You are probably only interested in section 3 of this chapter together with the letters at the end, which includes some from the Catholic church (other sections are about taking up the Hindu religion).

I would view this as the best way of revoking a baptism and confirmation.

I’m considering the following

1. Get my baptism and confirmation certificates, post them to your local bishop or to the vatican. Explain that it was a mistake I joined their club, someone else did it on my behalf and I would like to leave and be removed from their mailing list

2. Get excommunicated for extreme blasphemy or heresy. Perhaps I’ll say something like the bible clearly indicates or states that the pope blows donkey dick, (I’m sure I’ll find a reference to make it stick) or that some porn starlett is actually the 2nd comming of jesus etc. I’d even desacrate a communion biscuit and post it to them. Im sure there are many ways. I might just write to the vatican and ask, or tell them

3. This is a more moderate option. I consider that I was never asked if I wanted to join this club (baptism) and I was tricked into taking out the extended membership (confirmation). Therefore, it is not really their decision to release me, but my decision to leave. I no longer consider myself a catholic or christian of any sort. I am probably both agnositc and athiest in that I neither know nor believe (much the same as my position on santa, easter bunny etc), but I digress.

4. for somethging symbollic there is always an un-baptism and un-confirmation ceramony/party. Get some friends round, renounce it with witness, have some beers and a BBQ, and use the certificates to light the fire and have some blasphemy burgers.

Remember, you never really asked to join and you dont need the permission of a hitler-youther in a pointy hat to leave.

may Darwin be with you my friend

Aidan

Though I find it a bit offensive and misleading (and I’m a liberal feminist), here’s a sight by atheists that talks about renouncing the church: http://www.atheistfoundation.org.au/excommunication.htm

In terms of your God-Parenting, you might suggest to your brother or sister that they find another co-Godparent to do the “spiritual leadership/conversation” part of the job. The point of a Godparent is to give children another person (besides their parents) to talk to about faith and religion. You could still do that for your Godchild, but if the child is catholic, it would be helpful if the person s/he talked to had some current grounding in the faith she was a member of.

Good Luck! I hope you find something that works for you!

–dc

My sister was very upset with me (for a while) but she got over it.

As for the godfather part for your nieces and nephews, isn’t there some legal guardian papers that have nothing to do with the church?

Atheist Scott

I happen to be a devote Christian. I was converted later in life and have had many struggles with my faith and, to an even greater extent, the espousings of the Church. However, I respect the fact that you have obviously put a lot of thought into your decision to renounce your Christian upbringings. Many people these days seem to cast of Christianity based on public opinions or uninformed prejudices. You, on the other hand, appear to have carefully considered your position.

I have found what (who) I am looking for in this life, and I sincerely hope you do as well.

Good fortunes,

Greg

I would like to think that no one in my family would consider differing views on religion to be grounds for driving a wedge between each other and were this not the case it would only reinforce my conclusion that such religious faith is best rejected in the strongest possible terms.

Wanting me to take part in a family outing would have naturally been a factor (on my part too, hence I took the option to meet up for coffee afterwards) but the major driver was and is religion. This, I would have thought, is self-evident and there’s certainly no effort to hide it (we’ve debated it on numerous occasions), which is not surprising when you consider my punishment for not having the sense to accept Jesus Christ as the God Almighty is Eternal Damnation at the hand of somebody’s Boogie Monster.

You’re right that keeping up appearances by going to Church may be a small sacrifice but that assumes the only sacrifice is my own, which it’s not. The biggest driver for me is those growing up around me, my nieces and nephews. By renouncing Christianity I think one can help break the cycle that keeps faith in bizarre anti-human fairy tales alive, in the process mitigating much of the personal and societal damage it causes. My renunciation would give those growing up around me an impetus to at least question at an early stage what they may be lead to believe.

Freedom of religion is considered by many to be a fundamental human right, and that includes freedom from religion. The principle of accepting other people’s views is elementary but you seem to turn it on its head. Not only am I to accept another person’s view but I’m to dispense with my own and carry out the other person’s view in contradiction to my own. In fact I do accept my Mother’s views on religion; I don’t intend to pressure her into renouncing Christianity, so it would be far more consistent on your part to argue that it would be a small sacrifice on the part of those who believe in the supernatural to accept my views and refrain from pressuring me into following their doctrine.

We stand at the possible precipice of WWIII, a gateway to hell on earth, and if the Middle East goes up in a mushroom cloud there are people in the highest levels of power who won’t see it so much as a tragedy but as biblical prophecy. I think it’s time to break the cycle.

Regards

Brad

With regard to your atheism, as you point out, Occam’s Razor talks about being “more likely,” so I still don’t understand how you can know that there are no gods. Using Occam’s Razor you can only “know” that it is more likely there are no gods.

By the way here’s a website you’ll probably find just as useful as I found yours.

• To your main quandaries: (1) your own attitude to your Baptism and Confirmation, and (2) how to describe the responsibility you have agreed to take on, which you now call: being your niece’s godfather.

Re (1):
Easy. They happened in the past, before you became an independent person (the equal of anyone else, free to choose your own actions or inactions). Everyone is constantly re-creating their own world, so simply write them out of your current world. And leave other adults free to make their own choices about their attitudes to such ceremonies.

Re (2):
Slightly more difficult since it involves someone other than yourself.
My advice is that the three of you (“my sister, her husband and I”) come to a new agreement based on you being her uncle, in which you agree to take on all the responsibilities you thought you were taking on when asked the first time. (Such as: you will be someone your niece can count on being helpful when she’s totally fed up with her parents, and her legal guardian after both parents die.)

• My general attitude is that, if it involves reasonable people, suitable arrangements can almost always be made, by negotiation.

David.

On the other hand I’ve spent most of my life studying Christianity and the like and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a big steaming pile of human-created shite, used to keep people under the thumb.

• As someone who does know I was mistaken in my earlier life, I have no such complications.

David (atheist).