Should Religions Have Rituals Such As Baptism For Infants?
The Religion Guy’s Answer: This question might seem absurd, since religious birth rituals are so universal. But Christian baptism of infants is being assailed by a prominent (though alienated) Catholic, Mary McAleese, who was the president of Ireland from 1997 to 2011.
The headline on a Jan. 11 article she wrote for the Irish Times, the nation’s leading newspaper, announced that “Baptism Denies Babies Their Human Rights.”
Infant baptism is a “systemic and overlooked severe restriction on children’s rights with regard to religion,” she says. Reason: It imposes church membership that a newborn does not consent to, and she finds it laughable that parents and godparents make religious vows on behalf of an infant.
McAleese, who has a 2018 canon law doctorate from Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, thinks the church violates “children’s rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
McAleese omits that the 1948 Declaration opposes “arbitrary interference” in peoples’ homes and families, and defends religious freedom, which surely includes parents’ right to choose infant baptism and their religion’s customs on child-rearing.
Some “New Atheists” years ago claimed that a religious upbringing amounted to “child abuse” without acknowledging that, just so, atheists raise children to follow their own unbelief.
Freedom to leave
In Catholic canon law, she correctly notes, baptized infants always remain church members even if they later join another faith, or cease all religious involvement or belief, which they are free to do. (The Guy’s mother was only in a Catholic church once, for her infant baptism, and thus always a member though she was in reality a lifelong Baptist.)
McAleese unites with the Baptists regarding the baptism debate. In the Reformation, most Protestants continued infant baptism but “Anabaptists” broke away, insisting that baptism and church membership should only occur after an individual’s conscious decision as a youth or adult. Churches that practice “believer’s baptism” typically employ full immersion in water as the proper biblical mode, and have independent local congregations.
Adding pacifism
Holland’s Menno Simons, a Catholic priest who converted in 1537, added pacifism, perpetuated today by Mennonites and like-minded churches. Non-pacifist “Baptists” arose in early 17th Century England and achieved major success in America. The Southern Baptist Convention has long been the largest Protestant body in the U.S., and African-Americans have several major Baptist denominations.
Globally, Baptist, Pentecostal, indigenous, and other churches that practice believer’s baptism are said to have hundreds of millions of followers. Churches in this tradition often hold dedication or blessing ceremonies where parents vow to raise newborns in their faith.
McAleese and Baptists fit with modern concepts of individualism and can cite biblical roots. No explicit infant baptisms occur in the New Testament. Jesus’s “Great Commission” tells followers to baptize and to teach converts “all that I have commanded” (Matthew 28:19-20), suggesting students, not infants. Similarly, in Acts 2:38 a mass of converts consciously repented of their sins before being baptized.
However, those who baptize infants can cite precedents fairly early in church history. Also, the Apostle Paul linked baptism with the God’s Old Testament command to circumcise male infants and signify incorporation into God’s covenant people (Colossians 2:11-12).
Thus Protestants’ early Belgic Confession (1561) states of circumcision that “Christ established in its place the sacrament of baptism.” Proponents also cite New Testament examples of baptizing a “household” or “family,” which arguably included young children (e.g. Acts 11:14, 16:15, 16:33, 18:8, and I Corinthians 1:16).
Other religions
Judaism — Circumcision (brit milah) of boys dates back 4,000 years to God’s covenant with Abraham, who had himself and all males in his household circumcised (Genesis 17:10-12), after which the commandment applied on the 8th day after birth, and to older converts. (Some modern synagogues drop this adult requirement; adult female converts are immersed in a mikveh bath). A rabbinical mohel usually performs the surgery and ritual. Since newborn girls have no equivalent of circumcision, synagogues today may conduct naming ceremonies of brit bat (daughter’s covenant) or simchat bat (celebrating a daughter).
Islam — Customs vary by region and the following, though not mandatory, is recommended and usually observed. The father whispers prayers in the ears of the newborn, whose palate is rubbed with softened date or other sweet fruit. Then the Aqiqah naming ritual seven days after birth includes prayers, shaving the infant’s head to symbolize purity, an animal sacrifice, and charitable donations.
Though not in the Quran, authoritative hadith tradition says the Prophet Muhammad considered circumcision of boys “in accordance with” received teaching from prior prophets (Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 79, #6297). Jurists disagree whether circumcision is mandatory, typically during infancy, or only highly recommended. Circumcision is not required for adult converts. Most today believe the female circumcision in certain Muslim cultures is offensive “genital mutilation.” Yet the traditionalist Islam Q&A Web site in Saudi Arabia teaches that a girl should undergo a moderate form of circumcision because otherwise “her desire will be strong.”
Hinduism — The chief childhood rituals, which vary by region and may be combined in modern times, begin with the Jatakarma welcome on the birth day. The father places honey with ghee under the newborn’s tongue, whispers the name of a god in the ears, and the assembly prays for divine protection. Subsequent rituals bestow the child’s name around the 11th day, celebrate the first trip outside the home around three months, the first eating of solid food, and the first haircut or head-shaving, believed to remove impurities. Later observances are the start of schooling in the Vedic scriptures, and the sacred-thread initiation into Hindu maturity.
Buddhism — There is no mandatory and universal birth ritual, and many variations. Buddhists often conduct an infant dedication or naming ceremony with a monk chanting scriptures and bestowing blessings along with parental oaths. Newborns may also be taken to their first temple visit. A Buddhist teen-ager undergoes initiation that often includes several months or more of formal study in the faith.
Sikhism — This monotheistic religion, founded in the 16th Century India, is unique in its doctrinal opposition to circumcision, on grounds of gender equality and the belief the body God created should remain intact except for necessity. However, some Sikhs circumcise boys due to local cultures. This religion’s Amrit ritual is often called Sikh “baptism.” This ceremonial pouring of water is not performed with infants but as part of full initiation of adult men and women into the faith.
In critiquing McAleese’s article at Patheos.com, Lutheran Gene Veith said her pro-choice stance raises this question: “Do infants consent to being aborted?” For McAleese, “apparently the mother’s choice to have the baby is the only consent that matters, though the mother should not have the choice to have her baby baptized.”
This article originally appeared in Patheos.
Richard N. Ostling was a longtime religion writer with The Associated Press and with Time magazine, where he produced 23 cover stories, as well as a Time senior correspondent providing field reportage for dozens of major articles. He is a recipient of the Religion News Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. He has interviewed such personalities as Billy Graham, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI); ranking rabbis and Muslim leaders; and authorities on other faiths; as well as numerous ordinary believers. He writes a bi-weekly column for Religion Unplugged.