baptising an atheist's child?

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I've only just come across this thread and the deed has been done. I'm a Protestant and in my opinion your friend should have stood up to his wife's family and refused to have the child baptised, but too late now.

A question for him to consider though. Why did they wait until the child was a toddler? Why now? In Scotland, Catholics usually have children baptised when they are days or weeks old. Unless it is the usual practice in your part of the world to wait until later, I would be wondering whether there was some ulterior motive here, apart from the actual baptism.

Could it be that his wife's family want the child to be educated in a Roman Catholic school, for which a certificate of baptism is required for enrolment?

Having let them have their way this time, he may find that they will assume that he will let them have their way in other matters too.

i agree. i have encouraged him to discuss this with the clergy at the church.

keet, i think we could alleviate your concerns by making a rule (a regulation, if you will) that says public schools should be free from anyone making religious claims.

in a publicly funded school, no one should say "your religion is wrong." such a school should approach religion with an air of respect for all religions by not approaching religion. what would you call a school that lacked theism? ...what's the word for that?..... maybe if we could just attach a prefix that means "without..."


i don't know of any public schools that teach atheism. my experiences in the california public school system were slightly less ridiculous than my much smaller experience in the north carolina public school system. a geography teacher had me paddled and suspended for "lying" because i said i was born in hollywood. i was born in the kaiser hospital on sunset. this [b]geography[/i] teacher said i was lying because there isn't a hospital on that island and even if there was i wouldn't have been born there unless my parents were movie stars. this is so ridiculous i stopped telling the story in high school (back in california) because no one would believe me unless they talked to my family who would confirm it. the only teacher at that school that didn't go to the "non-denominational" (read as: pentecostal) church my family attended, at the time, was a catholic and none of my teachers had a problem making fun of her "sinful ways."

"crazy liberal california" wasn't much more secular. the closest i had to an atheist teacher was a geometry teacher who admitted to being an atheist but refused to discuss atheism or religion beyond stating pascal's wager and imploring me to make up my own mind. i've been kicked out of every history class i've taken since 7th grade when i stopped being a christian. so when the staff of my school in north carolina was not only enitrely made up of religious adherents, but all christian, i'm not surprised because of my preconceived notions of the american southeast. when the california schools i went to seemed pretty much the same.......... my preconceived notions came up short.

is it anti-christian and pro-islam to teach that the crusades were invasions? is it anti-islam and pro-christian to discuss the moorish invasions? what school did you go to in america that was pro-islam?


maybe i'm too old to know how things are in school now? it hasn't even been 7 years! where are these anti-christian schools? where are these atheist teachers? i'd really like to know, so i can send my kids there.

He got played. Like I said: they're the ones who did it without giving him any notice of it. They knew what they were doing by essentially putting him in a position where he could only cancel with less than a week's notice; thereby making him look like the a**hole.

i think they acted on faith. i don't think they did it to offend him. i don't think they understand how offended he was. i doubt they would have gone through with it if they did.

i love america and the americans who live here. we can't let go of how offended we are that a few muslims who were also terrorists broke our sh** and we nominate potential senators who don't realize that the separation of church and state is part of the constitution. we think that any school that refuses to indoctrinate children with our specific dogma is "atheist" or "pro-muslim, anti-christian."


is it any wonder that we're so apathetic?

is it shocking that some of us are so vocal in our atheism?

catholic priests preach sexual modesty.
islamic imams preach peaceful coexistence.
"climate-gate" <-people think this is an actual scandal.
the word "truth," when used in the same sentence as a 9/11 reference means "some crazy sh** i thought up (read as: saw someone else say on youtube)."
godhatesfags.com
gay marriage somehow encroaches on notgay marriage?
gay soldiers. well, knowing about them being gay. oh wait, most of us are ok with that? well, i'm sure that crazy liberal socialist congress of ours will protect us good fagfearing americans. oh they did? again? hurray!
paying less taxes under obama than we did under reagan?! SOCIALISM!! !
shipped too many jobs overseas? blame mexicans!
work for a black man? must be affirmative action!
pro-life? you support rapebabies!
"anchor babies" that can score greencards for their parents?!?!? after only 18 years?!?!?!?!? ohnoes!
/rant

*sigh*

i like discussing religion on the internet with people i don't know.

on the internet, when someone says something ridiculous, i can point out how ridiculous it is. i can also refrain from showing them how funny i find it that they believe this. among friends, i have few qualms discussing religion. family is different. especially extended family that i don't see often but will be part of my family for decades to come.

thanks to everyone who responded to this thread. well... thanks to everyone who responded to this thread with something other than "it's up to the kid." as the kid is working more on toddlery than theo(read as: il)logical (ir)rationality.

i think visagrunt said it best but i think skafather pegged the father's feelings on the matter.

i think this whole affair is going to make me more active again in my anti-theism.

in the end it doesn't really matter if they sprinkle water over him. its kind of silly though.

Would anyone be opposed to sending a Christian's child to an Atheist school?

Actually it matters a lot. Now that the child is baptized, complete with a set of godparents, it is their religious duty to ensure he receives a "proper" Christian upbringing. Especially in the Catholic Church, the symbolism of the baptism is significant. This is a foot in the door, and obviously they don't respect the "sinful" atheist's father.

There is no such thing...

secular != atheist.

Oh it may matter for a couple of guys that have no saying whatsoever on the kid's life. Big deal.

Even if they did. The chances of they actually caring enough are minimum considering they are Catholic and all.

But overall, the water itself is not going to affect his life, at all. It is just someone else's made up symbolism.