chasseur

Hey all, I'm a new poster here...

Some time ago i remember reading an article online that said in Italy, people can have their baptisms revoked/cancelled if they wanted it. My question is: does any one know anything about this, and if so is this done in North America?

Or did i just misread the article?

any info is appreciated,
Chasseur

GaryP

I would guess that it depends upon the theology of each denomination.

Soyin Milka

Hi,

It's true, catholics can ask to be "debaptised" in Italy.

From:
http://www.secularism.org.uk/newspress/news14feb3t.htm

"ITALIAN CATHOLICS CAN BAIL OUT OF CHURCH

Disaffected Catholics in Italy can now officially debaptise themselves. Upon request, priests in Italy must note alongside baptism information the will of adults to leave the Church. Bowing to pressure from lobby groups who call the act 'unchristening,' the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) recently outlined the procedure.

Both sides disagree on the scope of the phenomenon - one activist group claims 10,000 people have presented unchristening requests; the Church says it is trying to do right by a 'few dozen' people who wish not to be counted as Catholics.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, CEI president, made it clear that the Church considers the issue an entirely bureaucratic one. "You can't cancel a sacrament any more than you can cancel the act of being born," he told newspapers. "

You could probably try writing to your parish or church or to whoever is in charge of wherever you got baptised if you want too If you find a sympathetic priest, you might get a note scribbled next to other details on your certificate of baptism saying you left the church.

I'm not sure I understand the need to do any of this though. If you are free from the Church and an atheist, why do you still care about religious symbols and ceremonies? Freeing yourself from a religion should be done on your own terms, not those of that religion.

I say you should make your own rules
For inspiration, you could take a look at the UK's National Secular Society's certificate of debaptism:
http://www.secularism.org.uk/baptism.htm

Bah, don't listen to me.
I wish you well whatever you decide to do

Soyin

Opera Nut

I wonder, if you get officially welcomed (baptised or converted) in a particular religion, if that religion is supposed to "take" permanently, even if you decided to hit another major religion and believe in it later? That could get real interesting if you peregrinated through several major religions as a seeker.

I think the Jews hold that if you become a Jew and bail out later, you're still a Jew. Don't hold me to that, though........

AquaVita

Does it really matter? If you say you aren't a theist, then that's good enough it seems.(worked for me anyway)

Do you just want something concrete to renounce it? That makes sense, I suppose.

chasseur

Do i want something "concrete?" Yes, that's precisely it. Since my first days as an Atheist people have constantly brought up my baptism, much to my chagrin as they would not let go of it. For some, it seemed that no matter how many times i told them i don't believe what they do, i was still considered "part of the club."

Thanks for the info everyone!
Chasseur

Edited to Add: That certificate from secularism.org.uk is definitely going on my wall! Thanks again.

faust

I think it does matter. For instance, the catholic church counts you as a believer no matter what you say. You have to undergo a very long irritating process to have yourself removed from the list of catholics. You actually have to be ex-communicated. This sounds like fun, but if you think about it; so long as you haven't been officially ex-communicated, and haven't had your name removed from the parish registry, you are counted among the catholics.

This may hold true for other churches as well.
In other words. They count you, they use you in statistics, they claim you as one of them, even if you have decided you aren't.
Make it official. make them remove you.

scarmig

I would think the easiest way to get de-baptized would simply require a towel!


ba-da CHING!

ZiprHead

I was thinking just about the same thing, although more along the lines of a "holy hair-dryer."

Dominus Paradoxum

See: http://www.secularism.org.uk/baptism.htm