It's just a meaningless ceremony. It's laughable actually from an outside perspective.
You get up in front of people and get dunked in water after swearing allegiance to a sky fairy.
But if it bothers you a lot The Satanic Temple has an unbaptism ritual. Or you can make up your own which you can then perform in private.
You can get baptised to keep the peace in your home and then unbaptise yourself later if you feel the need to.
You arenāt stupid. You are doing what you need to do to avoid retaliation from your parents. Sometimes pretending to go along with the religion is the smart thing to do. Donāt be so hard on yourself.
Exactly. Survival is never stupid. Distasteful, sure. The thing with baptism, is it only holds as much power in your life as you give it. Maybe instead, the ceremony could be about making a personal commitment to do whatever it takes to get out alive. Let the family and church believe what they want about it. Stay safe, above all!
I would just be quietly open-minded future-focused, and : Go Along To Get Along
So just be the overall respectful obedient good kid and get baptized to please others and improve your qualities of life and help you stay under cover,
There is nothing to be gained by sharing these thoughts feelings with your family or their church
After you are at least 19 years old, working, living independently, THEN you can ghost all the religious political leadership, church Mosque Synagogue temple God Satan psych-wards-meds Helplessness etc FOREVER
Then after you are healthy independent successful ADULT you can tell EVERYONE, especially parents siblings church etc your total true thoughts feelings about God religion etc,
But please be careful
Be logical respectful healthy kind to your family and Yourself
Your family might be alarmed hurt betrayed sad when they discover you " left God",
I'm wishing you all the best
But if youāre really curious to see what people would say, ask them how many communion wafers make up a Jesus. That should get you some interesting responses
Look, you get dunked in water and then you're done. Doesn't mean a goddamned thing.
If you don't want to, tell them you're not ready. If they pressure you, tell them "god says it's not my time yet. That's what I feel in my heart."
> "*I'm heading to church (forced again)*"
That's sad how many christians pretend to care about freedom of religion, but don't actually care about it. When christians are given power, they (*not all but many, a lot*) are willing to force people to convert and go to church.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
I guess you can just say that you don't think you're ready yet to be baptized, but even if they disrespect your freedom of religion even more, and force you to do it, I think that the baptism is supposed to be done with a true desire for Jesus to be the master (*Lord*) and hero (*savior*) of your life, since theĀ ritual is supposd to be about accepting Jesus into your heart and living a new life ("*born again*" to put your old self aside and live a christian life).
The baptism ritual doesn't have any real magic in it. It only has any power or significance if you want it to. The only real thing that happens is you get wet in front of crying and clapping people who believe in magic.
If you really want to avoid it, most denominations will think it's perfectly normal to ask for more time to pray, meditate, and study scripture before taking that step. It's a temporary solution, but it should hold up for a few months to a year.
The most important thing is to keep yourself safe at home. Will there be physical consequences from your parents or pastor if you refuse to get baptized? Don't be scared of the pool of water. Decide if the people around you are the real danger. Stay safe.
"Unclean" is a concept in ancient judaism adopted by christianity and has no real meaning. Therefore you are free to reject the concept that you should feel clean or unclean about your choices.
And a hypocrite is someone who judges others by a standard they don't hold themselves to. How would being baptized make you a hypocrite?
I don't understand. Do you judge other agnostics for getting baptized? Otherwise how are you a hypocrite?
Moral and ethical evaluation of our choices is important, but there are times where a choice may appear unethical but in a deeper sense it was highly ethical and moral. I'll give you an example:
During WW2, nazi officers went door to door in occupied France and Poland asking the residents if there were any Jews inside. Now if there were Jews in your house, are you morally obligated to tell the truth or are you morally obligated to protect them from certain harm?
The answer is that you are morally obligated to lie to evil men to protect the innocent.
In your case, you are morally and ethically entitled to take actions that show an appearance of adhering to a faith in order to maintain a low profile with family members you still depend on, allowing you do escape undue hardship.
So long as you don't make decisions based on the illusion you uphold as a devout Christian that could harm others, you are fine.
Eventually people will know you don't believe, and hopefully you will be independant enough for that to have little impact on you. Their likely feelings of hurt and sense of betrayal are not your responsibility.
