Christening your child

pickledonionspaceraider

Before I start, I'd like to point out that I have great respect for all religions, and this is just from a personal perspective

My immediate family were not religious or church goers, but I was christened, merely to get into the right senior school when i was aged ten.  I didn't want to be christened and I didn't want to go to the religious school - my choice was that I went to the local comp with all my primary school friends - No one cared what I actually wanted. It was somehow seen as a more prestigious school - and thus started the worst years of my life.

I was unhappy at the religious school from the word go - I had nothing in common with any of my peers, who were from religious backgrounds, their families attended church - many had been to the same religious based primary schools together - and everyone already knew each other either through previous school or through church.  They didn't really mix with non religious people or activities

There was at least one hour of church each single school day in place of lessons - this was either at the local church, or at the onsite church.

I got my head down and got good grades at first, but I suffered hell at this school, from the non stop relentless bullying, to the teachers who would single me out to humiliate me. One teacher even called my parents into the school and suggested I be put into local authority care as I didn't know the words to a religious song

There was a huge amount of acting out at school by the teenagers - smoking (and not just cigarettes), starting large fires, bullying, and behaving in 'very adult ways' in the school playing field, are just some of the things I can recall - all things were heavily punishable if caught. There were kids acting as 'dealers'

So, my rambling point being - just because it is a religious school, doesn't mean that it is better in terms of education - and the diversity of people one meets at an open school is far wider than the closed off group that I found at the religious school.

I have family members that are in this school to this day, and it hasn't changed, by all accounts.  Not my kids though - I never christened my own

Since, I have spent a lot of time searching my soul and have found an entirely different religion that suits ME better, not my parents school choices. It took me a long time

Etchergifts

I grew up in a mixed household too, one religious parent and one not really into it. We ended up not baptizing our kids because neither of us felt strongly enough about it, and it just felt weird promising something we didn't deeply believe. Instead, we did a little welcome gathering with close friends and family, which felt more genuine for us. Schools in our area do have religious options but honestly, we just went with the local community school based on catchment, and it worked out really well for us.

One thing I noticed at a Romanian friend's christening was how personal and meaningful everything was, they had a luxury baptism set with personalized box with the baby's name and date embroidered on everything. It was a totally different atmosphere, more about family and tradition than strict faith.

Pollycat

Thread started almost 4 years ago.
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