My wife and I are atheists, but our daughter wants to be baptised Catholic

[IcyPatriot]

Interesting parental opinion piece.
Good for the daughter ... she has courage.

My wife and I are atheists, but our daughter wants to be baptised Catholic | James Harrington | Comment is free | theguardian.com

I'm proud of my daughter, but I can't deny that she stopped us in our religiously disinterested, bleeding-heart lib

At the risk of upsetting my parents, I have to say, I had no choice. I was baptised before I could have any opinion about it. Not that it matters. I was baptised. Other than talking about it here, it has had almost no impact on my life. End of story.

For me, it means regular trips to the presbytery for extra "Catholic lessons". It means going to church for family mass on Sundays and not knowing when to sit or stand; and hoping that the priest doesn't come at me with the microphone when he delivers his Jerry Springer-style sermon (he probably won't).

It means a little extra effort on my part and no small amount of frustration for my wife, who tries – and often fails – to understand the attraction of all this. But it means everything to my daughter. She's taken a first step down a road that, ultimately, she'll have to travel on her own. I'll go with her as far as I can, but she knows, even now, that this is her journey. She's heading where I cannot follow.

 

[DarrylS]

The child who seems to be about 8 has reached that magical "age of reason" and can make this decision(the Catholic Church says it happens at age 7)... but it shows the influence of catholic school over the beliefs of parents...

Perhaps it has something to do with being accepted by her peers, but difficult to judge as do not know the culture of French School Children...

 

[oldrover]

If the parents don't want her to be Catholic, and genuinely feel she would be damaged by the faith, they shouldn't let her do it. They're the parents. If she wanted to drink a bottle of Cabernet every day, would they let her do that just because she wanted to? Well, it IS France. LOL

 

[RI Patriots fan]

The child who seems to be about 8 has reached that magical "age of reason" and can make this decision(the Catholic Church says it happens at age 7)... but it shows the influence of catholic school over the beliefs of parents...

Perhaps it has something to do with being accepted by her peers, but difficult to judge as do not know the culture of French School Children...

True...when I went to Catholic school it was common to bully the unbaptized students into being baptized

 

[oldrover]

true...when i went to catholic school it was common to bully the unbaptized students into being baptized

lmao!!!!!!!!! :d

 

[chicowalker]

he didn't say anything about bullying.

Whether it's the school's influence, peer acceptance, whatever, who cares?

The parents are doing the right thing, imo. They think the child's desire is genuine, so even though they feel differently, they do what it takes for the kid to be baptized.

Nobody is harmed.

 

[everlong]

I was raised Catholic. The first three of my five daughters were baptised more to keep peace with older relatives than any other reason. If they approached me about wanting to go to CCD and church I would allow them to go without hesitation. If they decided it was for them then that would be there choice even at eight.

The only religion I would have an issue with is Islam. The view of woman in at least portions of the Islamic world would give me a lot of concern.

 

[everlong]

he didn't say anything about bullying.

Whether it's the school's influence, peer acceptance, whatever, who cares?
.

It's why Jewish families celebrate Christmas and has trees. So their kids don't feel different or left out.