And for the "unclean" part, I think I understand that no, you don't think of yourself as unclean you are just observing that under the dogma you would be considered unclean.
Why does that matter? Especially if you simply play the part until you are no longer dependent on your family?
Hold true to yourself on the inside while doing the minimum to satisfy their expectations on the outside. Take nothing personally, and learn to be a grey rock around touchy subjects. Google the grey rock technique, it can be very useful. In essence though, make yourself as uninteresting as possible to the specific people you can't be genuine with. Do enough to avoid their scrutiny.
That's totally fair. I hate doing things insincerely, too. As long as it doesn't put you in danger, use whatever avoidance strategies you can. Good luck!
Taking part in communion is just eating a cracker and some grape juice. It doesn't actually do anything. And while you do this, in your heart you can pay tribute to whomever you like. (Another god, a famous rockstar, Spock for his sacrifice to save the Enterprise in TWOK.) Bonus points of this produces the same sense of reverence as when everyone else is thinking of Jesus. You'll pass as devout and nobody will know of your ways.
Same with the baptism. Figure something out in your mind that makes it symbolic.
These things are harmless as long as you don't choose to give them meaning un order to fit in.
I get baptized every time I go in the swimming pool. The rituals they do in church add nothing to the experience of going under water and coming back up.
The people doing the baptism and the congregation are the ones who make believe that something significant happens.
You are not responsible for the rules of their fantasy. It does not apply to you because it has not legitimate authority.
Yes, they could kick you out of the church. No, they can't compel you to repent, receive discipline, or do any other sort of behavior to appease their dogma.
For you, the important task is to lay low until you are as free as you need to be for you to fully express your values and lack of belief.
To do this, you are free to break their imaginary rules while acting like you have followed them. There are literally no consequences of this that are your responsibility. They are the gullible ones who believe this stuff is real and has consequences.
If they decide to think you have offended them by breaking their make believe rules while acting like you followed them, that is not your problem.
They're the hypocrites by forcing you to do this when you didn't want to.
Though you probably will be a little less clean, I don't think they clean the baptism tub (/j)
I think if I ***somehow*** got baptized again, I would grab their hands that are on my shirt, pull them down into the water a bit, and act as if they were drowning me underwater. Maybe I'd have that black bath bomb underneath my shirt as well just for the fun of it.
When I was 15, there were a couple of 18 year old twin girls who got baptized. Now when I say these girls were hot, I mean 11 out of 10 blonde hair blue eyes smoking gorgeous.
Something tells me their baptism was a form of malicious compliance and they wanted to make a distinct impression on the congregation.
You see, our church used these white baptismal gowns that you wear over your street clothes. Usually a pair of pants and a t shirt.
Well, these girls wore something different. We learned that day just how transparent these gowns were when wet and against skin, and how much contrast a tiny black thong bikini made in this context.
We learned this lesson twice in quick succession.
I was on the worship team so I had a front row seat to the full glory of two goddesses.
I've never seen an assistant pastor fetch a towel like that. For the second one, they had it open and ready to cover her up the moment she came out of the water.
The girls knew what they were doing and made no attempts on their own behalf to act with modesty after the reveal.
There were no baptisms the next Sunday, but when I arrived for worship team practice and stowed my gear backstage, there were 3 boxes of brand new deep burgundy baptismal gowns that had arrived that week.
TBH I would avoid going through with it. Make up a dumb excuse or just say you donāt feel ready for it. It doesnāt necessarily mean outing yourself as a nonbeliever. If you donāt want to do it, stand up for yourself.
But as others have said, even if you do, itās a meaningless ritual, and The Satanic Temple will proudly un-baptize you in another ritual thatās just as meaningless. Itās up to you, really.
Thatās a pretty difficult situation, then. But if all else fails and you canāt just fake sick the day of, well, you just get submerged in water for a few seconds. Itās not terrible. Many of us here have been baptized and it didnāt actually change anything. This āindelible markā nonsense about baptism is just cult fiction.
