Curse Those Pesky Christians

When I sent out the formal invitations for my son’s baptism in December I was expecting plenty of no shows. People are busy, have lots of work commitments and cannot always travel; many of our friends and family live interstate or in the country. What I had not anticipated was the hostile reaction to the idea of a formal church ceremony.

“I just don’t like going into churches,” said one friend. Another, a lapsed Catholic, tried to engage me in a dialogue about organized religion: “I just don’t get this baptism thing at all. What does it really mean?” Perhaps the cross on the invitation had upset him. I later had to ‘unfriend’ another person, someone I have known for 20 years, from my social media network, after he posted a comment on Facebook, saying that having Myles baptized would be of little value to him later in life; a stupid and insulting comment.

Is it open season on Christianity at the moment? I cannot imagine that anyone would be so blunt or abusive if, for example, we were practicing Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, Hindus or even members of the Baha’i faith.
Had we held the ceremony in a mosque or a synagogue, non-believers would have been intrigued by the ceremony, respectful of our values and impressed by the sense of community support evident throughout. They might have asked tactful questions and mingled politely with the worshippers afterwards. Anyone who had a problem with formal religion itself would, no doubt, have made a polite excuse – and kept away.

The same rules no longer seem to apply to Christians, who must constantly defend the idea of bringing their children up in the faith. Atheists seem to think that ritual is a somehow outmoded and embarrassing notion, with no value in our scientific, consumerist world. But even non-believers celebrate rites of passage, observe Christian holidays and occasionally get married in church – because they like the gothic architecture and, perhaps, the music, as I do.

Christians are routinely mocked in the media in a way which would be unthinkable if applied to other religions. Anglicanism, the most tolerant and ecumenical of the Christian churches, seems to generate a particular level of public opprobrium. So instead of celebrating our son’s baptism at St Peter’s Cathedral in Adelaide, I find myself having to defend my faith – and my decision to bring my child up in such an archaic, outmoded belief system.

To the knockers I say: there is nothing sinister or ridiculous about Christianity. At its core, Christianity is a religion of love and tolerance. And hope. That is exactly what we have found at our weekly worship at St Peter’s – a positive, supportive community.

Although conducted at the rather grand marble font, the baptism service at St Peter’s was very personal – the start of our son’s spiritual life but also a chance for us to reaffirm our faith. Each child was marked with the sign of the cross in water and presented with special baptism candle. “God has brought you out of darkness and into his marvellous light,” announced the Very Rev'd Frank Nelson, Dean of the Cathedral. Afterwards I held Myles aloft to the congregation, which burst into generous applause. It was positive, life-affirming moment.

Do I believe every child should have this type of religious initiation? Of course, not. Religion is a matter of private conscience. But surely Christians deserve the same level of respect or at least forebearance as those of other faiths? Maybe some of the cynics out there are tilting at windmills. I believe in a tolerant, pluralist, multi-faith Australia. Rather than sneering at religion, my secular colleagues should open their minds, and hearts, and embrace such diversity. Either way, I am delighted he is an Anglican, at least for the moment. It will be his bedrock in the years to come.