with never having married or having had children – not by choice, but by circumstance.

I deeply resent how so many conservatives or other types of non-liberals frequently equate womanhood, or maturity, with marriage and parenting (having children). It’s revolting and sexist.

Other conservatives (or non-liberals and non-leftists) who despise the left, who want to “own” the left, frequently come up with moves like this, which inevitably end up causing collateral damage.

Not all women (and men) who remain single and childless are there by choice or because they hate marriage and the nuclear family.

I will say that it’s rather disingenuous for the author of the following to frame the situation as Vance starting the “cultural war” when as of the last several years, non-liberals have been responding to cultural wars begun by liberals!

Contrary to leftist and liberal propaganda (as what appears in this piece at The Week by Mathis), conservatives and Republicans do not want to suppress votes, or stop anyone (i.e., American citizen) from voting.

(Link): Should Parents’ Votes Count More? Unpacking J. D. Vance’s Attack on the “Childless Left”

by Joel Mathis
July 26, 2021

J.D. Vance has endured a tough start to his campaign for the open U.S. Senate seat in Ohio, so maybe it’s no surprise that he’s borrowing a time-tested Republican tactic and doubling down on cultural warfare.

During a gathering of conservatives on Friday, the onetime Hillbilly Elegy author blasted the “childless left” — citing by name Democratic politicians including Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.).

“Why is this just a normal fact of American life, that the leaders of our country should be people who don’t have a personal indirect stake in it via their own offspring, via their own children and grandchildren?” Vance asked, rhetorically. (Harris, for what it’s worth, has two stepchildren with her husband, Doug Emhoff.)

 Better, he suggested, to give extra voting power to America’s parents.

Joy Pullman at The Federalist is At It Again: This Time, She’s Promoting ‘Bedroom Evangelism,’ Which is Not Biblical

Joy Pullman at The Federalist is At It Again: This Time, She’s Promoting ‘Bedroom Evangelism,’ Which is Not Biblical

As a moderately conservative individual, I agree with much of the content published at The Federalist, but certainly not all. This is one of those times when no, I don’t agree.

The name Joy Pullman looked familiar to me, and sure enough, a few years ago, I did a post or two criticizing (Link): one of her other articles.

This time, I am disagreeing with this following piece at The Federalist by Joy Pullman;
I will put some excerpts in, and below that, discuss where my areas of disagreement are
(and it’s a super long excerpt – my comments will be way, way below):

(Link): Christianity’s Growth Problem Isn’t Politics, It’s Our Failure To Have And Evangelize Children

Like just about every other Western Christian body, as well as the United States, the SBC is left to squabble over shrinking slices of a dwindling pie.

by Joy Pullman

The New York Times put out a lengthy preview of the Southern Baptist Convention’s top controversies heading into their annual meeting this week in Nashville, Tenn. Members of the nation’s largest evangelical denomination are weighing the future of their religious body amid numerous theological controversies.

… Decline Stems From No Babies, Not Being Too Trumpy
The Times reports that one of the SBC’s concerns is “15-year decline” in members, both through potential theological schisms intertwined with politics, such as critical race theory, and through an aging and thus declining membership.

….While the Times makes much of contrasting the SBC’s political conservatism with its forecast of demographically decisive American leftism, it doesn’t note that the SBC’s decline is directly related to following broader American culture, instead of Christian beliefs, on a keystone of institutional vibrancy: fertility.

Man Stabs Wife in ‘Brutal Attack’ in Argument Over Attending Church on Mother’s Day by L. Blair

Man Stabs Wife in ‘Brutal Attack’ in Argument Over Attending Church on Mother’s Day by L. Blair

I don’t even know where to start with this story (see headline further below).

Too many Christians revere motherhood to the point they marginalize and shame any woman who has never had children (for whatever reason, whether from choice or by circumstance).

Additionally, a lot of hyper- pro- marriage conservatives, both secular and Christian, idolize marriage, and in the process, they sometimes shame singles for being single and say all sorts of insulting things about single and childless adults.

