With shocking speed and a blunt-force style, the government spending reform work of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by tech entrepreneur and world’s richest man Elon Musk, has been a sight to behold. Musk has undergone a swift cultural and political transformation from the Tesla CEO darling of the Left to a MAGA hat-wearing icon of the Right.
But as Republicans have quickly embraced Musk’s tech-savvy, no-fear approach to combatting government waste, an uncomfortable truth for social conservatives has emerged. Musk, who is currently unmarried, has fathered at least 14 children by four different women, some through in vitro fertilization, with the “true number [likely] much higher than publicly known.”
What’s more, according to an in-depth report from The Wall Street Journal published last week, Musk appears to be consumed by the idea that in order to counteract the world’s decreasing birthrates, humans must increase in population so that they can inhabit other planets in order to “ensur[e] the long-term survival of humanity and all life as we know it.” Musk has therefore taken it upon himself to father as many children as possible with high intelligence, even arguing that babies should be born via caesarean section to allow for larger brains.
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Before discussing how alarming this situation is, conservatives can at least appreciate that on the surface, the pro-natalist views of Musk are gaining considerable cultural attention and consideration, and are pointedly opposite of the progressive, mainstream media-pushed culture of death approach that favors abortion and childlessness. Musk has even made it a point to make numerous public appearances with his young children in tow, and has at times spoken movingly about being a parent, remarking that “nothing will make you happier than having kids.”
That being said, we must address the first fundamental error that Musk is making in his quest to repopulate Earth in his image. It is evident that Musk believes that the propagation of children is primarily a means to an end, that children of advanced intelligence must be sired in order to save humanity. But God does not hold this utilitarian view of humanity. Human beings are in fact the pinnacle of His creation with dominion over the Earth (Genesis 1:26), made in His image (1:27). We derive our dignity as humans not from our usefulness, but from the fact that our Heavenly Father first loved us into being (1 John 4:19) and knit us together in our mother’s wombs (Psalm 139:13). We are not merely products of conception geared solely toward continuing our species; we are universes unto ourselves, gifted with an immortal soul with limitless depth and meaning.
This leads to the second critical error that Musk has made. Our Creator is a loving Father who is intimately concerned with the smallest details of our lives. Christ told His disciples, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7). In the same way, all men who become fathers are called to care for their children in the manner that God the Father cares for all His children. A good father intimately knows the unique personalities and attributes of his children so that he can more effectively care for their particular needs, thereby genuinely loving them. A father can only achieve this by spending as much quality time with his children as possible in his home. Can a man who has fathered innumerable children by multiple different women achieve this loving attention to detail by being present in numerous homes at the same time? For all of his entrepreneurial brilliance, tech savviness, and wealth, even Elon Musk cannot bilocate.
A third essential error now becomes glaringly clear. Every child has only one father and one mother. This biological fact is part of how God cemented his plan for marriage and therefore for the family: “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:4-6). With this piercing statement, Christ definitively summed up how husband and wife are intimately bound together as one in marriage and are therefore bound together as father and mother of any children they conceive together.
Inherent in this reality is that every mother deserves the father of her child to father her child exclusively with her so that the child will flourish and so she is not forced to become a single mom. Just the same, every child deserves to be loved by her married mother and father. Unfortunately, the Musk fatherhood model is a grave injustice to both the mother and the child.
What is particularly puzzling about Musk’s model of fatherhood is that it is not rooted in the social science data. Musk often talks about the importance of reasoning based on first principles and sound logic. But in his model of fatherhood, he does not appear to take into account what social science data shows. The data in fact demonstrates that children from married intact families have lower rates of depression and anxiety, graduate from college at higher rates, earn more money, and enjoy a host of other benefits that children from unmarried or non-intact families do not enjoy. In other words, children thrive most when they are raised exclusively by their married father and mother.
While there is much to admire about the work of Elon Musk and DOGE as they try to conserve taxpayer dollars, eliminate waste and fraud, and increase transparency in government spending, conservatives must remember that there are some things which are far more fundamental that must be conserved in order for a society to thrive: the eternal truth of God’s plan for fatherhood, marriage, and family.
Originally published at The Washington Stand.
Dan Hart is the Managing Editor for Publications at Family Research Council. His writing has appeared in such outlets as National Review, The Federalist, First Things, The Stream, The Christian Post, the National Catholic Register, and others. Before joining FRC, he served with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he worked to promote vocations to the clergy and religious life.
