To Baptise Or Not To Baptise

originally posted by: EveStreet
a reply to: seabhac-rua

I was never baptised...and my dear mum always lamented the fact that I hadn't been early on. She has since passed and some days I feel like I should just for her...to put her soul at rest. BUT my mind goes to every good person on this earth of other religions who don't get baptised. I can't accept the idea that those folks won't get to heaven simply because they believe something else. If you're good and kind...then in a fair world you should go to heaven or whatever good place comes next. I simply cannot believe in a petty god who kicks you out even though you are a good and kind person.

I have said it elsewhere in this thread but, may I suggest, that to keep Mum's spirit happy, that you consider Baptizing yourself. Then, Mum's spirit is happy, which makes you happy and solves a regret you have, and you will go to heaven. It is only a way to acknowledge your belief.

If you do it, you will have more faith in the context.

P

I'm not a practizing Christian, but have been baptized in church (parents were members) and happy about it. Why? Because I see a ritual like that as an opening of the crown chakra, our link to spirituality and higher awareness in general. I'm not very aware of rituals like this in other religions but I see it as something positive and totally not necessarily connected to a religion. You could 'baptize' your child yourself with a ritual without any religious thought behind it, just to open him/her up to find his/her own link to a life with a 'higher' meaning, with a chance of some spiritual focal point in life. Will he/she not have it without it? Sure not, but if you deem it as a helpful thing (as I do) you might do it. It'll do no harm, but just don't oppose any religious thought/system on the child, so he has all chance of finding something fitting for himself. And if you don't he'll turn out fine anyway. Let all others in your community think what they want, from their (bit rigid imho) belief system. It's your life.

a reply to: seabhac-rua

Your point of view is shared by millions and millions.

I baptized twice. Once at age 12 on Mother's Day and then my 2nd son was born on Mother's Day when I was 21. I thought that was interesting poetry and quite pretty. I baptized again a few years ago in a different church. The day I baptized the lottery numbers came up my oldest son's birthday. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and they believe that baptism only comes with accountability. That means you don't need to baptize before the age of eight because babies are sinless. The law generally supports the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The reason I say this is because if you and your girlfriend have to go to family court regarding custody, you can use a spiritual pursuit as a means to gain the upper hand. If you agreed (such as through a baptism) to raise your child through a certain faith you could use that belief to gain custody of your child. I agree. It's better not to baptize babies because at the age of eight, your child should have some idea of God and a sense of self enough to form personal beliefs. Around age eight would be when your child with your girlfriend (not married, right?) would also be able to have an opinion about which parent he should reside with.

Here's the ugly about baptism if that's not enough to make you cringe a little:

My oldest son never baptized and I didn't baptize him as an infant at his father's request. I was fine with his atheistic view of the world. HOWEVER, I was pregnant with my son at 15 which is rape by law in the state of Michigan. It was never prosecuted. Instead, the state paid me to tell my story to other teens in a way that it wasn't rape, it was my accountability (once again, a very Mormon perception). I didn't even know it was rape. I'm a little bummed because I did investigate adoption and that probably would have been the selling point to make me do it and have a much better life for my son today. Not that I'm a bad mother. I was just young raising him. My son's grandfather was a college student who married a fourteen year old girl when he got her pregnant to evade legal consequences. That was rape that was never prosecuted. My 1st husband admitted to child pornography to law enforcement and it was never prosecuted (I still have the police report. Sorry, Michigan). So when I baptized a few years ago into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I wanted both my children to attend. It was a very big deal to me. My oldest son was on probation at the time and he was not allowed to attend by his probation officer. I cried and screamed at her. I'm not proud of that today, but I was really hurt. All I wanted to know was that I might have eternity with my son that was in dire trouble and struggling with the state. I wanted him to know that I loved God and how I express that in an appropriate way. That evening the lottery numbers came up my son's birthday. I even watched them draw the balls, which I never do. I do not play. The numbers pulled were 9911. He was born on 9/11. I think that I have eternity with my son who struggled right along side me for many years as I was being punished by the state. I think that my Mother's Day baby is a good sign from God that he knows that when I chose to baptize at the age of twelve on Mother's Day that was my I Love You to Him and He said I Love You right back. I DO believe the lottery numbers are fixed. I DO believe the State of Michigan is in the wrong and that someone saw what happened to me. I DO believe that God IS and that He is with me 100% and one day I will be in Heaven. Baptizing is an I Love You to God. I DON'T believe my son is akin to a terrorist. I believe we have been subject to terrorist type attacks, my little family. I DO believe the United States is capable of oppression and abuse as evidenced by the minimum wage pay I received for speaking publicly about my rape when I should have been sitting in my own classroom receiving my own education. Or as evidenced by the lack of prosecution in the case of my 1st husband for child pornography. My youngest son was baptized in the Reformed Church as an infant and his father, the one who has addictions to child pornography tried to take my rights away by saying he belonged in that church because that's where we baptized him. People will use baptisms to abuse you in your faith but a person with faith should always be true to GOD. That's me.