Non-believing parents who baptise kids

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thomfra

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I have this friend who is an atheist (he says so himself). However he has a baby boy, and has decided to have him baptised. His reasoning is that by baptising him (sending him to a Catholic School etc) he will at least be giving the kid the exposure to Christianity, and a chance to make his mind up for himself one day.

My friend thinks the ideals of Christianity are good, but just doesn’t believe in the existence of God himself.

He has spoken to the priest who is OK with this. What do people think of this?

I can kind of see his point, but at the same time, I am not sure how it will work when push comes to shove and the kid asks his father whether he believes in God or not. And obviously part of being a parent (or godparent) to a child who is baptised is promising that you will bring them up in the catholic faith.
 
What about the mother? Is she any specific faith?

I think it is a tough call. Hopefully the young boy will find someone who can advise him as he grows in Faith and God. I would like to believe that going to Catholic School is enough, but I saw many people who attended school with me go down a terrible path…putting their Faith as an afterthought or an obligation.

I believe Faith starts at home, and without someone there to guide him it is going to take a lot to keep him on the right path.
 
It’s a strange situation, but he is giving his child a wonderful gift by baptising him, even if he doesn’t appreciate the value of it himself, don’t you think?
I agree with the poster above though that real faith is mostly learned at home & it will be difficult for this little boy without that. But who knows, maybe God will work ‘backwards’ & the man may end up converting through the witness of his own son’s faith! That would be amazing! 🙂
 
Seems like the guy is doing the best he can given the situation. If he has not been given the grace to believe yet, then what else can he do? A good god parrent and religious mentor may be in order. .
 
Maybe this is a clue that this guy isn’t really an atheist. Or maybe the situation is just as he describes. Either way I think it gives the kid more of a chance to grow up with faith.
 
In the baptism prep class I took, the deacon said " do not baptize your child unless you have strong faith yourself ". That really made me sit back and think about how strong my own faith it and it brought me closer to my faith because I had to question where I was at the time.

I think the deacon just wanted people there to understand that baptism isn’t just something we “do” out of tradition. It is real and it carries a responsibility.

But like others have said, I think this guy whose son is being baptized must have some ounce of faith left… perhaps the baptism will move him and the Holy Spirit will speak to him.
 
When you baptise a child, you promise to raise them as a Catholic, teach them the faith etc. If the parent is going to make an effort to see to it that the child is taught the faith then I’d be ok with that. However you don’t get baptised so you can decide later on. If he intends to teach his child that it’s just fine if she doesn’t want to be Catholic, then I think there is a problem.
 
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