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christenings.
BillieTheBot
Posts: 8,721 Bot
What is your view on christenings for babies when the family arent christian or religious in any way?
I dont see the point myself, I think it must be a very special ceremony if its something you truly believe in, initiating your new baby into your faith, but whats the point if you dont believe in the first place? If you want a party for the baby, then thats great. I dont see why it has to be made into a religious ceremony.
Most actual christians I know dont even do baptisms for babies, preferring to wait until adulthood when the person can make that choice for themselves, rather than have the choice made for them when they are too young to have a say.
please debate.
I dont see the point myself, I think it must be a very special ceremony if its something you truly believe in, initiating your new baby into your faith, but whats the point if you dont believe in the first place? If you want a party for the baby, then thats great. I dont see why it has to be made into a religious ceremony.
Most actual christians I know dont even do baptisms for babies, preferring to wait until adulthood when the person can make that choice for themselves, rather than have the choice made for them when they are too young to have a say.
please debate.
Beep boop. I'm a bot.
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it just seems silly, if you're going to christen your kid, you might as well take them to church as my understanding of it is that you agree to bring the child up in accordance to the bible and god.
On another angle, though equally ridiculous. My friend who is christian, was christened as a child but her god parents couldn't be more atheistic or anti-christian if they tried, what's the point in that?
When you are christened it's a commitment, your parents promise to bring you up as a christian, and your godparents promise to help. It seems absurd, but it's not like you can really blame the child is it? For a change it really is the parents fault.
It does seem a little daft that people christen their children when they don't believe that they'll go to hell should they die anyway.
Well quite. Personally baptism as an adult seems the sensible option. Seeing as that is what christ did, and chrisitians are supposed to emulate.
Surely just celebrating the birth would cover that?
seriously on point, i was christened, no idea why, i think it was just to placate the grandparents more than anything else, theyre far more religious than our generation, mine are, coming from the west indies.
like i said no idea why, i could count on my hand the number of times ive actually been to church. been left to my own devices and i dont believe in god anyway, so i wont be christening my little 'uns.
does a lack of faith contribute to the unruliness of kids these days? now there's a question.
one of my favourite quotes comes from a group of old men in Russia, after the collapse of the soviet they coment on why things went so bad for Russia the the USSR
Maybe a lack of faith and accountability is what's wrong with the youth of today. Give me til this evening and I'll get you some interesting stats.
There are non-religious naming ceremonies you can have for babies which dont have the religious element and arent so hypocritical and downright disrespectful to the christians for whom the pledges actually mean something.
I fully concure
I'm off to make a new thread on breakdown in society. Aladdin will love it.
Is it necessary to christen your child to bring them up religiously? And what's the point in non religous people promising their child into a faith?
Well that makes a nice change...
oh wait, that's not true!
At a christening of a young baby, the parents promise to bring the child up to be a christian and to uphold the christian faith - the godparents promise under God to be the childs spiritual guardians and to encourage them and help in the childs religious education.
If the parents dont actually believe in God or arent Christian themselves, then what on earth is the point of having the ceremony? It makes a mockery of it for the people that DO believe in it.
I had written things in greater detail earlier. And if you want things to be explained further, ask, don't just say you don't understand, otherwise you get the piss taken
I apologise. It was a very lukesh thing to do though.
As for myself, I was christened as a baby, probably because that's the custom. Many people just take it for granted that the baby will be christened, simply because that's what everyone does. I don't consider it important though.
There are Pagan christening style ceremonies/blessings that I'd get for my children if I ever have 'em.
I'm not religious and we wont be having our baby christened, although I will have a party and select God Parents.
They won't be god parents though. The whole point in a god parent is that they will bring up the child to believe in GOD.
Exactly. Perhaps choosing guardians for your child would be a better term?
indeed
Is that because families don't go to church regularly anymore, or because there aren't sunday schools anymore, or because children can't be trusted to leave the sight of parents/guardians?
having said that, if a family wants to make a statement about how they will bring their child up, good, but as bumblebee said
i couldn’t agree more
this is the reason everyone in my family was christened. they weren't choosing a faith for us at birth. it was just that, in their religion, should an unbaptised person die before choosing the faith as an adult, they believed we would go straight to hell.
my family are catholic, some more devout than others. i have been christened and confirmed, but don't practice. however, i will be married in a church, will have my children christened, and will have my funeral in a church. out of respect for the elders of my family as much as for my own wishes. but that doesn't make it wrong.
That's a good argument, but surely to those that it means nothing should try to avoid offending those it matters to simply out of respect?
Worthiness is not in question here I think.
It's more the intention of the parents, no child should be judged by the decision of their parents when they're only a few months or a year old.
The offence comes from parents christening their children with no intention of adhering to the promises made. Thereby suggesting that this service means nothing to anyone and isn't worth respecting enough to tell the truth.