Both secular and conservative Christians who push marriage and natalism way too much often like to say that being married and being a parent are necessary states to make a person godly, more loving, ethical, and responsible.

They assume and like to spread the disinformation that all single adults are irresponsible, immature, immoral, or selfish.

So how funny it is to see news headlines below, which put a lie to those conservative stereotypes about marital or parental status.

(Not that I find it funny that the woman was stabbed; I sure don’t find that part of this amusing. I just mean to say that in light of the many news stories of (Link):  married people or (Link): parents who rape, kill, steal, or murder that one would think that Christians and secular conservative pro-family groups would stop promoting marriage and parenthood as “cures” for people or for the culture)

(Link): Man Stabs Wife in ‘Brutal Attack’ in Argument Over Attending Church on Mother’s Day by L. Blair

Excerpts:

May 2021

A Texas mother was repeatedly stabbed in a “brutal attack” by her husband during an argument over attending church on Mother’s Day and he is now on the lam, police say.

In a statement released Monday, the Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office said they are now seeking help from the public in apprehending the woman’s husband, 43-year-old Rodolfo Madera Gonzalez, for aggravated assault with a weapon–family violence, which is a first-degree felony.

Married Father, Who Works As Church Worship Director, Solicited Nude Photos from Teen Boy

Married Father, Who Works As Church Worship Director, Solicited Nude Photos from Teen Boy

The article mentions that this guy is a “married father.”

My obligatory reminder, to rebut the oft-repeated pro-marriage, pro-Nuclear Family propaganda spread by secular and Christian conservatives: marriage, parenthood, and the nuclear family are not “fix alls” for culture, nor does being a parent, a spouse, or being in a nuclear family bestow character, ethics, compassion, or maturity in a person.

I have so (Link): many examples on this blog; this is yet another one.

(Link):  Menlo Church reveals fired worship director solicited nude photos from teenager

Excerpts:

by Leonardo Blair, April 26, 2021

One month after announcing the firing of Mountain View campus worship director Michael Bryce Jr. for “inappropriate behavior online” years ago, Menlo Church in California has confirmed that behavior was the solicitation of nude photos from a teenager.

In a recent update to the congregation on Bryce’s March 19 firing, the church’s transitional Pastor John Crosby and elder board chair David Kim said they could share further details on the circumstances surrounding Bryce’s firing because the police investigation has been completed. No criminal charges were filed.

Mom Blows $10K on Veneers, Botox While Refusing Kids’ Christmas Gifts

Mom Blows $10K on Veneers, Botox While Refusing Kids’ Christmas Gifts

And yet, in spite of headlines I see like the one below, via the New York Post, the Al Mohlers, Bradford Wilcoxes, and other Christian and conservative marriage and parenthood promoters keep on peddling these lies about marriage and parents, such as (but not limited to),
marriage and parenthood makes people more ethical, godly, responsible, giving, and loving, and marriage (Link): and parenthood makes people humans (we’re not human until we procreate – Jesus never procreated, so I guess he was an in-human, sub-species loser by those standards).

(Link): Mom Blows $10K on Veneers, Botox While Refusing Kids’ Christmas Gifts – New York Post

Dec 17, 2020
By Lia Eustachewich

A self-obsessed mom in the UK is making Christmas jingle hell this year by blowing $10,000 on herself — and refusing to spend a single penny on her two children.

Carla Bellucci, 38, boasted about using a stocking full of cash for new veneers, Botox, manicures, facials and brand new duds ahead of Christmas Day, while demanding that her kids, Tanisha, 15, and Jayden, 13, make their own money if they want gifts under the tree.

Dad of Five Girls ‘Sliced Open Pregnant Wife’s Stomach to Check Baby’s Gender as he “Desperately Wanted Son”‘

Dad of Five Girls ‘Sliced Open Pregnant Wife’s Stomach to Check Baby’s Gender as he “Desperately Wanted Son”‘

I detest men who are obsessed with having sons, who are unhappy or dis-satisfied with having daughters. And it’s usually men who do this – I don’t often hear about a woman having a biological sex preference regarding having children – it’s usually a MAN who wants SONS. So sexist.

