Having been raised as a Christian, I have been baptised. Since rejecting my faith around 5 years ago I've often felt somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of being baptised - in the kind of "So, why did you decide that I was christian all of a sudden" sort of way.
It's not so much the fact that it was "holy" or anything like that - but more of the violation of my humanity, that I was inducted into Christianity without consent (being an infant, its hard to "consent", but you get my point). Baptism in itself is meaningless, but the fact that someone (your parents/carers) is choosing a life path for you by having you baptised is something I'm not happy with.
I know you can't really be "un-baptised" but, being an Atheist, I think people should be allowed to choose for themselves whether or not to be baptised - perhaps at an older age - rather than having baptism as a standard for infants to go through.
Just wondering if anyone else shared similar views, or maybe you're also uncomfortable with being baptised?
Were you baptised?
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- VermilionUK
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Post #11
I was baptized too. So what. The advantage of being an atheist is knowing religious nonsense is meaningless, so you can do anything. I used to go to church with my sisters, even though they knew I was an atheist. They thought it would look good for the kids. So to make it really look good I would also repeat the public prayers and responses just like I believed them. It really weird-ed out my sisters that I could say this stuff and not believe it. I don't have to go to church anymore to make it look good for the kids.
Post #12
Maybe the fact that I was baptized would bother me if it had left me scarred in some unmistakable way. If a cross had been branded into my forehead to mark me as a Catholic, I would be pretty unhappy about that today (and I probably would have raised quite a stink about it as an infant too). As it is, I think baptism is a harmless Christian ritual that means more to the parents than the child.
Oddly enough, a few years ago my sister asked me to be her son's godfather. Being an agnostic, it was an uncomfortable moment for me. We were at a restaurant with my entire family when she asked me. They all know that I am an agnostic and have distanced myself from the Catholic Church. My mother looked at me sternly and said, "If you accept, that means it's going to be up to you to raise him as a Catholic if anything ever happens to your sister."
Frankly I was honored that my sister would entrust me with such a responsibility. So I accepted. Then I looked at her just as sternly as our mother had looked at me and said, "This means you better make damn sure nothing ever happens to you."
Oddly enough, a few years ago my sister asked me to be her son's godfather. Being an agnostic, it was an uncomfortable moment for me. We were at a restaurant with my entire family when she asked me. They all know that I am an agnostic and have distanced myself from the Catholic Church. My mother looked at me sternly and said, "If you accept, that means it's going to be up to you to raise him as a Catholic if anything ever happens to your sister."
Frankly I was honored that my sister would entrust me with such a responsibility. So I accepted. Then I looked at her just as sternly as our mother had looked at me and said, "This means you better make damn sure nothing ever happens to you."
Re: Were you baptized?
Post #13Honestly, I feel more uncomfortable having been circumcised without my consent. My baptism (thankfully) didn't have any life-long effects.VermilionUK wrote:I know you can't really be "un-baptized" but, being an Atheist, I think people should be allowed to choose for themselves whether or not to be baptized - perhaps at an older age - rather than having baptism as a standard for infants to go through.
Just wondering if anyone else shared similar views, or maybe you're also uncomfortable with being baptized?
I was raised catholic, and I was even confirmed (which I have only myself to blame for that one). It's tough to break away when you are young, and spend several hours every week learning about hell.
We do not teach children to think critically in this country. Educators probably think that it is a skill that is beyond most children. But look at the life long consequences that can have.
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Post #14
I was a JW and they generally didnt do baptisms until late teens or later for many of the reasons you listed above.
Post #15
I was baptized as an infant, but made the decision as an adult to be baptized again. Now that I'm a non-believer, I hadn't even thought about it until seeing this thread. So, it doesn't bother me one bit and I don't waste any time dwelling on it.
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Post #16
Same is true of me. They called it a "baby dedication", or something of that sort. I did get baptized as a child, but I was old enough to understand that it was a commitment to God, and I took it very seriously.elle wrote:The religious group I was raised in didn't do infant "baptism" per se. They did have a ceremony for infants and their parents and I'm not sure if water was used. They called it a dedication instead of a baptism and basically it was a commitment that the parents made to raise the child to worship god and be a Christian in that sect.VermilionUK wrote:Just wondering if anyone else shared similar views, or maybe you're also uncomfortable with being baptised?
"Oh, you can''t get through seminary and come out believing in God!"
current pastor who is a closet atheist
quoted by Daniel Dennett.
current pastor who is a closet atheist
quoted by Daniel Dennett.
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Re: Were you baptised?
Post #17I was baptized as a Catholic. It does not make me uncomfortable as I cannot reasonably say I rejected my religion. It was more like it fell off me piece by piece until one day it was just gone. I did not reject it anymore than I rejected watching Sesame Street. It no longer had any validity or meaning. I look on religion as a childhood disease that left me immune for life.
BTW I lost my religion from reading the Bible. No not any of that "God is a monster!" stuff. It was from reading it without preconceptions and realizing that this was a record of how a religion first came about. It was not God given. It evolved over time and the Gospels in particular show that.
BTW I lost my religion from reading the Bible. No not any of that "God is a monster!" stuff. It was from reading it without preconceptions and realizing that this was a record of how a religion first came about. It was not God given. It evolved over time and the Gospels in particular show that.
Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.
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Post #18
Yes, it doesn't bother me; having water poured over me seems to have caused no lasting harm.
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Post #19
No, I wasn't. My father is an Agnostic Atheist and my mother... well... she doesn't really care about the whole religion thing.