OT (a little) - Christening Advice? Anybody NOT and why? POLL

[Frooty]

Im not i will let lo decide when hes old enough whether he wants to or not

 

[Lollieollie]

No - I'm a lapsed catholic, my husband is Protestant so I feel it would be hypocritical. I also hate the tradition in my family (also lapsed)of having babies baptised to then have the massive party afterwards that seems more for the adults. I'm happy to let my son chose himself when he's old enough x

 

[kitkatwidget1]

i was not christened as my parents decided my faith was something for me to choose(or not) when i was older. i am very grateful for this, as debate and discussion on many religions was always encouraged and i have found my own beliefs through the openess of my parents to letting me decide. my parents are protestant and catholic, and i had neither forced upon me.

i did go to a faith school, and both churches at important times(midnight mass for example), but ulitimately never felt pressured to choose unless it was right for me.

we will be doing the same for our little one, i think religion is such a personal choice i want my child to feel it was his.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

kitkat, I think you're spot on about religion being a personal choice. I explored many religions before settling on Paganism when I was in high school

 

[patch2006uk]

Nowhere in the bible is infant christening mentioned. It's a strange tradition, and not one that's actually based on scripture. It's from the idea that we are all born with this 'original sin', that must be cleansed. It's very catholic IMO.

My parents were christened, and then were told they couldn't be baptised as adults as they were 'done' as babies. They didn't get me or my brother christened, as they wanted us to be able to be baptised as adults, if it turned out to be important to us.

My LO won't be christened, as I think it's meaningless as a baby. If he decides to get baptised as an adult, I want him to have the option.

I'm not partic religious, and I appreciate that my parents left it for me to decide.

 

[babycrazy1706]

we are undecided. me and OH follow different religions although neither of us attend church anymore even though we were both raised going to church every sunday.

we will probably not have a christening but our LO will definitely be raised as a christian. Xx

 

[mamaduke]

We are not planning on having LO christened, but we aren't raising him in a religion either. DH and I were raised Catholic, but due to the way we grew up and saw things as adults, we no longer practice or even identify with the religion.

 

[LittleOnes]

We will be getting our son christened sometime in June. I am Catholic, DH is Jewish though not practicing, and it is important to me that baby be baptized in the Church and be raised in the Church as I have been. Personally I feel that it is important for a child to have some structure spiritually, which in our case is organized religion. Yes it has its problems, and I do struggle wih certain Catholic tenets, but it the end its important to me. DH doesnt much care - if he wanted our kids raised Jewish it'd be up to him to take them to services and arrange the ceremonies etc.

 

[MummybearD]

We won't be christening but Dedicating. Which will be saying we are putting our lo in the hands of God and asking God to guide us in raising the lo. Baptism is about repentance and accepting Jesus Christ
Lo can not do that until old enough to understand and choose.

 

[kitkatwidget1]

kitkat, I think you're spot on about religion being a personal choice. I explored many religions before settling on Paganism when I was in high school

i see the struggles some of my friends have had in various ways with their different faiths and i do feel very grateful that my beliefs i chose, not forced or impressed upon me.

i spent a few years exploring paganism, and it 'fitted' me very well.
i found it a very encompassing religion and i loved the openess of it.

am i still discovering /perfecting(depending on your viewpoint) what exactly i believe and dont, but in essense i guess i believe religions are simply different ways of people believing in what is essentially the same 'higher' order.

 

[qpaulina42]

I'm an atheist so no.

 

[Starry Night]

We won't be christening but Dedicating. Which will be saying we are putting our lo in the hands of God and asking God to guide us in raising the lo. Baptism is about repentance and accepting Jesus Christ
Lo can not do that until old enough to understand and choose.

We dedicated our son when he was 3 months old. It was a very special day for us. DH is a pastor so it really isn't much of a surprise that we will be teaching our Christian beliefs and values to our child(ren) but ultimately it is up to him/them to decide.

 

[little_lady]

I haven't. OH and I are religious but we would rather leave it up to isabelle to decide when she's older. I think Christening is a social thing anyway, some churches believe it means salvation for the baby but I don't believe that.

