Infant Baptism

^{It requires the reasoning power of an adult to understand the concepts involved in baptism so it seems logical that (according to the bible) Jesus Christ waited until he was well into adulthood before he made this important commitment. Indeed, some religions argue that by doing so Christ was setting an example that everyone should follow. So where did the concept of infant baptism come from?}

^{To answer this question we must first examine the business of religion. Like all businesses, religions have a product to sell (their beliefs as to how we should live our lives) and they survive by the income they receive from their customers, i.e. those whom they have managed to convert.}

^{Most religions concluded a long time ago that to try to sell their product to adults is almost a waste of time. Adults ask awkward questions, they want evidence of truthfulness, and if they were raised in a different religion their minds are almost certainly closed to any dissenting point of view. So what to do?}

^{Children present the obvious answer. The famous quote by 16th century Jesuit St Francis of Xavier, “Give me the child until he is seven and I will show you the man,” is as true today as it was back then. Children begin life in ignorance. They are naturally trusting and have a thirst to learn. What ideal targets for indoctrination! For the indoctrinators it gets better because years later when the indoctrinated child becomes the indoctrinated adult, he will then be a cash contributing “customer” and with any luck, a parent of future customers!}

^{However, St Francis’ 7 year business plan has one slight hitch. Religion’s direct access to the child during his first few years is very restricted. Indoctrination must begin by proxy, via the parents. If the parents are already indoctrinated there is no problem because just by association the child will soon be infected by their religious virus. But what about parents who are luke-warm believers or even unbelievers! How are those parents to be motivated to begin and maintain the indoctrination process?}

^{As we shall see, infant baptism provides a solution to this tricky problem.}

^{The Roman Catholic encyclopaedia’s entry for infant baptism contains many pages that explain the origins and process of baptism, and the consequences of not being baptized. To summarize:}

^{“Holy Baptism holds the first place among the sacraments, because it is the door of the spiritual life; for by it we are made members of Christ and incorporated with the Church. And since through the first man death entered into all, unless we be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, we can not enter into the kingdom of Heaven, as Truth Himself has told us.”}

^{The message here is absolutely clear: “If you want your child to have at least the chance of going to heaven after he dies…. you must get him baptized.”}

^{On learning the above, what is the likely and understandable response of luke-warm believing or even some unbelieving parents? Of course! “We’d better do this… just in case.” Religions have no qualms about using a parent’s natural protective instincts as a lever to get them to the baptismal font!}

^{With the child and parents in front of him the officiating minister (the celebrant) knows he has approximately 20 minutes to achieve his objective. All the prayers, the incantations, the ceremonial ritual, all the talk about sin and redemption - the whole farcical ceremony has but one purpose: to fill the parents with a sense of awe and reverence (i.e. soften them up) so they can then be coerced into committing to raise (i.e. indoctrinate) their child in the religion of the baptizer!}

^{At the end of the ceremony, if the minister has done a good job, the parents will be in a delusional after-glow, secure in the belief that they have “saved the soul” of their infant, and that his “original sins” have been washed away. Much more importantly to the religion, they will also be resolved to fulfil their commitment to begin the process of indoctrination.}

^{Soon after this the newly recruited indoctrinators will introduce their child to picture books of baby Jesus and the angels. After that will be religious songs, nightly prayers and eventually Sunday school, where the religion gets its first direct access to the hapless indoctrinee.}

<sup>How disgusting. How disgraceful that this cynical manipulation of parents and infants is still tolerated in any civilised society. Infant baptism is not child abuse per se but it is the first step down the road that leads to it. By all means teach a child about religion, and look on religious books as interesting sources of literature, but if you take advantage of the naivety of your child to instill in him the conviction that your religion, and only your religion, represents the will of the creator of the universe, you are guilty of abusing the mind of that child!

As a loving parent of a young child why would you take even one step down that road of abuse? We encourage you to take your child in the opposite direction, towards freedom of thought, rational enquiry and a healthy scepticism of any institution that promotes the abuse of indoctrination.</sup>

^{See also Religious Schools = Child Abuse}