(LifeSiteNews) — The United Kingdom of The Children of Men by P.D. James is a country without children. The population, having become involuntarily fertile, is aging. Pets are treated like children. Pornography is promoted by the state. Temporary foreign workers are brought in to do the labor. The last generation of young people are adrift, profoundly antisocial, living as they please. And, of course, there are the suicides.
Perhaps the grimmest scene of James’ 1992 novel is a description of the “Quietus” in which the elderly who want to die are killed in ceremonial mass suicides. The aged are given white robes, drugged, and a band plays hymns like “Abide with Me” as they board a boat to be collectively drowned. CONTINUE