You're right, but the religious retort to that would be that secular people are miserable and therefore less likely to marry and reproduce. Whereas I'm not sure why that should be true. Sure, secular people don't have a command to reproduce, so maybe taking away the command structure just reduces the likelihood; and I guess that's the selection bias you're talking about. But prior to organized religion, people were reproducing like rabbits, so there's got to be something else.

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mathgeek an hour ago | parent [-]

> The religious retort to that…

_A_ religious retort. Also it’s not a binary “lots of kids or no kids” spectrum.

	▲	TFNA an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		In many countries now, "over the replacement rate" or "under the replacement rate" is indeed a binary that closely tracks with religious observance. I would rather not out where I am, but here a couple having even a second child will cause some observers to at least ask if the family is part of a sect.
	▲	noduerme 35 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Okay, _a_ religious retort. I feel like you focused on a nit instead of addressing my point?