Tucker Carlson: Having Children is Life’s Greatest Joy

Tucker Carlson recently gave the keynote address at the Center for Christian Virtue’s (CCV) 2023 Cleveland Celebration Gala.

CCV is Ohio’s state-based family policy council and a Focus on the Family-allied organization. It is Ohio’s largest Christian public policy organization.

Carlson began his remarks by discussing two upcoming ballot measures that Ohioans will vote on in November – Issue 1 and Issue 2.

Issue 1 would legalize abortion in the state up until the moment of birth. It would also permit minors to obtain transgender medical interventions without their parent’s knowledge or consent.

Issue 2 would allow persons who are at least 21 years old to use and possess marijuana for recreational purposes.

Carlson said that when he first got involved in politics, the political debates centered around “competing visions for how to improve people’s lives.” He mentioned the debate over the minimum wage as one such example.

“I was on one side of it, but I could also see the other side,” Carlson remarked, adding,

But when you wind up in an election where the two top ballot initiatives are, one, encouraging people to kill their own kids, and two, encourage their kids to do drugs, who is benefiting here?

Carlson then said,

The one unalloyed source of joy in your life is your children. The point of life is to have children, and to watch them have grandchildren. Nothing will bring you joy like that will. Nothing comes close. Nothing comes close.

Would you trade your job for your children? Would you trade anything for your children? Of course not! And so anyone telling you, ‘Don’t have children. Kill your children,’ is not your friend, is your enemy.

You can watch more of Carlson’s keynote address to CCV here:

Abortion has gone from being tolerated to celebrated. What kind of sick people would tell you that killing your baby is a pathway to joy? pic.twitter.com/ohaYtnITPr

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 25, 2023

Carlson is correct – no matter what our secular culture may say. In fact, the Daily Citizen recently reported on the gold-standard General Social Survey which found that married women and men who are mothers and fathers report the highest levels of being “very happy.”

Perhaps Americans are slowly learning that part of the secret to happiness is to go against the grain of our popular culture which prizes autonomy, independence, singleness and material gain.

People seem to be rediscovering what Carlson said, that children and grandchildren bring great joy. According to Gallup’s most recent Social Series survey, Americans’ desire for larger families has just hit a 50-year high.

Photo Credit: Gallup

“Not since the sweeping social changes of the late 1960s have more Americans considered a larger family of three or more children ideal,” Melanie Notkin writes for the Institute for Family Studies, adding,

Today, 45% of Americans see three or more children as ideal, a steep increase from 38% in 2013, and an even wider gap from 33% in 2003. … Today, 47% of American adults prefer a smaller family, down from 53% a decade ago, and 55% in 2003.

Photo Credit: Gallup

When it comes to having children and leaving a family legacy, it seems many Americans are – perhaps unknowingly – rediscovering the wisdom of God’s Word.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the children of one’s youth.

Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate (Psalm 127: 3-5, ESV).

Related articles and resources:

Tucker Carlson Starts Reading Scripture and Discovers These Two Truths

Tucker Carlson is Right: We’re in a Spiritual Battle to Restore Our Nation

Focus on the Family: Marriage

Focus on the Family: Parenting

Photo from Getty Images.