From the book of Ecclesiastes 4:2-3



“Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And
behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the
side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. So I congratulated the
dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of
them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under
the sun.”

This article is aimed at adults, specifically the married couples, expecting and/or intending to bring a child into this world.

They are so many reasons as to why people give birth to children, some are accidental, some consider children as a source of joy or happiness, some are due to family and social pressure, some need kids that could inherit their wealth and carry on the family name.

The reasons are enormous, but they all share one thing in common; selfishness.

just as David Benatar said:

“Creating new people, by having babies, is so much a part of human life
that it is rarely thought even to require a justification. Indeed, most people
do not even think about whether they should or should not make a baby.
They just make one. In other words, procreation is usually the consequence
of sex rather than the result of a decision to bring people into existence.
Those who do indeed decide to have a child might do so for any number of
reasons, but among these reasons cannot be the interests of the potential
child. One can never have a child for that child’s sake.”

The reason as to why existence is a harm is as follows,


The unborn do not experience pain, so if you ever find your child crying, being physically humiliated or brutalized, consider yourself the cause of his or her pains.
the pleasure one experiences is never a good reason to bring that child into this world, for pleasure causes suffering if one is been deprived of it, but the unborn are not affected because they are not deprived of pleasure.

let us consider other forms of suffering such as sickness, accidents, loss of beloved ones, the struggle to make ends meet, family pressure, disappointments, public humiliation, starvation and poverty, etc.


We can be sure that a child will suffer from one, two or more of those life maladies lister above, but we can't predict how severe they would be, hence you are gambling with the suffering and death of an innocent child when you decide to procreate.


Statistical Effects of Creating People:


more than fifteen million people are thought to have died from natural disasters in the last
1,000 years,

approximately 20,000 people die every day from hunger,

an estimated 840 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition,

between 541 ce and 1912, it is estimated that over 102 million people succumbed to plague,


the 1918 influenza epidemic killed 50 million people,
11 million people die every year from infectious diseases,

malignant neoplasms take more than a further 7 million lives each year,

approximately 3.5 million people die every year in accidents,

approximately 56.5 million people died in 2001, that is more than 107 people per minute,

before the twentieth century over 133 million people were killed in mass killings,

in the first 88 years of the twentieth century 170 million (and possibly as many as 360 million)
people were shot, beaten, tortured, knifed, burned, starved, frozen, crushed, or worked to death;
buried alive, drowned, hanged, bombed, or killed in any other of the myriad ways governments
have inflicted death on unarmed, helpless citizens and foreigners,

there were 1.6 million conflict-related deaths in the sixteenth century, 6.1 million in the
seventeenth century, 7 million in the eighteenth, 19.4 million in the nineteenth, and 109.7 million
in the twentieth,

war-related injuries led to 310,000 deaths in 2000,

about 40 million children are maltreated each year,

more than 100 million currently living women and girls have been subjected to genital cutting,

815,000 people are thought to have committed suicide in 2000 (currently it is estimated that
someone commits suicide every 40 seconds, more than 800,000 people per year.

Well, u r right. But God commanded procreation.

Noloss:
Well, u r right. But God commanded procreation.

Go into the world and multiply? go into a world filled with suffering, sadness, ceaseless struggles and disappointments, anguish and sorrows,heartbreaks and recurrent depression, a world where nothing is certain, where time is always haunting us, destroying all our dreams and calculations.

If you love your children, you'll never want to bring them into this world,
Think again my sister and think deeply, a just God will never command such a thing.

Coming into Existence is always a harm, this harm is not negligible, life is too hard for us, even for those with the best life, because while money can save you from the pangs of poverty, you still have to suffer the anxiety of maintaining your business, heartaches, sickness that can make you curse your existence, loss of loved ones, accidents and above all, even death. and for those without enough money, life is nightmare.

Perfectly correct. There's nothing that can fault this argument. Of all selfish human actions, having a child has to be the worst really. I'd rather adopt one/several. Make the best of an already terrible world.

ComplexManifolds:
From the book of Ecclesiastes 4:2-3

“Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun. And
behold I saw the tears of the oppressed and that they had no one to comfort them; and on the
side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them. So I congratulated the
dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. But better off than both of
them is the one who has never existed, who has never seen the evil activity that is done under
the sun.”