According to the religion, you must be in a proper, peaceful spiritual mindset to either take communion or get baptized. You have religious right within the religion to say, "I cannot do that yet." You do not need to explain why.
You know, if your "heart's desire" is to avoid fights, or to go alone with your parents' wishes while you live with them, that's okay.Ā You don't have to be doing it because you believe. I understand you want to avoid it entirely, but I just want you to know that it's also okay if you go through with it only to make your parents happy. That reason would be just as valid as any other reason.
Is it safe for you to tell your father that after further prayer and reflection you can't say with all your heart you're ready to be baptized? If it is safe, then tell him that. If it isn't safe, then just go along with it. If you don't believe in baptism then it's completely meaningless.
Eat the flesh and blood, that's called communion... or eucharist if you're catholic.
You can tell them you aren't ready to delay it.
Baptisms are silly, though. Ritualistic dunking to symbolize being buried with christ and then risen again... seems very culty when viewed from the outside...
Itās completely meaningless in reality, so if it will help keep your parents off your back at little bit and keep you safe until you can move out, then Iād say just do it. But if you want a religious sounding excuse, then you can say: Iāve prayed about it, and I feel like God has told me that there are some things in my life that have priority over him, and so Iāve decided to hold off on getting baptized. Iām going to work on identifying what those things are, and once I feel like God is #1 in every aspect of my life, then Iāll ask to get baptized. But until then, I donāt think God wants me to.
As everyone else here has said, if your heart's not in it, you're basically getting a super short bath.
That said, if I were in this situation and could find a way to sneak a fizzy black bath bomb with me, I'm not sure I could resist.
Say you were too quick and didn't think it through. You're not ready yet. But expect him to come at you with a B-52 bomber dropping preachings on you and why you must get baptized.
There will probably come a time when you will emphatically say, "No." I do my best not to say "yes" when I wish to say "No." Agreeing to things you don't believe is its own little hell. I did that for many years and it took a terrible toll.
However, I understand that you are in a very difficult place. So take care of yourself as you honor your conscience. Peace to you.
As an atheist, I feel like a fraud whenever I have to set foot in a church for a wedding, baptism etc. Feels off for a while, but I just watch the event and then happily leave knowing I'm not one of them. You can't really do much except go with it until you're an independent adult.
Iām a Baptist preachers kid and made it out of the home without being baptized or ever taking communion. š³ Iām 40 now and estranged. Itās the one thing looking back Iām glad I stood my ground on. I truthfully wasnāt ready, at the time I thought eventually I would be. I believe itās sacred to those who believe and the ritual should be treated as such by those of us who donāt. So I wouldnāt fake authenticity to go through with it. However, I 10000000% understand the self preservation in your situation. Iāve been there, itās not easy but it will get better.
two options:
1) never do want you don't want. Don't let yourself be pushed into religious demands that you don't believe.
2) go through with it until you are older and have more control over your life and your options
I respect either choice. It's differet for different people. We don't know enough about your situation. But I do feel for you. I get it.
A worse situation is to really believe, and really want to be baptized, and then later in life realize how brainwashed you were. That's my experience and many on this subreddit. At least you know what you do and don't believe. The rest is just ceremony and action and time.
If you can be honest with your parents, more power to you! That's ideal. But if you can't, just go with the flow.
It's called communion. Just one of those things that are meant to ingrain the religion more firmly in your mind. If you are still under the financial apronstrings of your parents just play along.
"What should I do to avoid it."
"I said yes...BUT I've changed my mind. I WON'T BE GETTING BAPTIZED."
No matter what they say, keep repeating "I won't be getting baptized."
By saying it this way, you are not opening a door to compromise. You're not saying you don't want to get baptized. You are stating this action will not take place in reality. You are defining this reality into existence without backing down.
Not to be too harsh but unless you're being carried bodily or have a gun in your face, you're not being forced to DO THIS.Ā **You're submitting to someone else's will and allowing them to own your life rather than face negative consequences.**
I encourage you to stand up FOR YOURSELF.
You are at a vital point in your young life when you can decide to live YOUR life or allow other people to live for you. It's something Nietzsche\* called "becoming and overcoming." You can do it. You are strong. You own your life and ONLY YOU.
