I am not getting my child Baptised

[Akrasia]

Hedging my bets , i simply mean making a stand against those within the Church that i feel are damaging it i.e those who protected paedophile and bullied their victims into silence, i have no problem with the Catholic faith, to me the Church and the faith are seperate.

That's your position, but most people I know seem believe more in the traditional label catholic than the actual relgion itself. most people I know do not believe that the bread and wine do genuinely transform into flesh and blood
Most people I know would be in favour of women priests in principle and against celibacy

If we were to do a survey about the actual doctrines of the faith, I'd suggest that a significant number of catholics would share more beliefs with protestant religions than Roman catholic doctrine, and a large number of people would not agree with essential tennets of the christian religion in general. (especially bits that were interpreted literally in the past that have now been demoted to metaphore)

[irishshadowfax]

Apart from our schools and public holidays, where else does the church not influence but directly effect our government policy?

[Aindriu]

I'll wager, one of the child's grandparents will baptise the him/her when you are not around. Remember, all Catholics hold the power of Baptism. You don't need a priest, or a church.

If they do without the parents' permission it could be considered child abuse.

Good for the OP I say. None of my children were baptised and they haven't burnt in hell for it.

[Illustro]

I have a 10 month old child.

I stopped reading there...The very notion of it!

Now if ever there was an argument for Eugenics...

[Akrasia]

I stopped reading there...The very notion of it!

Now if ever there was an argument for Eugenics...

Care to finish that sentence?

[Delarivier]

[QUOTE=sparkey321;2524140]hm. Its not "fashionable" at all. How many registered catholics are actually practicing ? How many of them get their kids baptised let hem have holy communion and confirmation yet have no faith of their own ?

QUOTE]

A very good point. Indeed, even of the people who practice (i.e. go to Mass) how many of them actually believe, as distinct from turning up for social reasons?
I suspect the numbers of people in Ireland who truly accept all the teachings of Catholic Church are relatively small. I would be very curious to see the results of any study done on this topic.

Akrasia's dilemma is probably replicated all over the country every day of the week.

[liamfoley]

I'm a die hard atheist but would have no problem faking the thing if it helped get a child into a better school or just kept the inlaws off my back. I'm already a godfather so swore all that gobbledygook to a priest.

Wow, atheism has sure made you a more moral person, lies, swearing .... great, welcome to the new secular order.

[blackpitts]

If we were to do a survey about the actual doctrines of the faith, I'd suggest that a significant number of catholics would share more beliefs with protestant religions than Roman catholic doctrine, and a large number of people would not agree with essential tennets of the christian religion in general. (especially bits that were interpreted literally in the past that have now been demoted to metaphore)

+10

I've often thought it would be very interesting to do a 'theological audit' of self-identifying Roman Catholics to see how many are actually Protestant. It never ceases to amaze/amuse me how intellectually sloppy many people are about something that is supposedly so central to their lives.

And why is this any of my business as an atheist? Because as long as the pretence that Ireland is a Catholic country prevails, the Catholic church will continue to exercise undue and, in my opinion, malign influence over the affairs of state.

[Still Sceptical]

+10

I've often thought it would be very interesting to do a 'theological audit' of self-identifying Roman Catholics to see how many are actually Protestant. It never ceases to amaze/amuse me how intellectually sloppy many people are about something that is supposedly so central to their lives.

And why is this any of my business as an atheist? Because as long as the pretence that Ireland is a Catholic country prevails, the Catholic church will continue to exercise undue and, in my opinion, malign influence over the affairs of state.

Well said.

[MichaelR]

There is absolutely no way we are going to get our child baptised into the roman catholic church.
By making this decision, we are aware that it could affect our childs chances of getting into a school of our choice.

But I refuse to make one of the first acts as a parent for my child, to endanger him by putting him into an institution with such an appalling history of abuse and horrific violence against innocent children.

Seems to be a contradiction here.

If you hold the R.C.C. to be such an institution, why would a school associated with it even figure among schools of your choice? Why would you even consider letting them near your child, unless you live somewhere where neither ET nor the CofI have any schools at all?

I suggest you enlist him/her immediately into all nearby Church of Ireland and Educate Together schools, to ensure a selection of places at age 4 (or 5) in the schools that would be your choice according to your viewpoint (which I mostly share). These schools are often overbooked, especially ET.