You’ve heard the line. You’ve probably laughed at it. Begging for a bit of indulgence to provide a short essay on what this quip entails and how unseemly it really is.

First, let’s understand exactly what Hod says children are.

Look, children are a gift of the Lord,
and the fruit of the womb is a reward.
As arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior,
so are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man
who has his quiver full of them;
he shall not be ashamed
when he speaks with the enemies at the gate.

Psalm 127:3–5

Children are a gift of God’s grace. They are not sinners. They are not wicked. They are not vipers in diapers.

I will tell you that I think that last saying borders on demonic blasphemy. Here why. When a baby cries, they are communicating in the only way that they can, their need for something. They do use spoken language as you and I do.

Whence did this subtle hatred for babies find its way into our Christian worldview?

I think it comes from a distortion of humanity, often labeled as total depravity. There is a sect of Christianity that teaches this as foundational. Total depravity comes from the Roman Catholic error of original sin. Total depravity is taught as total inability to do anything good. Which is derived from the original sin of Adam. Taught as guilt from Adam’s sin is on all humans.

Neither of those are true. Babies aren’t depraved. Nor are they sinners.

What has happened then?

Modern society embraces this subtle disdain for babies, which is really ancient. To many, children are not considered a heritage or symbol of God’s grace. They are instead labeled as burdensome and problematic. The prevalence and ease of abortion is symptomatic of this problem.

The perception of children as an annoyance and interruption is age-old. The idea goes back to Greek mythology and the Titans, specifically of one named Cronus. Cronus ate his children to keep them from overthrowing him. In essence, that is the predominant excuse people give for wanting abortions: “It’s going to mess up our lives.”

How selfish is that kind of thinking, eh?

Cronus is the Greek version of a god worshipped by the ancient Canaanites. That God had a name, Moloch. Scholarship is not in agreement on the name. But in Hebrew, words are consonantal with vowel markings ascribed for pronunciation. Moloch is from the Hebrew word mlk, which pronounced differently, can mean sacrifice. Mlk also means king, as in Amalek. Moloch demanded the sacrifice of children.

These sacrifices were so abhorrent, they were accompanied by loud drum beats and cadences. So that the father might not hear the cries of the infant being burned alive. Again, think of the connections to the modern practice of abortion, where fathers are protected from the brutal deaths of their heritage by having no say whatsoever!

This abhorrent practice is the epitome of selfishness.

Worse though, the same mentality has crept into Christianity. Using the rhyming quip seems to generate laughter and agreement. But is it indicative of a bigger problem?

I think so. One of injecting a serpent-like thought into the body of Christ that babies are a real problem. Crying babies are deemed selfish because their demands interfere in our doings.

Could that be why many seeming Christians champion abortion by their political party affiliation and actively vote to promote the detestable practice of abortion?

God said plainly that children are a blessing and a heritage from Him. How dare people say any different?

Babies are not an annoyance. They are not sinners. They are not vipers in diapers.

It is shocking to hear grown adults think and then say these things, let alone Christians. Though perhaps the silver lining is that there is a bit of smug satisfaction when they expose their own hypocrisy and selfishness.

Isn’t it demonic to stigmatize a gracious gift of heritage from God?