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ebonypearl) wrote2009-04-16 08:27 am
De-Baptizing
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1891230,00.html
Some quotes from the article (not in order, just as they struck me):
"With churches, everybody checks in, but nobody checks out," says Evans, who was baptized as an infant. "There's no exit strategy except the funeral."
“…officials at the Church of England say, allowing such notation is not the Church's official policy because true renunciation can only take place between an individual and God.”
“The church counts all those who've been baptized as Catholic and lobbies for legislation based on that number, so we're trying to convey the importance of people expressing they no longer belong to the church."
"Churches have become so reactionary, so politically active that people actually want to make a protest against them now," Sanderson says. "They're not just indifferent anymore. They're actively hostile.”
It’s the last quote that I find the truest – and therefore the most alarming. Many churches have become politically active, and their political activism isn’t rising from a spiritual purpose, but from the secular needs of the church leadership. Like our government, the churches are also not listening to their people. It’s very frustrating and I fully empathize with the growing need for people to publicly and vocally distance themselves from the institution, even if they are still adherents of the religion itself.
De-baptismal ceremonies and renunciations of churches and religions have always been with us, but never before on such a scale. This should be a clear signal to churches that the leadership interpretation of their religion is not acceptable to an increasing number of their adherents and they need to act quickly to find out where the disagreement is – or they will lose more adherents. And that means a financial loss as well. Almost all churches are organized around their finances.
This is where some pagan religions have an advantage. Finances matter to any group of any size, but for many small pagan groups, finances don’t control how the leadership (did I just apply that word to pagans!?) handles the adherents as it does in more established and formal groups. Christianity has always been about the money – even a quick overview of Christian history shows how important money has always been to them. Collection boxes are prominent in every church I’ve ever been in, and the passing of the collection plate is an integral part of every service I’ve ever attended. Many churches have policies in place that they will only provide assistance to their members – and membership is tied to tithing. When churches use their funds to feed and clothe their poorer members, to offer spiritual succor and counseling, to guide their members through various rites of passage, to establish new parishes where they can work on a spiritual and charitable level, there is little objection to their tithing and collecting of donations. When they use their funds to goad their adherents to actions that fall outside of these areas of charity and spiritual welfare, to involve themselves in political power grabs to control a country, people object. Eventually, even the adherents object by reducing their donations, and then when that doesn’t work, by leaving the church.
When people seek out Numenism because they’ve left their church, we think it’s very important to find out why they let their church. If it’s a political difference, we don’t even try to educate them in Numenous matters. These people will always be adherents of their religion and never a comfortable convert to Numenism. What we do with these people is help them clarify their spiritual goals and find a church that suits them better. They often end up leaving their original denomination and converting to one closer to their spiritual ideologies – a Catholic may become a Methodist, for example, or a Baptist may become a Quaker. It’s very rare that these people actually want to leave the religion; they want to leave the congregation and the church that caused them discomfort. Lately, we’ve seen a lot of people leave all churches and simply become a “church of one”, taking care of their own spiritual needs themselves or among trusted friends. It is not the religion failing the people or the people leaving the religion; it’s the institution of the churches. This is something the churches will have to acknowledge and address. We do our small bit by helping the disenfranchised Christians to find a way to continue to be Christian because they won’t be happy being Numenist.
Those few who genuinely are seeking more than a church, are seeking a religion that helps them understand their world better and provides support and comfort for their travails, those people may find a place in Numenism, and it those people whom we embrace as co-religionists. Sometimes, these people need a celebration that bespeaks their transition from seeking to having found – this is one of many reasons we call our co-religionists “celebrants”.
Very, very rarely have we had to include a “de-baptism” in such a celebration. Other pagan religions have resorted to “de-baptismal” type rites far more often than we have.
If you are a Christian and want to dissociate your self from your church (but not necessarily your religion), check out these de-baptismal certification sites.
http://www.secularism.org.uk/debaptism.html
http://www.apostasiacolectiva.org
The rest of us applaud your clear thinking and ability to discern that the precepts of your religion is different from the apparent goals of some modern churches.
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The year I left the church, I asked the priest at my tech school if he could officially ex-communicate me, and he told me 'no'- my baptism was for life. It took a few years, but I was finally 'unbaptised' in a Pagan ceremony which really felt like a weight was lifted from my shoulders.
I feel Numenist at heart, and sincerely wish I had the community and its celebrations, restrictions, and commitments to belong to. Right now, I am in a sort of spiritual drifting idle mode- still studying, but not doing much else. The religious holidays blow by without much, if any observation by me. I did not dye any eggs or eat any jellybeans this Easter. It was just another Sunday. I do know this: I will never join another church.
Tomorrow, I am going to attend a Clinton School lecture about a book "The Religious Case Against Belief". Ought to be interesting...
ETA: I sometimes think that my baptism as an infant didn't take, because I had a very spectacular and earthy reaction to the whole ceremony. I was great until (my mom said) the priest started daubing things on me. Let's just say that I ruined my baptismal gown, and they had to disinfect the font. I was unable to speak or protest or decline, so I did the only thing an infant could do- I filled my diaper.
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I wish you lived closer, you'd certainly be welcome among us. If we could figure out a viable and sustainable way to offer you all that Numenism has, we would.