to baptise or not to baptise, that is the question

LegacyUser

Ok so heres my dilemma.

Basically I'm very unsure as to wether to have our 1st child christened. (child isn't here yet but I'm due soon)

I would be like many Irish 30 year olds, brought up Catholic, in that I went to Catholic schools, made my communion confirmation etc. Basically as it was just the "done thing" I suppose. My father is completely atheist but would always have just gone along with my mother on these things, as he doesn’t believe in God it doesn’t really bother him. My mother would come from a typical Catholic family & while she would consider herself Catholic she is very liberal & open minded & so would be in conflict with a lot of the Catholic church teachings. If we didn’t christen the child it wouldn’t be an issue for them .That’s the background!

Ok so me, I do believe in God, I find great comfort in my faith BUT I am sickened by the Catholic Church & the revelations over the last few years. I also find their teachings on homosexuality, women priests etc very insulting to say the least. My husband is completely atheist but his parents are staunch Catholics. And for this reason (& this reason alone) he wants baby christened.

I think the only reason I would seriously consider giving in is I would worry about getting my child into school when they're older, I know there arent many "Educate Together" schools so places are an issue. Education is obviously a priority.

I'm really at odds with myself here . I would like to make a stand here & not add to the Catholic churches numbers (& therefore power) And I genuinely would fear for my child being alone with a priest in instances such as Confession around First Holy Communion time etc.

But I suppose theres a tiny bit of me too that would worry what if something happened to baby & he/she hadnt been christened. The inlaws will be distraught if we choose not to & husband wont be happy because of this. But I've never been one for doing something I don’t believe in just to keep them happy.

Basically I do have great faith & would like to pass it to my child but don’t want to make them a member of an organisation which is probably the biggest peadophile ring in the world!

Any advise from anyone who maybe has been in this position or feels similarly?

Principles or Good Schools??

taram

You could baptise your child Christian, rather than Catholic?

And if the child is 5 and not able to magically get into school (though by then there'll be even more different religions in schools, even more pressure to get the Catholic church to release its grip on something that's paid by taxpayers), you can baptise them then!

byhookorbycrook

There are a few threads here if you do a search. Many Catholic schools will take children who are not baptised. It only becomes an issue if a school is overcrowded and the school then has to give priority to Catholic children. This might happen in bigger centres of population but is not an issue in smaller areas.

LegacyUser

taram wrote: »

You could baptise your child Christian, rather than Catholic?

And if the child is 5 and not able to magically get into school (though by then there'll be even more different religions in schools, even more pressure to get the Catholic church to release its grip on something that's paid by taxpayers), you can baptise them then!

How do I baptise him/her christian but not Catholic?

Black Dog

It would be very unusual for a school to refuse entry to your child on the basis of him/her being or not being baptised. It would only arise if there was a situation of too many applicant children for the number of places available in the school. If there is no pressure on places then they must accept all children within their catchment area.

I feel that problems are more likely to arise should your child wish to marry in a Catholic church. Without baptism and confirmation this would not be allowed.

Nevyn

should I wrote: »

How do I baptise him/her christian but not Catholic?

The angelican/Church of Ireland baptism is a christian one and the cert states the child is christian and that cert is valid and accepted as a general christian baptist.

Nevyn

Black Dog wrote: »

It would be very unusual for a school to refuse entry to your child on the basis of him/her being or not being baptised. It would only arise if there was a situation of too many applicant children for the number of places available in the school. If there is no pressure on places then they must accept all children within their catchment area.

I feel that problems are more likely to arise should your child wish to marry in a Catholic church. Without baptism and confirmation this would not be allowed.

But you can still get married with out it being in a catholic church.

taram

Thaedydal wrote: »

But you can still get married with out it being in a catholic church.

Or like my uncle's girlfriend, she simply converted when wanting to marry my uncle.

easynote

You do not need to baptise your child, why should you if you don't want to? That is just silly. Have a namegiving ceremony or something like that.
If your husband only wants to do it because he is afraid his parents will disagree otherwise i think it is time for him to grow up a little bit.

Cond0r

taram wrote: »

Or like my uncle's girlfriend, she simply converted when wanting to marry my uncle.

I thought the rule was that one of the people getting married had to be Catholic, and the other had to promise to raise their children Catholic in order to be married in a Catholic church.