The writer reports that more than 100,000 Britons have downloaded "certificates of de-baptism" as a way to renounce the faith that was chosen for them by their parents. Londoner John Hunt, who holds the very Baptist idea that he wasn't old enough to make his own decision at five months, sought to have his name removed from the rolls of the Anglican church, and was advised that he should post a renouncement announcement in the London Gazette, a newspaper that carries official records.So he did.
Other Britons have made even stronger complaints. Michael Evans, 66, branded infant baptism as "a form of child abuse."
Similar movements have sprung up in Spain and Italy, where most of those seeking "de-baptism" want to withdraw from the Catholic Church. The Italian Union of Rationalists and Agnostics says about 2,000 people per month download "de-baptism" forms from its website.
On the one hand, it's sad to see such hostility toward churches, and so many people turning away from their family's faith traditions. On the other hand, the movement powerfully illustrates the wisdom of the Baptist principle that it should be up to all individuals -- not their families -- to choose whether or not they will follow Christ in the waters of baptism.
[Photo from lifeoftheworld.com.]
3 comments:
Dr. Cartledge,
I think the real problem is that those who wish to be de-baptized aren't fully grasping what infant baptism is. In the Anglican and Catholic traditions there is an infant baptist but there is also confirmation which is an equal sacrament. In both traditions, like the Baptist faith, a person must choose. Infant baptism usually speaks more to either (1)a notion of gentically inherited original sin or (2) a sign of the hopes of the parent of the child. I think the de-baptizers are not a result of poor theology, but rather poor theological instruction. They should be denouncing their confirmations, not their baptisms.
Joshua, I'd been thinking about this blog since I read it the other day and I had the same thoughts as you. What these people should be looking for are de-confirmation certificates (assuming they were confirmed at all).
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