If God made girls to start having babies at 13, why isn't that okay?

Question

Why should we take some parts of the Bible literally, while allowing science and society to dictate when we change our minds about other things?

I feel like you are missing my question - see above details. I KNOW society and culture change things.

Answer 1

wonder how many christians will be speechless due to this. lol.

Answer 2

Until very recently -like the past 40 years - an American man could legally marry a 13 year old girl if the girl had her parents permission to do so or if the man had a shot gun aimed at his chest.
Sometime in the late 50's rocker Jerry Lee Lewis did exactly that with a distant cousin of his.
The reason it's not okay today is that we as a society expect our young girls to grow up , get educated and go onto do great things with their lives. Having babies at 13 , 14 , 15 immediately puts an end to all those hopes and dreams and subjects the young girl to the dictates of the Female Poverty Formula which states that for a single young girl an increase in children will result in an increase in poverty or C=P
Edit :
Something else that's being overlooked in this discussion is the fact that Western families no longer require the labor of children in order to survive and thrive. Having children has become an option rather than an economic necessity. It wasn't so long ago that a farmer with 4 sons and a daughter or two could do really well for himself because he didn't have to pay hired hands wages aka the 7-11 Principle
If you ever want to do something really sad visit old New England graveyards and notice all the young girls with "Died in Childbirth " on their eroded headstones

Answer 3

How old are you?... Are you male or female?

If you are over the age of 20 and female you wouldn't ask this question.

Sure, there's the societal issues- high school, child-labor laws, age-of-consent laws, etc....

There's also the physiological issues- A girl's body is going through a LOT of change at her first period- the body simply isn't ready for that. Sure, the basics are in place- ovaries are producing ripe eggs, uterus is getting and understanding the hormonal messages from the ovaries, but the body doesn't have the strength, resilience, etc. to handle the demands of pregnancy. Even the "mother's" brain isn't fully developed till she's between 18 and 25!...

It's like asking a toddler to run a marathon- Sure, he knows how to put one foot in front of another and travel, but is he really capable of running 26 miles????

Answer 4

It's all cultural. Did you know that 100 years ago, the age in some states for consent to marry was 9. Girls could choose to get married that early, and it was fine with the law. Did that happen? Probably not. But it wasn't unheard of to be 13-14 and married.

Back then, education wasn't that important. Women especially didn't get much education, as they were "only" meant to clean, cook, keep house and have kids. There was no reason for her to be educated.

Things have changed. We know live in a world that values our kids, and thinks that they should be kids for as long as possible. There are more advancements in medicine that allow us to live longer, and more opportunities for education. Women today have many more choices then they used to, so getting married and having kids as soon as you get your period isn't looked at highly.

In some cultures today, girls are married that young, and it's perfectly normal. It is only society that puts a stigma on it.

Answer 5

My question is why would any girl want to? It is a tremendous responsibility, and they would have no time for themselves. It is cultural thing anyway. In some societies girls do marry by 12 and have babies. For the US and some other societies, we think children should not have to be put into an adult position until they are 21 or older because by then they should be able to handle what comes with having babies.

Answer 6

In a lot of cultures it's fine. Once you can have a kid, you're an adult. Most handle it well, but because it's how they were raised.

Here we don't let out kids even know their own nature until they're 18, then we turn them loose. They aren't ready to be parents. So here it's different as we think of 13 as a child, and other cultures see 13 as an adult and ready to work, live, and have a family.

Just how we are here. But I respect other cultures, because by the time their kid is barely a teen she can take care of herself. That's not wrong, it's how they are. But here in the US, 13 is still a child.

Answer 7

13 year old girls shouldn't even be bringing babies into the world when they're babies themselves.Or any age girl shouldn't be having babies when they are fully developed down there and they aren't even mature enough to be teen mothers.My grandmother told me that a girl got pregnant when she was growing up and people looked down at that cause that was wrong back then like it should be now.I wanted to start having kids at 12 years old but I never had the chance to have kids that young cause I just didn't know what my father would've said to me if he had found out that I was pregnant at 12.

Answer 8

Having children based on a certain age is a decision of a society. For example, during the Dark Ages in England, girls would marry as soon as they hit puberty and began having as many children as possible. There were a few reasons for this. The life span back then ended around 40-50 years old. Many children died before they were 2, and most of these died during birth. Many women died during childbirth because of infections, or "fevers" that they couldn't treat properly. So in order to proliferate the race, you had to have as many children as possible as early as possible. The same is true today in many third world countries.

Nowadays, in more advanced cultures, with modern medical technology, the life span of people is between 70-80 years, and the death rate of newborns is drastically lower. Very few women die during childbirth. We can wait until we are 20-30 before having children. It depends on the society and its needs.

Answer 9

As a species we are have sexually matured as soon as we are able to reproduce. In many cases that can be by age 13 or even younger. As a species we were once served by this ability to quickly reproduce, but we have since outgrown that need. Our society requires that its members be much more prepared for survival, so laws have been passed to raise the age of majority.

Answer 10

Because you're not "ready", so to speak. You may have your period, but your body isn't shaped yet to carry a baby. The period is just the result of a hormonal boost.

You are ready to carry a child when you're done "growing up". Meaning when your body is done transforming into it's adult form. That happens between 17-21 for girls.

A lot of girls, especially in poorer countries, who end up having children before 16 yo either die or develop major health problems like uterin cancer, displaced hips (which later turns into arthritis), infections, etc.

To protect the younger girls, society made laws to make "intercourse" more difficult. That's why you're only considered an adult between 18 and 21 or can't marry before 16.

Answer 11

In today's society children live sheltered lives and as a result are not mentally and emotionally ready to have babies at 13.Most kids now are not taught much about responsibility by their parents and have to learn it on their own after they leave home.