Should babies be baptised, without their consent ?

reply to post by Becoming

Everyone is born into sin. Supposedly in the eyes of the God there isn't a "major" sin as you put it. A sin is a sin and if you die in sin then you go to hell.

If you don't know the difference between major and minor sin let me explain it to you, if you committed adultery then that is major sin, verses yelling nasty unkind remarks at your spouse, which is minor sin.

When you read the bible it is true that all major sin is equal in God's eyes, for example murder and adultery are an equal evil in God's eyes, under the Mosaic law you died for both. Verses stealing where you only had to make compensation to the victim, the price a person had to pay with major and minor sin was different. Although we are not under the Mosaic Law we can learn a lot about the way God views certain sins.

And if you think people are going to Hell for minor sins, nobody is going to make it. But the whole Hell discussion is for another thread.

It is true however that if a person is accepts Jesus sacrifice as means to cover both minor & major sins they have a better chance of salvation, but really they can only do that as an informed person capable of making those choices, not a baby that is clueless about life and spirituality, thus there baptism ultimately has no value to God and it certainly doesn't "save them".

reply to post by Rock Ape


okay so heres my take on all this. If its true that all babies are born into this world free from sin already and dont have to worry about in my opinion that they will go to hell afterwards.This is pretty sad. I am not of any faith but i do believe in a God and i think that if he/she wanted to establish a faith than they will. When they start thinking for themselves its up to the parent in the way of what or how old they think theyre child is thinking for themselves.

reply to post by Blue_Jay33


I'm not religous and do not buy into the things about sin.

But I do know that the bible doesn't say that there are little sins and big sins. But if your religion tells you that there is then by all means I don't wish to try and discredit what your faith tells you.

reply to post by achaiah86


It would be sad. Good thing it's not true.

Originally posted by Truth_Hz
reply to post by GeisterFahrer

 

No actually it has nothing to do with my beliefs. Your art of one line or one word inflammatory comments brings me to the assumption that you are trolling. Unless you can bring something of substance to the table don't bother.

And yes my child will have an unbiased education when it comes to religion, as I have stated in my previous post although I am atheist I have no issue with what my child wishes to "believe" be it christian, buddhist, muslim whatever but as once again I stated he will first be educated in their beliefs and belief systems and allowed to make his own mind up.

edit on 20-10-2010 by Truth_Hz because: spelling

I already did but my comments were removed due to "biased" opinions regarding "how much control" one should have over another human being.

You chose to get offended because you find religion offensive, therefore, your bias will cause you to refrain from exposing your children to religion. You spoke so fondly of your SIL's children being "forced" to attend Sunday School.

You would never do that to your kids ... right?



as for the abortion comment - my point is this - In your opinion, children are too young to be making religous decisions but its ok to kill them if they aren't born yet?

the abortion/religious debate go hand in hand.

I find it ironic that those who find religion so offensive seem to be ok with killing the unborn.

reply to post by Rock Ape


why not? if you decide later you don't believe, then what harm was done? religion might be silly but its not poison.

not personally affected by it either way but think both of these take the question a little deeper

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband; otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.-1Corinthians7.14

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire-Matthew3.11

Originally posted by calstorm
Its not my belief to do so, but really what harm could come of it. You give your baby a bath.

Baby Downed during Baptism
There you have it! No harm indeed!

Of course they shouldn't be baptized! There's absolutely no point in it. "Baptism" is simply the forced labeling of a child into a system of beliefs that the child simply has no way of comprehending fully.

I was baptized as a child, I regularly pass by the church of my baptism, and it did do me a world of harm. Being brought up religious made it incredibly agonizing to realize I didn't believe in any deities. I felt like I was a bad person for even considering it. I thought if I said "I don't think god exists" out loud the world would collapse around me. A process that should have simply been about education and choice became about shedding something that had been drilled into me from birth.

And my parents were far from fundamentalists. They were slightly more liberal Catholics in regard to religion. In fact my father soon followed me into atheism and my mother lapsed.

Babies baptised at the behest of their parents simply make the parents feel better. It doesn't do anything else. It's just "water on the head again." To an adult it might mean something if he or she sees it as a symbol of change. Even John the Baptist said so.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


I was not baptised as a baby and now I am not a member of a church but do believe in God. I am now 48 years old, you can not find anyone to baptise you later on in life if you are not a member of a church. I wish my mother would have just done it already when I was a baby.

Kids don't realize that they're being baptised........ They're toooooo young to know! But if they should awake from this state of bliss in later jife... then I'm sure they won't particularly give a toss

This should be shown to them when old enough to read

I never baptized my child and she is no worse off for it.

I don't belong to any one denomination but have a very strong belief in God. To me there wasn't a point to picking a church just to get it done. We talk about God and Jesus and religion often and when she is old enough, she can decide for herself whether belonging to a church is for her. She believes in God so I don't see the rush to have her baptized.

I am sure God is ok with it.

reply to post by Rock Ape

I was Baptised at 6 months.. no one asked me or even thougth about my feelings on the matter. Later my parents told me, I was baptised so they could get me into a very good local church school. which required you to be a baptised christian. So can't blame them for that really, just looking out for my best interests. I personally no longer believe god is here with us, he's moved on to better things.

Well, if you no longer believe in God, then as far as you're concerned, it was a big nothing, so I don't see the problem.

No, but what difference does it make either way. Do they end up remembering about it years later? I didn't but I saw pictures so I know it happened.

My response is it doesn't matter what I believe, because it's none of my business.
This is a matter up to the parents, their beliefs, and how they plan to raise their child.

I was totally going to be the antichrist, but nooooooo, my grandparents wanted me baptized... In all seriousness, I was baptized, that I don't mind. Now circumcision, that is another story. Some doctor mutilated my penis without my consent, now that # is just wrong.

reply to post by Rock Ape


No, baptism is for conscious individuals who are making a dedication. Jesus wasn't a baby when baptized. And when John was baptizing the Bible doesn't speak of babies being baptized.

I feel it is something that makes the parents feel better. I was brought up Lutheran and was baptised at 16....really late. In the Baptist Church it is when a child can take Christ into their own heart. My husband is Baptist and in order for me to join that church I had to submit to a full immersion baptism; no matter that I was already baptised in the Lutheran church. I consider myself double-dipped... No matter, it's just a ritual people partake in for their personal reasons.