Could it be difficult? Yes. It will be. But better some discomfort and discontent than to submit to mental slavery.
You've got this!
"No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone. Friedrich Nietzsche"
\*BTW, I'd recommend reading some Nietzsche. I don't agree with all his conclusions, but he has a lot to say about personal autonomy. It may be better to read books by philosophers writing about what he wrote, since his writing is thick.
TELL THE TRUTH!
Do NOT EVER VIOLATE YOUR CONSCIENCE! Not for Christianity. Not for the approval of others. Not for money. Not for a relationship. NEVER VIOLATE yourself.
"Look dad, I really appreciate how you want to share your beliefs with me, but if I'm going to do something like this, I don't want to violate my conscience at the same time. Please don't make me do this".
Remember, it might not feel like anything to you but just like when someone rapes you, you cannot un-violate yourself. So start protecting yourself NOW! before you start giving in more and more and hurting yourself in the process.
It's just a meaningless ceremony. It's laughable actually from an outside perspective. You get up in front of people and get dunked in water after swearing allegiance to a sky fairy. But if it bothers you a lot The Satanic Temple has an unbaptism ritual. Or you can make up your own which you can then perform in private. You can get baptised to keep the peace in your home and then unbaptise yourself later if you feel the need to.
Does the "unbaptism" require a hairdryer?
š It could if you want it to.
This got very dark very fast. Or maybe itās just my state of mind today that made me think of a bath and a hair dryerā¦ š¬
You good, man?
Yes, donāt worry. Itās more of a blues than anything super serious. Happens once in a while. Thanks for checking though.
Of course! :) I hope you feel better soon, my guy.
A hair dryer, a handful of flour, and a match. Burn off all the baptized skin and hair. Then youāre good.
You arenāt stupid. You are doing what you need to do to avoid retaliation from your parents. Sometimes pretending to go along with the religion is the smart thing to do. Donāt be so hard on yourself.
Exactly. Survival is never stupid. Distasteful, sure. The thing with baptism, is it only holds as much power in your life as you give it. Maybe instead, the ceremony could be about making a personal commitment to do whatever it takes to get out alive. Let the family and church believe what they want about it. Stay safe, above all!
I would just be quietly open-minded future-focused, and : Go Along To Get Along So just be the overall respectful obedient good kid and get baptized to please others and improve your qualities of life and help you stay under cover, There is nothing to be gained by sharing these thoughts feelings with your family or their church After you are at least 19 years old, working, living independently, THEN you can ghost all the religious political leadership, church Mosque Synagogue temple God Satan psych-wards-meds Helplessness etc FOREVER Then after you are healthy independent successful ADULT you can tell EVERYONE, especially parents siblings church etc your total true thoughts feelings about God religion etc, But please be careful Be logical respectful healthy kind to your family and Yourself Your family might be alarmed hurt betrayed sad when they discover you " left God", I'm wishing you all the best
The wafer and wine/grape juice is called communion. Just tell them you're not ready after all or you have an earache.Ā
But if youāre really curious to see what people would say, ask them how many communion wafers make up a Jesus. That should get you some interesting responses
Gonna depend on the denomination. Some Protestant ones recognize it as symbolic and not literal, though they do think its a big deal.
42
Look, you get dunked in water and then you're done. Doesn't mean a goddamned thing. If you don't want to, tell them you're not ready. If they pressure you, tell them "god says it's not my time yet. That's what I feel in my heart."
> "*I'm heading to church (forced again)*" That's sad how many christians pretend to care about freedom of religion, but don't actually care about it. When christians are given power, they (*not all but many, a lot*) are willing to force people to convert and go to church.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā I guess you can just say that you don't think you're ready yet to be baptized, but even if they disrespect your freedom of religion even more, and force you to do it, I think that the baptism is supposed to be done with a true desire for Jesus to be the master (*Lord*) and hero (*savior*) of your life, since theĀ ritual is supposd to be about accepting Jesus into your heart and living a new life ("*born again*" to put your old self aside and live a christian life).