 

[Gbobs]

Religion isn't a part of either myself or hubby's life so we always said we wouldn't get LO christened as like others have said we feel hypocritical and I really wouldn't want to sit there in front of a vicar pretending.

Both of us were christened into C of E faith when we were babies but I think that it was more because it was just one of those things you did then, regardless of how religious you were as none of our parents were particularly religious.

However I've voted undecided as our local primary school is a C of E school and the other schools are a bit of a further distance away. It did make me think about whether it's worth LO getting christened so he has a better chance of getting into that school but then I feel like even more of a hypocrite doing that

Like others, I'm happy for LO to learn about religion and decide for himself.

 

[mamawannabee]

We are absolutely positively not doing it. I have nothing wrong with people who do, and know it is a totally normal thing, but as a non religious person I cannot bring myself to do it. OH is Catholic and his mother talked about it a few times when I was pregnant so I was afraid they would pressure me into it, and make it a fight, but luckily no one has said anything. I have been to a few for friends babies and I can't sit there and have someone promise to ensure my baby is raised in the church and with God's presence, ect when I know she won't be. It just makes me feel very uncomfortable. If LO chooses to be religious, I will guide her to the best of my abilities to make the right choices for herself, and let her figure it out on her own. But I do not want to push it on her.

 

[sunshineray7]

No we are not getting our lo christened. Ds1 is not either. My husband and I are not religious so we feel it would be hypocritical to do it. If our children decide they want it when they're older then we won't stop them. However, my parents would prefer us to do it.

 

[hayz_baby]

Neither me or oh r christians and therefore will not b christening lo mainly coz it is hypocritical and we will not b raising lo in a christian environment it doesnt seem right. Also wud like lo to choose his own faith if any.
Bil had his youngest christened with his partner (eldest two r not hers) but r not raising lo in as a christian so seems wrong to us. The christening caused alot of tension in the family (other reasons centered round the christening not because lo was christened) so it still jus doeant feel right to us

 

[SabrinaKat]

Many thanks for all of your very interesting replies -- as I said (page 2), I really like the idea of a dedication ceremony rather than a baptism. I was baptised but again, it was back in the 1960s, so the norm. I was confirmed CofE as an adult and have felt the intellectual aspect/debate was really rewarding (at university) --

will see what my OH says....anyone who did the dedication service, was it a particular church (e.g. would a Catholic or Church of Ireland priest/minister be willing?) or humanist approach?

Incidentially, we're not doing it for the big party (it will be just close family and a few friends)! But, my entire American family (parents and brother) are coming over to meet LO in end of July, so it seems convenient since LO will be about six months old and if we were going to have LO christened, then it would make sense to do it with all the grandparents there........

thanks, again....!

best wishes

 

[Elphaba12]

We are both catholic and while we both believe in god we don't actively practice our faith by going to mass etc so it doesn't sit right with me to have her christened right now. I havent ruled it out though. And apart from a few surprise remarks after she was born none of our families have had a problem with it which was a great relief as I was dreading there being any drama over our decision.

 

[patch2006uk]

Many thanks for all of your very interesting replies -- as I said (page 2), I really like the idea of a dedication ceremony rather than a baptism. I was baptised but again, it was back in the 1960s, so the norm. I was confirmed CofE as an adult and have felt the intellectual aspect/debate was really rewarding (at university) --

will see what my OH says....anyone who did the dedication service, was it a particular church (e.g. would a Catholic or Church of Ireland priest/minister be willing?) or humanist approach?

Incidentially, we're not doing it for the big party (it will be just close family and a few friends)! But, my entire American family (parents and brother) are coming over to meet LO in end of July, so it seems convenient since LO will be about six months old and if we were going to have LO christened, then it would make sense to do it with all the grandparents there........

thanks, again....!

best wishes

Baptist churches will only do dedications. I do think that's a good compromise. I'm sure other churches would do them too, but I'd be a little worried about pressure to 'upgrade' to a 'proper' christening.

Like I said, christening is totally made up. It's not in the bible, or anything. Jesus says 'Let the children come to me' and we've taken it to mean 'children need to be bathed in holy water or they'll go to hell/limbo'. I don't understand it, really.