One of the commands of God to humans in Genesis 1 is the call for procreation, for men and women to "be fruitful and multiply," as some translations put it. The first chapter of the Bible clearly puts having children in a positive light. Still, there is more that needs to be contemplated--much more. It is foolish to think that this command of Genesis 1 applies to literally every individual person or couple. The scope of the injunction aside, even partners who wish to produce children need to carefully assess their personal circumstances before they intentionally become parents. Intellectual, moral, and economic maturity are all marks of potential for strong parenting, and each needs to be considered before a person decides to bring a child into the world.
Many people lack the basic philosophical competence to understand even basic metaphysical and epistemological concepts without immense prompting from others. If someone cannot handle at least recognizing things like the absolute certainty of their own existence and the inherent veracity of deductive reasoning, they have no right to raise children who have the responsibility to develop their own rational worldviews using independent thinking. Children are always the ones responsible for whether they reason out or believe a truth, but this does not mean all parental approaches to philosophical matters are equally valid. Only rationalism is valid for both children and their parents.
Of course, part of having philosophical maturity is recognizing the nature of the concept of morality: that of obligations and justice. I am not assuming that moral obligations exist, as I am merely pointing out that if they do, a parent cannot deserve to raise their own children if they are abusive or otherwise on the wrong side of morality. It would inevitably follow from the existence of even a single moral obligation that a morally apathetic or wayward parent would have no right to teach their child to be like them. Moral perfection is not necessary to be a parent, but moral apathy would render a parent's own philosophy invalid and potentially subject their children to the dangers of living with someone who does whatever they subjectively whim.
Another significant factor is the economic stability that will give a couple the resources and ability to raise a child safely by addressing its material needs. Without maturity in this area, which stems from the intellectual maturity that would make parents philosophically competent, even financially stable parents could ruin their own economic standing by carelessness or stupidity. In referring to the need for financial maturity, I do not mean that a childless couple becomes irresponsible in wanting to have a child if they do not mutually possess great wealth. I instead mean that it is folly to rush to have kids when one cannot even financially support oneself. If a couple needs more time to stabilize their own financial standing, having even one child on purpose betrays a lack of thoughtfulness and foresight.
Even in light of these requirements for someone to be in a favorable position to become a parent, it is not impossible to be adequately prepared by a fairly young age to have children. None of these qualities are determined by age, and none of them are bound to appear in a person without self-guided effort--just as children are responsible for becoming rational individuals even without social input or pressures, parents are responsible for gaining their own intellectual/philosophical, moral, and financial maturity. No person of any age has an excuse for irrationality because everyone can grasp reason, child or parent. Someone could certainly have fully prepared himself or herself intellectually by the time they are physiologically capable of having kids, and all other needed qualities follow from this rationality.
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