Nietzsche Is Dead: Debaptism an insult, not defense of religious rights

For many Christians, baptism is one of the most sacred ceremonies in which a person can participate.

Baptism is a symbol of a person’s acceptance of the faith, a way of publicly affirming their beliefs. 

But for some, it’s a mark of shame — a mark they want to erase from history.

England’s National Secular Society is doing everything in its power to help its formerly faithful members do just that.

Atheist John Hunt is a pioneer in an emerging movement toward “debaptism” — a formal rejection of the creeds of baptism.

Hunt, a member of the NSS, has petitioned the local clergy of the Church of England to officially remove his name from their baptismal records.

Apparently Hunt, who broke his faith as a teenager, wants to remove any trace of affiliation he might have with an organization preaching what he now believes to be superstition.

The Church has so far refused to comply. 

“You can’t remove from the record something that actually happened,” the Right Reverend Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon said, according to the BBC. “Whether we agree whether it should have happened or not is a different matter.”

In Baines’ view, whatever his current beliefs about God are, Hunt can’t pretend his baptism never happened.

Hunt’s petition is a part of the NSS’s attempt at convincing the Church of England to develop an official procedure for annulling baptisms. So far, such a procedure has not been devised.

In response to the Church’s hesitance, the NSS has begun issuing documents called “Certificates of Debaptism.”

The documents are deliberately constructed as satire of Church ceremonies, and the ceremonies intentionally look homemade and use faux ceremonial language.

Hunt’s certificate reads, “I, John Geoffrey Hunt, having been subjected to the rite of Christian baptism in infancy ... hereby publicly revoke any implications of that rite. I reject all its creeds and other such superstitions in particular the perfidious belief that any baby needs to be cleansed of original sin.”

The certificate is largely a tongue-in-cheek jab at the formalities of the Church — in fact, the Society’s president Terry Sanderson suggested that it be displayed in the bathroom.
The document is available online, and has been downloaded more than 60,000 times, according to Sanderson.

The Society’s movement to annul baptisms seems juvenile. 

The Church’s argument is sound — whether Hunt likes it or not, he was baptized, even if he was too young to understand. The church records are historical documents, so the names should not be removed.

A baptism does not denote membership in the Church. It’s a profession of belief, and, as Hunt is well aware, beliefs can and do change throughout a person’s life. By maintaining records of his baptism, the Church is certainly not claiming any affiliation or power over him.

Besides, if the NSS really thinks Christian beliefs are so absurd and false, there’s no reason for them to attach any significance to the ceremonies those beliefs entail. 

But, on the other hand, baptism is a sacred, important ritual to those who have kept the faith — atheists have no reason to care about baptisms as Christians do.

The “debaptism” effort represents a certain breed of militant, confrontational atheism more concerned with vehemently disassociating themselves from Christianity than maintaining actual religious freedom.

If Hunt wants to distance himself from his former religious affiliations, that right is certainly his. But digging into the obscure archives of a church in an effort to remove all traces of his past only serves to insult the faith in which he was raised.

Matthew Albright is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Baton Rouge.


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Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@lsureveille.com

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7 comments

Annoyed

Mon Feb 8 2010 13:04

A ritual form of child abuse? Really?
"Debaptism"? Really?

People need to grow up.
Someone dripped some water on your head when you were a baby, get over it! You can't control everything. And THANK GOD you can't.
You can't undo anything ever. Once it has happened, it's happened. You may get a piece of paper saying it didn't but guess what IT STILL DID!

If you get a divorce (or even an annulment) you have still been married! You can't undo it. There are no time-machines.

You've been baptized, get over it, stop thinking about it. But always know, you can never get rid of it. As long as you are alive there will always be someone who can remember it and that means it has happened.

really?

Thu Apr 2 2009 16:20

blah blah blah...

As long as parents and religious organizations wish to impose their mythology on their children without consent - whether it be baptism or circumcision - we have the right to point out their absurdity.

kenneth

Wed Apr 1 2009 19:10

It really just boils down to a person's right to control the use of his or her own name and what they endorse, or do not. Would Christians like it if they found out that they were being counted as members by an atheist organization or Planned Parenthood and that the misappropriation of their name was being used to extend that group's influence in society?

Brian Westley

Wed Apr 1 2009 09:58

"whether Hunt likes it or not, he was baptized, even if he was too young to understand."

"A baptism does not denote membership in the Church. Its a profession of belief"

Those two statements are incompatible. If Hunt (or anyone) was baptized when they were too young to understand, it can't also be a profession of belief, at least not on their part.

"The debaptism effort represents a certain breed of militant, confrontational atheism more concerned with vehemently disassociating themselves from Christianity than maintaining actual religious freedom."

You say that like it's a bad thing.

By the way, does this mean you're a "militant" believer? You're being confrontational by writing an article criticizing atheists. Or do only atheists get to be tarred with the "militant" label?

"If Hunt wants to distance himself from his former religious affiliations, that right is certainly his. But digging into the obscure archives of a church in an effort to remove all traces of his past only serves to insult the faith in which he was raised."

Yeah. So?

Dr. J. .G. Hunt

Wed Apr 1 2009 05:42

This columnist ought to check his facts. I did not "break faith as a teenager", but realised at the age of eleven [pre-teen] that the most prominent church-goers were hypocrites. I never had any faith to break. I am not a member of the NSS. I am not denying that the baptism [a ritual form of child abuse] didn't occur: but, just like people who get divorced, I desire a clear, official demonstration that any relevance the enforced and nonconsensual ritual some may believe the ritual had is null and void, and evermore will be so.

Furthermore, the Church position on this, as on many other topics, is NOT sound. According to a European Directive, records of personal data [especially SENSITIVE items, which include religious belief] should be kept up to date, held for no longer than necessary, and deleted when redundant. A court ruling in Spain on precisely this issue, in October 2007 held that the Roman Catholic church was obliged to delete the baptismal records of anyone requesting this. There is thus legal precedent, and a clear moral duty: but the Church, as so often before, seeks to deny truths and perpetuate lies: and I don't mean just Galileo and Darwin.

Dee Walker

Wed Apr 1 2009 04:06

First you say "he was baptized, even if he was too young to understand", then you say "It’s a profession of belief". So which is it? You can't have it both ways. If he was too young to understand (or consent) then it ISN'T a profession of belief.

Kieran

Wed Apr 1 2009 01:41

Nothing would please me more than to insult an organization which attempted to have me indoctrinated as a child. Teaching religious superstitions to children makes it hard for them to separate actual knowledge and good advice from Bronze Age mythology - it gives ancient myths respect and gravitas that are undeserved.

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