24. Amish Families Tend to be Quite Large
There is a verse in Genesis in which God commands people to be fruitful and multiply; as Biblical literalists, Amish families take this command quite seriously. Every eight years, the Amish population grows by 3 to 5 percent; this growth is due not to conversion but rather to the large number of children that Amish families have. They share this literal interpretation with the Quiverfull movement, that encourages large families based on Psalm 127:3-5, which refers to children as the arrows in a full quiver.
