Schmo wrote:I can get my 9 year old to go pretty much anywhere or do anything if there's cake involved.
Hey, I'll more than likely go to an event for the right kind of cake! LOL
Schmo wrote:Traditions and abuse are not mutually exclusive. What about female circumcision? What about corporal punishment?
Please reread my post. I specifically stated "non-threatening". I'm aware that traditions and abuse are not mutually exclusive. You aren't REALLY comparing baptism with female circumcision, are you?
We can both play the absurd game, if you want to. Are you saying that every parent that allows their child to be baptized into a Church should be convicted of child abuse?
Schmo wrote:It's not the party that's abusive, it's the foisting of your own unverified, unverifiable beliefs on a child, imposing all the trappings and annoying baggage that comes along with being the member of a religion (especially an authoritarian one like Mormonism). It's a behavior which communicates to your child, "You need to believe what I believe. You don't need to think critically. You don't get to think for yourself, in fact." It's most definitely long term intellectual and emotional abuse. You may as well chop off their frontal lobe.
Why does this necessarily have to be the message of baptism? Why can't the message be, "We are welcoming you into a custom of your family's faith. You are special. We love you. Enjoy your special day."
As Themis pointed out:
None of these religious ceremonies are binding on children or really even adults, so it doesn't bother me. Being baptized at 8 is not really that different then being baptized as an infant. Both will still be able to grow up and choose for themselves.
Neither of my girls were "emotionally damaged" for being baptized. They have always managed to think for themselves just fine.