Were you Christened? - I wasn't

Reasteh said:
i've been christened, never thought anything of it, and yes i would probably have my children christened.
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If you don't mind me asking, why would you bother Christening your children if you aren't that fussed about being Christened yourself?

Are your family religious?

Myself I'm not, I've never had a real reason to turn to a God in my life; and as such have never been Christened.

I do have to agree with p4radox though, I'm not overly fond of forcing a child who cannot possibly comprehend the ideas of religion to be a Christian.

If somebody makes a concious decision to become religious in their life, and to join a religion that they choose themselves (for whatever reason) then that's fair enough - and I believe they are free to do whatever they want then.

The idea of forcing a child to be Christian/Jewish (etc) simply because the family believe that their religion is correct is absurd.
 
div0 said:
Really?

Not sure what the actual numbers would be. But I'm surprised that you felt like the odd one out for not being Christened, I'd have suspected it was the opposite and that most people are like you and aren't Christened.
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I think it died out quite a bit in the 80's but I'm a child of the 70's when it was still the done thing.
 
I'm Christened and agnostic, consider it a lame 'get away free' card while I don't have to do any of my supposed religious duties :p

Christianity has to be the easiest religion to participate in, you basically just have to be a good person in general. There's nothing to actually stipulate you must attend mass and ceremonies and such. Obviously you get the nutcases, but they're exactly that, nutcases. :p
 
colinuk said:
I think people use the fact that you need to be christend to get into heaven as Jesus himself went out of his way to be christen by JtB. So if he thought it was important, then surely people who follow his faith also need it?
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Jesus was baptised by JtB, and he was at an age where he could easily decide for himself whether it was appropriate or not.
 
Moses99p said:
It's not as though baptism is the only time people are forced into it, does any religion give members a free choice? Any kids in particular?
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Yes most give them a free choice. It's only catholics that christen. Pretty much the rest of the Christianity only have baptisms this is done when the child/adult chooses to and understands what there are doing. The parents instead of a christening can take a vow to teach there kids the religion. But they don't have to. I wish people would get it out of there heads t hat religion is forced on people.

colinuk said:
I think people use the fact that you need to be christend to get into heaven as Jesus himself went out of his way to be christen by JtB. So if he thought it was important, then surely people who follow his faith also need it?
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TJesus was baptised not christened, christenings is a stupid catholic cultural thing. The church of England even turned around last year and said they got it wrong and said if a child died and wasn't christened then they would still go to heaven.

This is one reason I hate mass organised religion. Far to much cultral clap trap in it.
 
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yep i was christened, grandmother had/has a strong religious pull over our family. i dont think its bad and it is only the first step to becoming a christian so its not a big thing, unlike confirmation, which as the name suggests kind of seals you in. but you have a choice about that so if you dont want to do it (like me) you simply dont do it and go on your way.

im agnostic i suppose, but its only through hope, not any sort of logical thought.


~edit~
? you have a choice as a christian. whether to confirm or not. if you dont you are not a full member of the church. baptism is simply a beginning step.
 
I must say I found it pretty weird at my sisters wedding a few years ago, with singing hymns and praying.

I felt a bit odd probably the only one in the church not signing (although I did stand up), and I respectfully bowed my head when it came to praying and just chose that time to be grateful for what my sister had found and hoping her all the best in the future... whilst everyone else was thanking the Lord or saying the Lord's Prayer.

That said I know that if/when my partner and I get married we'll go the whole nine yards and get it done in Church under the eyes of her God (her family is pretty religious, and she's a Christian), although for me... well I'm not sure what I'll feel towards it, it'll be mainly just for the piece of paper that comes with it and knowing it'll make her happy having a traditional white wedding.
 
I think i would baptise my children, as i was when i was a child, although not sure why.. sounds odd, but i think its a way of saying to the child, if you want to be christian, then the 1st step has been done, carry on, if not, no harm done, follow what ever faith you have chosen.

