Britain's Rush to De-baptize Underscores Secularism Addressed during Papal Visit

The Pope is in Britain as Christ's missionary who stands in stark contrast to this movement

"I, _________, having been subjected to the Rite of Christian Baptism in infancy (before reaching an age of consent), hereby publicly revoke any implications of that Rite and renounce the Church that carried it out. In the name of human reason, I reject all its Creeds and all other such superstition in particular, the perfidious belief that any baby needs to be cleansed by Baptism of alleged ORIGINAL SIN."

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - In Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," at one point Alice states, "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't."

There are days when it would seem that we have fallen down the rabbit hole and everything is what it isn't. For example, let's take the movement that seems to have developed a following in Europe in the past several years is "de-baptism."

This subject drew my attention after criticism was levied by the President of the National Secular Society (NSS), Terry Sanderson, against Cardinal Kasper's remarks in a recent interview with a German magazine. He particularly target a reference to "an aggressive new atheism" that has become predominant in Britain.

The NSS began a huge push in Britain in 2002, to promote De-baptism. An individual can download a "Certificate of De-baptism" from their website which reads as follows.

"I ________ having been subjected to the Rite of Christian Baptism in infancy (before reaching an age of consent), hereby publicly revoke any implications of that Rite and renounce the Church that carried it out. In the name of human reason, I reject all its Creeds and all other such superstition in particular, the perfidious belief that any baby needs to be cleansed by Baptism of alleged ORIGINAL SIN, and the evil power of supposed demons. I wish to be excluded henceforth from enhanced claims of church membership numbers based on past baptismal statistics used, for example, for the purpose of securing legislative privilege."

In the first five years of the project, the Certificate was accessed over 100,000 times. The NSS website announced in 2007 that Britain was truly in a rush to participate.

Sanderson stated, "The growing amount of interest in the concept of de-baptism indicates that people are not just indifferent to religion - which has been the traditional British approach - but are actually becoming quite hostile to it."

Some people also actively attempt to have the names removed from baptismal records.

On the website www.debaptized.com, you simply need to submit a form and a Rite of Debaptism will be performed for you along with receiving an official certificate in PDF format "suitable for framing."

The website explains, "The Rite of Debaptism is a secret and powerful ceremony that removes and counters the rites of baptism. This ritual can only be performed by trained and ordained Debaptizors, and is an eternal and irrevocable Rite."

Here at the bottom of the rabbit hole it seems interesting that a ritual performed to remove an indelible mark is, itself considered eternal and irrevocable.

The site goes on to explain the next step - Defection.

"Debaptism is fun," the website states. "You may have your printable Certificate of Debaptism framed and hanging in your office/bedroom/bathroom... But maybe you really do want to get away from your church and your faith.

"Some church organizations will maintain you as a member no matter how long it's been since you attend. In fact, if you were baptized as an infant, the church may keep you on the rolls even if you never stepped into that church again.

"Formally breaking ties with a church can be difficult. It can be intimidating and uncomfortable to address these topics. There's also the treat of having people talking about you, especially when there is a real fear of prejudice against non-believer and apostates."

The claims of de-baptism are indeed strange, especially when contrasted with the historic teaching of the Church concerning the sacrament:

"Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation." (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1272)

As the Pope's visit to the United Kingdom continues to unfold, the more we examine the secular forces in that nation, the more we can understand why detractors quickly declare that the Pope is "out of touch."

Down the rabbit hole, we are living in a time when society has the ability to continue redefining itself no matter what the truth may be. Here in the hole it is becomes clear and quite obvious to many that the Pope is out of touch with that world.

As Alice remarked, "It would be so nice if something made sense for a change."

Clearly, the Holy Father will not endorse the importance of secularism or that atheism is a valid conviction. How could he as the vicar of Christ?

The Pope seems out of touch by this blatantly secularized society because he remains in touch with a greater and more profound reality - the Kingdom of God. It is this Kingdom and Christ's Church that he represents during this historic visit.

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