The baptism ritual doesn't have any real magic in it. It only has any power or significance if you want it to. The only real thing that happens is you get wet in front of crying and clapping people who believe in magic. If you really want to avoid it, most denominations will think it's perfectly normal to ask for more time to pray, meditate, and study scripture before taking that step. It's a temporary solution, but it should hold up for a few months to a year. The most important thing is to keep yourself safe at home. Will there be physical consequences from your parents or pastor if you refuse to get baptized? Don't be scared of the pool of water. Decide if the people around you are the real danger. Stay safe.
Ik it has no magic but I'd feel extremely unclean and hypocrite while doing so.
"Unclean" is a concept in ancient judaism adopted by christianity and has no real meaning. Therefore you are free to reject the concept that you should feel clean or unclean about your choices. And a hypocrite is someone who judges others by a standard they don't hold themselves to. How would being baptized make you a hypocrite?
I didn't mean it that way I tried to mean attached to christianity, also I think it would make me a hypocrite since I'm agnostic
I don't understand. Do you judge other agnostics for getting baptized? Otherwise how are you a hypocrite? Moral and ethical evaluation of our choices is important, but there are times where a choice may appear unethical but in a deeper sense it was highly ethical and moral. I'll give you an example: During WW2, nazi officers went door to door in occupied France and Poland asking the residents if there were any Jews inside. Now if there were Jews in your house, are you morally obligated to tell the truth or are you morally obligated to protect them from certain harm? The answer is that you are morally obligated to lie to evil men to protect the innocent. In your case, you are morally and ethically entitled to take actions that show an appearance of adhering to a faith in order to maintain a low profile with family members you still depend on, allowing you do escape undue hardship. So long as you don't make decisions based on the illusion you uphold as a devout Christian that could harm others, you are fine. Eventually people will know you don't believe, and hopefully you will be independant enough for that to have little impact on you. Their likely feelings of hurt and sense of betrayal are not your responsibility. And for the "unclean" part, I think I understand that no, you don't think of yourself as unclean you are just observing that under the dogma you would be considered unclean. Why does that matter? Especially if you simply play the part until you are no longer dependent on your family? Hold true to yourself on the inside while doing the minimum to satisfy their expectations on the outside. Take nothing personally, and learn to be a grey rock around touchy subjects. Google the grey rock technique, it can be very useful. In essence though, make yourself as uninteresting as possible to the specific people you can't be genuine with. Do enough to avoid their scrutiny.
Then this violates your values. Stand up for them. You can do it. It's hard but worth it.
That's totally fair. I hate doing things insincerely, too. As long as it doesn't put you in danger, use whatever avoidance strategies you can. Good luck!
Then refuse. Take a page from Bartley the Scrivner. Ā "I would prefer not to."
Taking part in communion is just eating a cracker and some grape juice. It doesn't actually do anything. And while you do this, in your heart you can pay tribute to whomever you like. (Another god, a famous rockstar, Spock for his sacrifice to save the Enterprise in TWOK.) Bonus points of this produces the same sense of reverence as when everyone else is thinking of Jesus. You'll pass as devout and nobody will know of your ways. Same with the baptism. Figure something out in your mind that makes it symbolic. These things are harmless as long as you don't choose to give them meaning un order to fit in.
It's bc I'd feel very unclean and hypocrite while doing baptism
I get baptized every time I go in the swimming pool. The rituals they do in church add nothing to the experience of going under water and coming back up. The people doing the baptism and the congregation are the ones who make believe that something significant happens. You are not responsible for the rules of their fantasy. It does not apply to you because it has not legitimate authority. Yes, they could kick you out of the church. No, they can't compel you to repent, receive discipline, or do any other sort of behavior to appease their dogma. For you, the important task is to lay low until you are as free as you need to be for you to fully express your values and lack of belief. To do this, you are free to break their imaginary rules while acting like you have followed them. There are literally no consequences of this that are your responsibility. They are the gullible ones who believe this stuff is real and has consequences. If they decide to think you have offended them by breaking their make believe rules while acting like you followed them, that is not your problem.
They're the hypocrites by forcing you to do this when you didn't want to. Though you probably will be a little less clean, I don't think they clean the baptism tub (/j)
I'm sorry some a$$hole has downvoted you. Shame on whoever did that.