Just be nice to people :)

ColiN better baptised than the jewish way i guess.
 
nikebee said:
If you don't mind me asking, why would you bother Christening your children if you aren't that fussed about being Christened yourself?

Are your family religious?

Myself I'm not, I've never had a real reason to turn to a God in my life.

I do have to agree with p4radox though, I'm not overly fond of forcing a child who cannot possibly comprehend the ideas of religion to be a Christian.

If somebody makes a concious decision to become religious in their life, and to join a religion that they choose themselves (for whatever reason) then that's fair enough - and I believe they are free to do whatever the want then.

The idea of forcing a child to be Christian/Jewish (etc) simply because the family believe that their religion is correct is absurd.
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My friend is going to Christen his child even though he and his wife are not church goers at all. I had a go at them for getting married in a church when they had no intention of going again after the wedding and chose it as the cheapest option. This was pure hypocrisy in my eyes.
Their reason for the Christening is because they want the child to feel as if it "belongs" to something. I explained that he belonged to their family and most else outside that was irrelevant if not practiced.

I do however disagree with your final statement. I believe it is better to have a Baptism if you are born into a family of practicing Christians. The child would be left out of a regular part of family life, which is not constructive to their upbringing. Furthermore, depending on what you want in terms of education, there are restrictions based on religion and access to specific schools. The fact is, if they are unhappy with the religion that their family practices, they can always change later in life.
 
nikebee said:
If you don't mind me asking, why would you bother Christening your children if you aren't that fussed about being Christened yourself?

Are your family religious?

Myself I'm not, I've never had a real reason to turn to a God in my life; and as such have never been Christened.

I do have to agree with p4radox though, I'm not overly fond of forcing a child who cannot possibly comprehend the ideas of religion to be a Christian.

If somebody makes a concious decision to become religious in their life, and to join a religion that they choose themselves (for whatever reason) then that's fair enough - and I believe they are free to do whatever they want then.

The idea of forcing a child to be Christian/Jewish (etc) simply because the family believe that their religion is correct is absurd.
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I duno why its just something everyone in my family does, i think its more about the celebration of birth and having a party after etc. Im not a christian and i dont believe in god.
 
SpeedFreak said:
My friend is going to Christen his child even though he and his wife are not church goers at all. I had a go at them for getting married in a church when they had no intention of going again after the wedding and chose it as the cheapest option. This was pure hypocrisy in my eyes.
Their reason for the Christening is because they want the child to feel as if it "belongs" to something. I explained that he belonged to their family and most else outside that was irrelevant if not practiced.
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You had a go at them? why? :/ Shouldnt you just respect their wishes?
 
Moses99p said:
It really is though, I had this same debate with a friend t'other day in college, she went went into a proper mood when I was fairly blunt with my views then. I'm not saying religion is a bad thing, it's just a point of fact that the kids brought up being taught stuff like that can never make an absolutely free choice. There is an illusion of free choice but if you have to decide between believing and not believing when you've been taught something for ~15 years what are you gonna choose?
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I chose not to believe. My mum taught me religion and taught me that it was her religion and I had to make up my own mind, my dad and school taught me science. If done properly it certainly is a free choice. If it's forced it is not religion.
 
Spitfir3 said:
You had a go at them? why? :/ Shouldnt you just respect their wishes?
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They used the church as it was the cheapest option, they went to the meetings with the vicar, discussed their relationship and intent to marry in church under the eyes of God, yet neither believed in God or the church. I think they left themselves pretty open for it.
 
Moses99p said:
Oh yeah, for sure for the bit in bold. If a child is shown the facts they soon see religion is crazy. ;):D
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even with a balanced view some will stay with religion. there are many scientists who have turned to religion latter than life. You can't say they have not got a balanced view.

Moses99p said:
The problem comes where a family has two religious parents, how much balance is presented there?
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That depends on
a) the denomination
and
B) the parents.

But even with two parents it can and should be a two sided debate.
 
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