Kerby Anderson
The Western world is facing a birth rate crisis. Wilfred Reilly says these young adults resemble captive panda bears who must be persuaded to mate. He cites a psychological study that revealed that roughly 50 percent of young men have never or almost never approached a woman to ask for a date.
Even if men and women get married, they are less likely to have children. The fertility rate has been dropping for decades. That is why Edward Ring wrote a discouraging essay, “Give Me Fertility, Or Give Me Death.”
Unmarried, childless women are much more likely to vote for a Democratic candidate who supports abortion as “reproductive health care.” A recent study by Morgan Stanley estimated that by 2030, around 45 percent of women between ages 25 and 44 are projected to be single and childless.
And these trends are taking place through all the developed world and in much of the developing world. The U.S. has a fertility rate of 1.84, which is better than the 1.24 fertility rate of European countries like Italy or the 1.17 fertility rate for Singapore.
Some liberal women have embraced the “4B” movement that originated in South Korea that says no to sex, dating, marriage, and children. This is not a good trend. The projected fertility rate of South Korean women this year has dropped to 0.68. The population of South Korea is imploding.
It is time for pastors and other church leaders to remind Christians that children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3) and they are arrows in our quiver (Psalm 127:4). The secular world may not value marriage and family, which is why the church must teach biblical principles to the next generation.

Kerby Anderson
Decades ago, Ronald Reagan observed, “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”
This is the challenge that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy face as they lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The two of them explained their plan to reform the government in their Wall Street Journal op-ed. They are assisting the Trump transition team in identifying and hiring a team of small-government crusaders who will work with the Office of Management and Budget.
They aren’t the first outsiders to attempt to trim the bureaucracy. J. Peter Grace led the Grace Commission, that filed its report with Ronald Reagan in 1984. President Obama formed the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (often called Simpson–Bowles in honor of the two co-chairs). Neither commission had much of an impact on the size and scope of the federal bureaucracy.
Both Musk and Ramaswamy believe they have a better chance of success due to two Supreme Court rulings concerning federal regulations. They will present a list of regulations to President Trump who will pause the enforcement of those regulations by executive action.
They also challenge the conventional assumption that civil-service protections stop a president from firing federal workers. They don’t plan to target specific employees but merely reduce the size of the department. And they point to other Supreme Court cases to support their belief.
Trimming the administrative state won’t be easy, but I think they may have found an open door that will allow them to succeed in reforming the federal government.