On the one side, our divine family, through their servants, counsel us to marry and have children.

A Banquet of Consequences, Elder Cook

Parents and Children, President Oaks

Be Not Troubled, Elder Rasband

From the Church’s marriage manual

From one of Truman G. Madsen’s lectures on Joseph Smith:

Joseph Smith made many prophetic statements that last to our day. Some of them seemed preposterous at the time. Lillie Freeze recalls one such. “He said the time would come when none but the women of the Latter-day Saints would be willing to bear children.” In large measure this is already happening today—before our eyes.

The world opposes all that–having a career and cats is more fulfilling, they say, or when forced to pretend to be reasonable, they simply say that women can have it all by putting off the marriage and kids part to focus on having a career and Instagram experiences now.

No one can long halt between these two opinions.

So here are some points to consider.

Is “you can have it all” something you would tell an adult?  Adults make choices and have priorities.  When they tell you “you can have it all,” they are treating you like you aren’t grown up.

You have experience with putting things off.  Do they ever really happen?  When someone counsels you to put off marriage and children, what are they really telling you?

Do feminists seem to have more children and be happier than average? Feminism is angry and sterile.

Most women report  having fewer children than they want.  Does the world’s plan help this problem or make it worse?

We have more children than the replacement level.  The world has less.  Are we better off or worse off with more kids raised in good homes?

Are corporations encouraging putting off marriage and family because they care about you, or because they want more workers whose identity is tied up in their job and their consumer choices?

Are liberals encouraging putting off marriage and family because they care about you, or because cat ladies and cool wine aunts are their unpaid activists?