Baptising my kids - I'm Catholic, wfie is agnostic

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aemcpa said:
Yes, they are her kids, but the Catholic religion is the only true religion, and thus enjoys favor over all other religions.
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As a Jew (or even as an agnostic), the OP’s wife is not likely to be moved by this argument.
 
BettyBoop416 said:
As a Jew (or even as an agnostic), the OP’s wife is not likely to be moved by this argument.
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A devout Jew would likely believe that he or she has access to the highest truth. It seems that neither of them were religious when they’ve married. He has become more religious; it seems that his wife is supportive of him becoming more religious. However baptizing the children is a step too far for her. If you step inside her shoes for a moment, the Church has not really acquitted itself well over the past decade or so. It isn’t surprising that an outsider would not have a favorable view of the Church.
 
kag1982 said:
A devout Jew would likely believe that he or she has access to the highest truth. It seems that neither of them were religious when they’ve married. He has become more religious; it seems that his wife is supportive of him becoming more religious. However baptizing the children is a step too far for her. If you step inside her shoes for a moment, the Church has not really acquitted itself well over the past decade or so. It isn’t surprising that an outsider would not have a favorable view of the Church.
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While it’s certainly true that the Church has had it’s self-inflicted problems recently, most people I know are either neutral or have a positive view of the Church. I’ve encountered very few rabid anti-Catholics. The potential converts, however, when they drill down to the nuts and bolts of what the Church really teaches often walk away in wonderment. In fact, a co-worker of mine, after learning about marriage/divorce/annulment/etc. summed it up with the phrase, “How bizarre.”
 
BettyBoop416 said:
While it’s certainly true that the Church has had it’s self-inflicted problems recently, most people I know are either neutral or have a positive view of the Church. I’ve encountered very few rabid anti-Catholics. The potential converts, however, when they drill down to the nuts and bolts of what the Church really teaches often walk away in wonderment. In fact, a co-worker of mine, after learning about marriage/divorce/annulment/etc. summed it up with the phrase, “How bizarre.”
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For many yes, but the wife currently has a low information view of the Catholic Church… The troubling scandal information as well as the fraught Jewish-Catholic history. I wouldn’t push anything in that scenario. Ideally she will warm to him taking the kids to activities when they get older.
 
BettyBoop416 said:
As a Jew (or even as an agnostic), the OP’s wife is not likely to be moved by this argument.
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I agree. From her point of view, it’s just another religion among many. And if they were married outside the Church, it’s not likely that anyone ever told her that children born into her marriage have to be raised Catholic.
 
aemcpa said:
As a Catholic, I am not moved by this argument.
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Oh come on. Have you even tried to look at the situation from the wife’s point of view? While probably not observant, she has a connection to one of the world’s oldest religious traditions. Do you really expect her to be impressed by the husband’s claim that his religion is the only true religion? Especially since he hasn’t been practicing this One True religion during the entire time she has known him? And now he wants to subject her children to the (from her perspective) bizarre rituals of this (again, from her perspective) cult-like religion? Can’t you see that this is a delicate situation that must be handled with much care?
 
BettyBoop416 said:
Oh come on. Have you even tried to look at the situation from the wife’s point of view? While probably not observant, she has a connection to one of the world’s oldest religious traditions. Do you really expect her to be impressed by the husband’s claim that his religion is the only true religion? Especially since he hasn’t been practicing this One True religion during the entire time she has known him? And now he wants to subject her children to the (from her perspective) bizarre rituals of this (again, from her perspective) cult-like religion? Can’t you see that this is a delicate situation that must be handled with much care?
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Any means of handling the situation that doesn’t involve having the children baptized is unacceptable, period.
 
aemcpa said:
Any means of handling the situation that doesn’t involve having the children baptized is unacceptable, period.
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Oh, well, since you said “period,” I guess that’s the final word. :rolleyes:
 
aemcpa said:
Any means of handling the situation that doesn’t involve having the children baptized is unacceptable, period.
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Which won’t happen if the wife objects - and making her the Enemy is not going to win her over, by any means.
 
jmcrae said:
Which won’t happen if the wife objects - and making her the Enemy is not going to win her over, by any means.
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Again, the Church does not require that a non-Catholic parent consent to a child’s baptism. The Church DOES require that the Catholic parent do everything possible to have the children baptized and raised Catholic, and that the Catholic inform the non-Catholic of this obligation.
 
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