OBJECTIVE EVIL OF NOT HAVING YOUR BABY BAPTISED
Religion claims that it is objectively bad to fail to have your baby baptised.
It isn't wrong just because Catholics believe it is wrong or their consciences
tell them it is wrong. It really is wrong. To have your child baptised is to
tacitly consent to the accusation. The accusation is unjust. The Church cannot
justify it. When you get on good terms with a religion or organisation that is
being unreasonable, is their acceptance of you real acceptance? If you really
accept people you don't ask them to do silly things to please you. The
acceptance is just hypocritical whitewash.
Nobody should accuse you of doing something objectively evil without proving it.
Religion cannot do that. Religion is advocating hatred when it accuses.
Catholics believe that a good Catholic will respect people who do not believe in
Catholicism as human beings. Catholics say we must respect freedom of
conscience. But they say that respecting this freedom does not mean you must
respect beliefs that defy logic or human decency. They say that a person who
believes that the world is made of wood does not deserve to have this belief
respected. He can be respected as a person and as sincere but his belief should
not be respected or affirmed. They say it is the belief not the person that is
being opposed. They say they can do this for they oppose the belief for the
person's sake or benefit. Clearly then Catholic baptism seeks to turn a child
against the truth - assuming that what is truth is not what the Catholic Church
believes. If the Church is wrong, then the Church opposes truth. Baptism is a
big deal for the parent who is not sure that the Catholic Church really is the
true Church and a bigger deal for an unbeliever.
Catholics would say that if you baptised your dog that you were somehow
mistreating the animal for it didn't consent to be baptised. And they would say
this mistreatment is compounded by the fact that the poor dog can't consent. By
that logic they admit they are mistreating their babies whom they get baptised.
It is a big deal if you mistreat your child for a religion. And the less faith you
have in the religion the worse you make yourself.
Religion says that God does not sin simply because he does not sin. It says we
need a law over us to ensure we do not sin or that we will suffer if we do. Is
it not far better to hold that your baby does not need sacraments or graces from
God and may simply be good simply because its good? That would be a better
message to send out and to surround the child with. The unbeliever can find
great peace and comfort in the thought of God but may choose to reject these for
the sake of what he or she believes or knows to be the truth - that there is no
God. Such a person sacrifices the peace and comfort for the truth - that is his
intention whether atheism is the truth or not. Such a person is heroic in their
integrity and far more worthy of praise than any believer.
Baptism must never be dismissed as a minor thing. It matters for believers. It
matters for unbelievers. A lot.
If you care about moral truth you will care about baptism.