This epistle was written by a person who was suffering from severe depression.

This article is aimed at adults, specifically the married couples, expecting and/or intending to bring a child into this world.

They are so many reasons as to why people give birth to children, some are accidental, some consider children as a source of joy or happiness, some are due to family and social pressure, some need kids that could inherit their wealth and carry on the family name.
The reasons are enormous, but they all share one thing in common; selfishness.

Being selfish is natural and there is nothing wrong with it as long as you don't harm others while you are taking care of yourself.

just as David Benatar said:
“Creating new people, by having babies, is so much a part of human life
that it is rarely thought even to require a justification. Indeed, most people
do not even think about whether they should or should not make a baby.
They just make one. In other words, procreation is usually the consequence
of sex rather than the result of a decision to bring people into existence.
Those who do indeed decide to have a child might do so for any number of
reasons, but among these reasons cannot be the interests of the potential
child. One can never have a child for that child’s sake.”

Very few people in this part of the world consider the option of not having children, it is different elsewhere but the relationship between a child and a parent is a symbiotic one.

ComplexManifolds:

Go into the world and multiply? go into a world filled with suffering, sadness, ceaseless struggles and disappointments, anguish and sorrows,heartbreaks and recurrent depression, a world where nothing is certain, where time is always haunting us, destroying all our dreams and calculations.

The world is also full of joy and happiness, fun and fulfillment, victories and achievement, love and kindness, reconciliation, cooperation, peace, laughter and confidence.

If you love your children, you'll never want to bring them into this world,
Think again my sister and think deeply, a just God will never command such a thing.

It's not that i have never experienced the negative sides of life but if someone asked me if I wanted to come back to this world again, I would say yes and I would consciously embrace the contrast because there would be no solutions without problems and I love the satisfaction that comes when issues are resolved and everything unfolds better than initially intended.

I love to eat, I love to sleep, I love to listen to nice music, I love to make love to the person I love from the bottom of my heart, I love to see the smile on people's faces, I love to remember my childhood experiences and how frisky we used to be, I love to remember how it was when I first fell in love, the first kiss and the excitement and I love to remember my student years and I love to feel the pride that came with the graduation that I was working on for years. I love to work and to make a difference every day, no matter how small. I love to go shopping and I love to cook for my family and eat with them regularly, chat and laugh. I could go and on and on and on.

Coming into Existence is always a harm, this harm is not negligible, life is too hard for us, even for those with the best life, because while money can save you from the pangs of poverty, you still have to suffer the anxiety of maintaining your business, heartaches, sickness that can make you curse your existence, loss of loved ones, accidents and above all, even death. and for those without enough money, life is nightmare.

You can learn to have faith and confidence and you can learn to enjoy every moment of your life by appreciating every small and big thing, be it a slice of bread or tomato or someone's kind gesture, no matter how small; or a nice movie or the love of your mother or sibling or the clothes that you are wearing.

Gratefulness and appreciation are the key to a happy life and i wouldn't want my kids to miss out on all of it even if it means that they will also experience bad days.

Additionally, children are never so negative. When they learn to walk, the fall many times, at times cry a little, get up and continue and enjoy every little step instead of complaining about their falls. It repeats itself when they learn how to ride the bicycle and for them every bruise was worth the fun and joy.

Happy Saturday to you!

In truth, Probability is very scary and unpredicatable, so if i am given a choice i may not choose to be born.

I don't want to be the reason for another human's suffering, so if i have a choice i would not have a child.

There are still many mystries yet to be revealed.

Hell is still there, how can i can i guarntee that my children would not comitt sin?

Suffering, pain, agony, despair and a long list of many other terrible things are happening to humans.

Although the world looks beautiful, there are many dangerous undercurrents within that beauty, that can sweep and swallow you even if you are careful.

Noloss:
Well, u r right. But God commanded procreation.

Please do not put the blame for man's acts of wickedness on God as is typical with the religious who are some of the most wicked folks on the planet. Of what use is it claim God commanded procreation when the same man refuses to obey all the other commandments that the same God gave? Or are you one of the many convinced God of Scripture is nothing but a fool of some sort for man to dribble as he likes?