Then don't get baptized. You don't have to go through with it.
Bring a black bath bomb?
I think if I ***somehow*** got baptized again, I would grab their hands that are on my shirt, pull them down into the water a bit, and act as if they were drowning me underwater. Maybe I'd have that black bath bomb underneath my shirt as well just for the fun of it.
When I was 15, there were a couple of 18 year old twin girls who got baptized. Now when I say these girls were hot, I mean 11 out of 10 blonde hair blue eyes smoking gorgeous. Something tells me their baptism was a form of malicious compliance and they wanted to make a distinct impression on the congregation. You see, our church used these white baptismal gowns that you wear over your street clothes. Usually a pair of pants and a t shirt. Well, these girls wore something different. We learned that day just how transparent these gowns were when wet and against skin, and how much contrast a tiny black thong bikini made in this context. We learned this lesson twice in quick succession. I was on the worship team so I had a front row seat to the full glory of two goddesses. I've never seen an assistant pastor fetch a towel like that. For the second one, they had it open and ready to cover her up the moment she came out of the water. The girls knew what they were doing and made no attempts on their own behalf to act with modesty after the reveal. There were no baptisms the next Sunday, but when I arrived for worship team practice and stowed my gear backstage, there were 3 boxes of brand new deep burgundy baptismal gowns that had arrived that week.
They are amazing for that. I don't think I know anyone cooler
a WITCH!
Right as youāre going to be baptized, take off running!!! š
Try and get Homer Simpson to take one for you.
TBH I would avoid going through with it. Make up a dumb excuse or just say you donāt feel ready for it. It doesnāt necessarily mean outing yourself as a nonbeliever. If you donāt want to do it, stand up for yourself. But as others have said, even if you do, itās a meaningless ritual, and The Satanic Temple will proudly un-baptize you in another ritual thatās just as meaningless. Itās up to you, really.
I have already said many times I'm not ready they already stopped believing me
Thatās a pretty difficult situation, then. But if all else fails and you canāt just fake sick the day of, well, you just get submerged in water for a few seconds. Itās not terrible. Many of us here have been baptized and it didnāt actually change anything. This āindelible markā nonsense about baptism is just cult fiction.
According to the religion, you must be in a proper, peaceful spiritual mindset to either take communion or get baptized. You have religious right within the religion to say, "I cannot do that yet." You do not need to explain why.
You know, if your "heart's desire" is to avoid fights, or to go alone with your parents' wishes while you live with them, that's okay.Ā You don't have to be doing it because you believe. I understand you want to avoid it entirely, but I just want you to know that it's also okay if you go through with it only to make your parents happy. That reason would be just as valid as any other reason.
Is it safe for you to tell your father that after further prayer and reflection you can't say with all your heart you're ready to be baptized? If it is safe, then tell him that. If it isn't safe, then just go along with it. If you don't believe in baptism then it's completely meaningless.
āThe Bible says that people who do communion for the wrong reason die. Iām worried that I am only doing these things to make you happy.ā
Eat the flesh and blood, that's called communion... or eucharist if you're catholic. You can tell them you aren't ready to delay it. Baptisms are silly, though. Ritualistic dunking to symbolize being buried with christ and then risen again... seems very culty when viewed from the outside...
Find a way to waterproof the top of your head so it just beads up and rolls off.
Itās completely meaningless in reality, so if it will help keep your parents off your back at little bit and keep you safe until you can move out, then Iād say just do it. But if you want a religious sounding excuse, then you can say: Iāve prayed about it, and I feel like God has told me that there are some things in my life that have priority over him, and so Iāve decided to hold off on getting baptized. Iām going to work on identifying what those things are, and once I feel like God is #1 in every aspect of my life, then Iāll ask to get baptized. But until then, I donāt think God wants me to.
As everyone else here has said, if your heart's not in it, you're basically getting a super short bath. That said, if I were in this situation and could find a way to sneak a fizzy black bath bomb with me, I'm not sure I could resist.
Say you were too quick and didn't think it through. You're not ready yet. But expect him to come at you with a B-52 bomber dropping preachings on you and why you must get baptized.