And let this be another example of how, contra Al Mohler, Brad Wilcox and other Christians and conservatives who keep pushing parenting, marriage, the nuclear family, and natalism: being a parent does NOT make a person a “human” ((Link): as Mohler asserts), nor does being a parent (or being married) make a person more ethical, loving, responsible, or mature.

Being married and being a father did not prevent the man in this news story from being a reprehensible sexist, taking his daughters for granted, or physically abusing his wife.

(Link): Father of five girls slit open his 7-month pregnant wife’s stomach in India to check if she was bearing a son

(Link): Dad of Five Girls ‘Sliced Open Pregnant Wife’s Stomach to Check Baby’s Gender as he “Desperately Wanted Son”‘

A FATHER of five girls is reported to have sliced open the stomach of his pregnant wife to find out if she was expecting a boy.

The husband – named only as Pannalal – is now in police custody after the sickening incident in the Indian northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Pravin Singh Chauhan, a senior police official, told local news crews that the woman was left seriously injured in the attack.

He added the reason for the attack is still under investigation, reports Newsweek. However, the victim’s family said the suspect already had five daughters and was desperate for a son.

Gender Reveal Party Blamed for Sparking (2020) California WildFire

Gender Reveal Party Blamed for Sparking (2020) California WildFire

And Al Mohler and other conservative Christians think that parenting makes people more mature and responsible. No, it does not. Another case in point.

(Link): Gender Reveal Party Blamed for Sparking (2020) California WildFire

by Simon Kent

A gender reveal party was blamed by officials Monday for sparking one of several wildfires now raging across the U.S. state of California.

The California Fire Department (Cal Fire) said in a statement the blaze was caused by “a smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used during a baby’s gender reveal party”.

Southern Baptist Al Mohler Intimates That Childless And Childfree Adults Are Not Human (2019) – and He Thinks This is a Good and Biblical Worldview

Southern Baptist Al Mohler Intimates That Childless And Childfree Adults Are  Not Human (2019) – and He Thinks This is a Good and Biblical Worldview

I am amazed that (Link): Mohler’s tweet / blog post / podcast from August 2019, where he indicates that anyone who doesn’t biologically pro-create is not fully human, did not get far more blow-back and attention than it did. Because it most certainly deserved a lot of push back.

(Please note: this post has been edited a few times since I published it, so that I could add more commentary and more links, and I may (or may not) edit it more in the future.)

At the time Mohler’s comment about this happened (August 2019),  I was too busy at the time to blog about it (or even months later). Hence, my post tackling this issue now, in June of 2020.

Mohler did (rightfully) get a lot of flack under the tweet at the time (I would ask that you (Link): click on the tweet link and read the replies he received), and one or two blogs ripped his attitude apart, but by and large, most did not tackle this.

Here is how Mohler’s tweet read (it is also embedded below):

Americans are basically, by the millions, giving up on the fact that to be human is to be a parent, eventually to take on that responsibility to get married and have children, to take on the responsibility of passing on civilization itself.
— end Mohler Tweet content —

Mohler also had a (Link): web page with either an essay or a podcast about this topic, but as of June 2020, the page does not seem to be working (you might be able to view an archived version of that page (Link): here – or view Mohler’s page on (Link): Google Cache).

At this point in time, I do not care to re-explain, for the billionth time, why the Bible and the God of the Bible does NOT support the “nuclear family,” marriage and natalism (and parenthood) to the insane degree that so many social conservatives and Christians and guys like Al Mohler assume.

