Before I start, please forgive me. Religion is one of those topics never discussed in polite company in case offense is given; if I offend, it was in an attempt to explain. Your faith gives you strength and a particular worldview, and is just as valid as mine, however this comes across.
~~
The way I was raised - Church of England, which is quite close to Catholicism in some ways - a baptism is very much an indoctrination. A baby can't agree to be baptised, but it's done with the consent of the guardian so the child's soul will go to heaven if it dies. It's a very potent ritual if you actually look at and believe in the spiritual implications, it's usually performed on those unable to comprehend the ramifications, and in my view it is not something that should be done to an adult without that adult's express permission.
Seyrah made my point far eloquently than I can, not least because post-mortem baptism is a practice I find instinctively abhorrent. To me, you're interfering with someone's immortal soul because you think you know what's best for it, and even with the best of intentions, that comes off as a little arrogant.
Praying for me is something different, it's asking a favour of your deity on my behalf; that sort of thing is mildly embarrassing to me, but I'm always embarrassed when people ask favours of others on my behalf. The formal rituals of a church, however, are reordering the spiritual world to align something with the particular version of God that you follow - but I have my own version of the power known as 'deity', and I know that mine is 'right', in the same way you know yours is 'right'. I'm not going to get offended if someone prays for me, but if someone tries to directly intercede on my behalf and realign my soul to something that's not my deity when I haven't said they can, I'm going to get annoyed whether they can achieve it or not, and whether I'm alive or not.
I understand why you do it for those who died in ignorance of your faith, and who cannot consent because they're already dea - the intent of helping them to heaven is entirely laudable - but that doesn't mean I can agree with the practice. I see the belief that it's a contract between two willing parties that you're offering as intercession - if you have to do it, I believe that's the least abhorrent way to go about it - but one of the key tenets of my own personal faith is that I trust a truly loving God to have contingency plans for the massively overwhelming majority of souls who never got the chance to hear The Message, not just those who're related to Mormons.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2012-03-17 10:48 pm (UTC)~~
The way I was raised - Church of England, which is quite close to Catholicism in some ways - a baptism is very much an indoctrination. A baby can't agree to be baptised, but it's done with the consent of the guardian so the child's soul will go to heaven if it dies. It's a very potent ritual if you actually look at and believe in the spiritual implications, it's usually performed on those unable to comprehend the ramifications, and in my view it is not something that should be done to an adult without that adult's express permission.
Seyrah made my point far eloquently than I can, not least because post-mortem baptism is a practice I find instinctively abhorrent. To me, you're interfering with someone's immortal soul because you think you know what's best for it, and even with the best of intentions, that comes off as a little arrogant.
Praying for me is something different, it's asking a favour of your deity on my behalf; that sort of thing is mildly embarrassing to me, but I'm always embarrassed when people ask favours of others on my behalf. The formal rituals of a church, however, are reordering the spiritual world to align something with the particular version of God that you follow - but I have my own version of the power known as 'deity', and I know that mine is 'right', in the same way you know yours is 'right'. I'm not going to get offended if someone prays for me, but if someone tries to directly intercede on my behalf and realign my soul to something that's not my deity when I haven't said they can, I'm going to get annoyed whether they can achieve it or not, and whether I'm alive or not.
I understand why you do it for those who died in ignorance of your faith, and who cannot consent because they're already dea - the intent of helping them to heaven is entirely laudable - but that doesn't mean I can agree with the practice. I see the belief that it's a contract between two willing parties that you're offering as intercession - if you have to do it, I believe that's the least abhorrent way to go about it - but one of the key tenets of my own personal faith is that I trust a truly loving God to have contingency plans for the massively overwhelming majority of souls who never got the chance to hear The Message, not just those who're related to Mormons.