The Point: Old and Alone in China

Old and alone in China. A recent Washington Post story stopped me cold. “Han Zicheng survived the Japanese invasion, the Chinese civil war and the Cultural Revolution, but he knew he could not endure the sorrow of living alone.” So “the 85-year old Chinese grandfather” taped a note to a bus shelter asking for someone to adopt him. Declining birth rates, whether due to forced abortion in China or declining interest in families in the West, are a recipe for societal disaster. Even the liberal, secular Washington Post gets it. Nearly one in four Chinese will be older than 60 by 2040. “It’s a demographic crisis that threatens China’s economy and the fabric of family life,” the Post reported. “Businesses must chug along with fewer workers…single children care for aging parents on their own.” And old men put themselves up for adoption, “consumed by fear that [they will] die alone.” What an opportunity for God’s people! For more on faith and culture, come to BreakPoint.org.  

05/11/18