I refer you to these older posts of mine which explain that no, the Bible does not endorse “the nuclear family,” marriage or parenting, not in the way conservative Christians presume it does (I have many more blog posts discussing this, I will only be sharing a few of them here – also some related posts here):

(Link): Conservatives Have Now Abandoned All Pretense of Advocating For Sexual Abstinence and They Actually Lament the Lack of Fornication – The Bradford Wilcox Piece, 2019

(Link):  “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” – one of the most excellent Christian rebuttals I have seen against the Christian idolatry of marriage and natalism, and in support of adult singleness and celibacy – from CBE’s site

(Link):   If the Family Is Central, Christ Isn’t, by John B. Carpenter, CP Guest Contributor

(Link): Salvation By Marriage Alone – The Over Emphasis Upon Marriage by Conservative Christians Evangelicals Southern Baptists

(Link): Why Christians Need To Stress Spiritual Family Over the Nuclear Family – People with no flesh and blood relations including Muslims who Convert to Christianity – Also: First World, White, Rich People Problems

(Link): This Christmas, I’m Defining Family by My Single Friends by L. Wilbert

(Link): Family as “The” Backbone of Society? – It’s Not In The Bible

(Link):  Ever Notice That Christians Don’t Care About or Value Singleness, Unless Jesus Christ’s Singleness and Celibacy is Doubted or Called Into Question by Scholars?

(Link):  Really, It’s Okay To Be Single – In order to protect marriage, we should be careful not to denigrate singleness – by Peter Chin

(Link): Parents Who Regret Having Children Speak Honestly About Why It Was A Huge Mistake

(Link): The Bible Does Not Teach Christians to “Focus On The Family” – The Idolization of Family by American Christians (article)

(Link): Why Having Kids Won’t Fulfill You

Mohler Judging If Someone is Human Or Not Based on Their Childed Status

I’m pretty sure that the Bible says all humans are fully human because God deemed them so, and because all humans are created in the image of God.

The Bible says nothing about one’s value or worth or humanity being defined by marital or parental status.

God does not love childless or childfree people any less than he does people who have children.

Married Couple Raped Their Own Kids During “Swinger” Sessions Where They Allowed Pedophiles To Rape Their Kids Too

Married Couple Raped Their Own Kids During “Swinger” Sessions Where They Allowed Pedophiles To Rape Their Kids Too

A lot of secular conservatives who run pro-marriage, pro-nuclear family groups, and a lot of conservative Christians, such as Al Mohler, often like to release editorials, blog posts, or podcasts arguing that people need to be married with children, because, they maintain, only marriage and parenting can save society, and both are supposedly necessary to make a person more godly, mature, responsible and ethical.

Such conservative groups disparage singleness and the state of being childless.

Now, I happen to be a conservative myself, but I realize that the Bible doesn’t teach that the Nuclear Family will save society, or that God frowns upon singleness (the Bible states quite the opposite in 1 Corinthians 7).

I’m not even opposed to marriage, the nuclear family, or to parenthood, but I am in total opposition of conservatives who have turned any of those things into idols (which most of them have done), and who also disparage singleness or adult singles (or the childless or childfree) in the process (which they do frequently).

Here is yet another example on my blog (I have (Link): many more elsewhere on this blog) demonstrating that being a married parent does not ensure character or morality in a person:

(Link): Evil paedo couple raped their own kids, 3 and 5, during horrific ‘swinger’ sex abuse sessions with predators

March 3, 2020
by April Roach

AN EVIL couple who drugged their own children and forced them to take part in ‘swinger’ sex abuse sessions with paedos have been handed a record jail sentence.

Killer Dad Yanked Son’s Teeth Out With Pliers, Gave Him Coal For Christmas and Raped Him To Death With Stick

Killer Dad Yanked Son’s Teeth Out With Pliers, Gave Him Coal For Christmas and Raped Him To Death With Stick

Why I am posting a news article about a man who raped his own eight year old son to death with a stick (link is way below):

Conservative Christians today, including but not limited to Al Mohler, and secular conservative secular groups that promote marriage and the family – such as Bradford Wilcox’s “National Marriage Project” and “Institute for Family Studies” keep promoting a false view of marriage, parenthood, and the nuclear family: they all keep insisting that marriage, parenthood, and the Nuclear Family are all necessary to somehow improve culture, or to make people mature, godly, or responsible.