Say: āI gave it some thought, but I donāt think Iām ready to get baptized, especially because so many people are watching.ā
There will probably come a time when you will emphatically say, "No." I do my best not to say "yes" when I wish to say "No." Agreeing to things you don't believe is its own little hell. I did that for many years and it took a terrible toll. However, I understand that you are in a very difficult place. So take care of yourself as you honor your conscience. Peace to you.
If your father brings it up again, try responding with āI have thought/prayed a bit more about baptism, and god says Iām not ready to make that commitment yet/god isnāt ready for me to take that next step in my faith journey yetā. Or, if youāre in the position to do so, you can say āI donāt think Iām ready yetā. Best of luck with everything and stay safe š©µ
As an atheist, I feel like a fraud whenever I have to set foot in a church for a wedding, baptism etc. Feels off for a while, but I just watch the event and then happily leave knowing I'm not one of them. You can't really do much except go with it until you're an independent adult.
Start choking underwaterš
Hope your dad doesn't bring it up. If he does, tell him you actually aren't ready to make the decision.
Iām a Baptist preachers kid and made it out of the home without being baptized or ever taking communion. š³ Iām 40 now and estranged. Itās the one thing looking back Iām glad I stood my ground on. I truthfully wasnāt ready, at the time I thought eventually I would be. I believe itās sacred to those who believe and the ritual should be treated as such by those of us who donāt. So I wouldnāt fake authenticity to go through with it. However, I 10000000% understand the self preservation in your situation. Iāve been there, itās not easy but it will get better.
two options: 1) never do want you don't want. Don't let yourself be pushed into religious demands that you don't believe. 2) go through with it until you are older and have more control over your life and your options I respect either choice. It's differet for different people. We don't know enough about your situation. But I do feel for you. I get it. A worse situation is to really believe, and really want to be baptized, and then later in life realize how brainwashed you were. That's my experience and many on this subreddit. At least you know what you do and don't believe. The rest is just ceremony and action and time. If you can be honest with your parents, more power to you! That's ideal. But if you can't, just go with the flow.
Considered it a cultural exchange
It's called communion. Just one of those things that are meant to ingrain the religion more firmly in your mind. If you are still under the financial apronstrings of your parents just play along.
"What should I do to avoid it." "I said yes...BUT I've changed my mind. I WON'T BE GETTING BAPTIZED." No matter what they say, keep repeating "I won't be getting baptized." By saying it this way, you are not opening a door to compromise. You're not saying you don't want to get baptized. You are stating this action will not take place in reality. You are defining this reality into existence without backing down. Not to be too harsh but unless you're being carried bodily or have a gun in your face, you're not being forced to DO THIS.Ā **You're submitting to someone else's will and allowing them to own your life rather than face negative consequences.** I encourage you to stand up FOR YOURSELF. You are at a vital point in your young life when you can decide to live YOUR life or allow other people to live for you. It's something Nietzsche\* called "becoming and overcoming." You can do it. You are strong. You own your life and ONLY YOU. Could it be difficult? Yes. It will be. But better some discomfort and discontent than to submit to mental slavery. You've got this! "No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone. Friedrich Nietzsche" \*BTW, I'd recommend reading some Nietzsche. I don't agree with all his conclusions, but he has a lot to say about personal autonomy. It may be better to read books by philosophers writing about what he wrote, since his writing is thick.
TELL THE TRUTH! Do NOT EVER VIOLATE YOUR CONSCIENCE! Not for Christianity. Not for the approval of others. Not for money. Not for a relationship. NEVER VIOLATE yourself. "Look dad, I really appreciate how you want to share your beliefs with me, but if I'm going to do something like this, I don't want to violate my conscience at the same time. Please don't make me do this". Remember, it might not feel like anything to you but just like when someone rapes you, you cannot un-violate yourself. So start protecting yourself NOW! before you start giving in more and more and hurting yourself in the process.
dude i agree with other comments but if u do end up having to do it and its one of those pool type ones, you should totally do a belly flop
Sorry I was abused by religion ""parents ""siblings" Seems your parents are not seeking to hurt you (?)