To Baptize or Not to Baptize

When I had my first child, the question of whether or not he would be baptized was never debated. My husband thought it was very important and I didn't really care since I don't believe it makes a difference anyway. I thought, "If it's important to him, fine." So we baptized my youngest in my husband's hometown Episcopal church.

Now, however, I am faced with the decision again for my second son. It's so much different for me with the second one because I'm constantly exhausted since they're only two years apart. We're too tired to go to church. And we haven't found a church that we both like yet so even if we want to baptize him, we don't have a place for it.

The more I think about it, I am inclined not to baptize my youngest son and let him make that decision himself later, if he so chooses. After reading several articles on baptism, I have come to the conclusion that even many Christians think infant baptism should not be a required practice. Many people seem to think that baptism has more meaning when the person being baptized understands and accepts the meaning of the ritual.

http://www.catholic.com/answers/tracts/i... is a site that has a detailed discussion of infant baptism. Another interesting sight is http://www.freedomsring.org/baptism.html.

I believe that the whole ritual is somewhat irrelevant anyway, since it is your faith in Jesus that is important. Who cares that a little water got sprinkled on you while you were bawling your head off and your mother was stuffing a pacifier in your mouth. I think it's all just to make the relatives happy. I'm hoping that maybe my husband won't get around to bringing up the subject and that my youngest son will choose one day whether or not he wants to be baptized.

And if my oldest son ever decides he doesn't want to be baptized, I found a site that specializes in baptism removal. Who ever knew there was such a thing? You can have your baptism reversed at http://infoweb.magi.com/~godfree/debap.h...

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