But I have many examples on this blog going back years of married people who are parents, who are in a nuclear family, who have been arrested for child porn, raping their own children, beating their wives, etc.

One can turn to the pages of the Bible and read about the families who sinned. King David was married with children, but he raped and indirectly had a man murdered. That’s but one example.

There is nothing, nothing, nothing about the Nuclear Family, marriage, or parenthood that makes people “better.”

The Bible may say marriage is permissible and children are a blessing, but it nowhere argues that everyone should get married and be in a nuclear family, or that God prescribes marriage and parenthood as a means of “fixing” or improving people or culture.

Here’s yet another example of how being married and a parent did not make a person more godly, loving, mature, or responsible:

(Link): Killer Dad Yanked Son’s Teeth Out With Pliers, Gave Him Coal For Christmas and Raped Him To Death With Stick

March 2020

by D. Cinone

A DAD accused of killing his son allegedly yanked the boy’s teeth out with pliers, gave him coal for Christmas and raped him to death with stick.

The boy’s parents – Mauricio Alejandro Torres, 50, and Cathy Torres, 48 – allegedly beat their son Maurice ‘Isaiah’ Torres with cables and shoes, a jury heard Monday.

Six-year-old Isaiah reportedly died of septic shock after being horrifically violated during a camping trip in March 2015 [the boy was raped by his father with a stick over eating a piece of cake].

Stripper Decapitated Lover’s Disabled Son After Sex and Told Pal ‘Let’s Party’

Stripper Decapitated Lover’s Disabled Son After Sex and Told Pal ‘Let’s Party’

You know, stuff like this, assuming there’s an afterlife and what all, makes me glad there is a Hell.

The sort of literal Hell where people suffer in actual, literal flames for all eternity, unlike the ex-Christians or super duper Liberal Christians who complain and whimper all over the internet how they now reject a literal Hell, because any God who could create or allow such a place and allow people to go there is just so shucky-darn mean.

Oh spare me.

People like this woman can burn in that Hell forever and ever, and it does not bother me in the least.

(Link): Stripper Decapitated Lover’s Disabled Son After Sex and Told Pal ‘Let’s Party’

Roena Cheryl Mills, 43, bludgeoned Star Wars-obsessed Bo White and then used “cheap kitchen knives” to cut up his body before throwing his head in a forest

A stripper decapitated her lover’s Star Wars-obsessed disabled son “like a chicken” after having sex with him in exchange for drugs and money, a court heard.

Roena Cheryl Mills, 43, bludgeoned Bo White, 29, until he was unconscious and then cut off his head with kitchen knives and stabbed him repeatedly.

Boy, Age 2, Dies After Father Stole $150,000 Raised for Treatment and Blew It On Hookers, Liquor, Drugs and Hotels

Boy, Age 2, Dies After Father Stole $150,000 Raised for Treatment and Blew It On Hookers, Liquor, Drugs and Hotels

Christians (such as but not limited to Al Mohler) and my fellow conservatives often like to claim that “family values” and parenthood and marriage are all necessary to make society better, and to make people into loving, mature, godly, and/or ethical adults. But the Nuclear Family, parenthood, and marriage does none of those things. Here’s yet another example.

(Link): Boy, Age 2, Dies After Father Stole $150,000 Raised for Treatment and Blew It On Hookers, Liquor, Drugs and Hotels

Excerpts:

October 23, 2019

A toddler who suffered from a neuromuscular disorder died last week in Brazil after his father allegedly stole the cash raised for his treatment and spent it on wild parties.

Two-year-old João Miguel Alves passed away October 17 following a lengthy battle with Spinal Muscular Atrophy [AME].

His father, Mateus Henrique Leroy Alves, 37, was arrested July 22, a week after his wife reported him to the police.

He was found at a luxury hotel where he had been staying at for almost two months having spent $150,000 on designer clothes, watches, drugs, hookers and booze, local media reports.