Counting On: Season 3, Part 6: All Hail Rufus

[Audrey2]

5 minutes ago, lizzybee said:

My husband and I were baptized together in church, but someone forgot to turn on the heat for the water so it was ice cold. We found that out as we were stepping into the water. True story: several members of the congregation became emotional because they thought my husband was weeping/having an intense religious experience as the pastor dunked him. Nope, he was simply freezing and couldn't hold it together for the ceremony. 

I'm glad I'm United Methodist. I was 13 when I was baptized (my choice) and was sprinkled instead of immersed.

[SuhrEnity]

2 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

Five episodes.

Three 30 minute episodes covering Josie doing something super sinful

But will she be wearing a light up flower crown with thorns?

[Buzzard]

1 minute ago, SuhrEnity said:

But will she be wearing a light up flower crown with thorns?

Yes, and she will carry a fetus doll that is the same size that she was when she was born to remind us all that every fetus is a life.

[SuhrEnity]

Just now, Buzzard said:

Yes, and she will carry a fetus doll that is the same size that she was when she was born to remind us all that every fetus is a life.

Perhaps the Boob and Meechelle will reenact her life giving moment by dry humping for us

[Georgiana]

I always love how INFANT BAPTISM is a no-no and the sign of the WRONG KIND OF CHRISTIANITY....but baptizing 4 year olds is TOTALLY fine.

I get the arguments for non-infant baptisms, and I think they're solid if that's what you believe Baptism to be (Catholics infant baptize largely because Baptism in the Catholic Church is understood differently than in many lines of Protestantism), but they ALL fall apart if you baptize below the Age of Reason, IMO.   

[foreign fundie]

14 minutes ago, lizzybee said:

My husband and I were baptized together in church, but someone forgot to turn on the heat for the water so it was ice cold. We found that out as we were stepping into the water. True story: several members of the congregation became emotional because they thought my husband was weeping/having an intense religious experience as the pastor dunked him. Nope, he was simply freezing and couldn't hold it together for the ceremony. 

My friend experienced the opposite. I heard her say 'ouch' when she got in and she came out al red. Somebody had forgotten to turn on the cold. It was scalding hot. We Christians are so talented at messing up holy moments 

[lizzybee]

2 minutes ago, Georgiana said:

I always love how INFANT BAPTISM is a no-no and the sign of the WRONG KIND OF CHRISTIANITY....but baptizing 4 year olds is TOTALLY fine.

I'm Baptist and I think this is weird too. I'll even go so far as to call it spiritual abuse. Essentially what you've done is scare a child about hell/Satan until they feel like they have to do something about it. Those kids almost always have a second experience with salvation and baptism as well if they stay within the church.

When I was seven(ish) I had a cousin tell me to sign a piece of paper during Sunday school saying I believed in Jesus and I refused because it seemed important and I didn't understand. She told me I was going to hell and I was terrified of Satan pretty much the rest of my childhood. 

When I asked her, my grandmother told me that babies and children are already saved by Jesus and don't need to worry about it until they're older. I found that soothing while I was so distressed. 

Now, as a mother of a five month old, I am really leery about the idea of putting my kid in Sunday school for this reason. I don't like the idea of not knowing what they're telling him and teaching him. I don't care how overbearing it seems, I'd probably make it really clear, if I were to let him go, that I don't  want them trying to save him or scare him about crucifixion and death. It's more likely I won't let him go. Call me helicopter mom, I don't care. 

I was watching an Easter video on youtube put out by Priscilla and David Waller a while back that I thought was disturbing. Priscilla was describing how her mom would have them make resurrection cookies and her description seemed a little over much to be subjecting children to even hypothetically. "Whipping the batter was like how they whipped Jesus." Way to ruin cookie making there, mom. She starts on the story after she finishes mentioning how she was making Paul feel guilty about his sin around 1:40 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC9SWt9Kdm8&t=142s

 

 

[mango_fandango]

The Maxwells seem to allow their kids to be baptised weirdly early too. Abby, who's nearly 9, got baptised at 6, and Bethany was done at the same ceremony- she was only four. The FJ consensus seemed to be that Abby maybe felt subtly pressured into it, and Bethany probably wanted to be just like Abby. 

It seems easy for a young kid to accept Jesus (they probably just say so, and just saying words means little)- but actually understanding what it all means is very different. I remember Erika Shupe saying somewhere that she let her kids get baptised only when they were at least junior high age. I'm guessing that, despite all the outward changes, their general beliefs haven't changed much, so that'd be a maximum of 3 of the Shupes being baptised. 

/threadhijack

[foreign fundie]

1 hour ago, lizzybee said:

I was watching an Easter video on youtube put out by Priscilla and David Waller a while back that I thought was disturbing. Priscilla was describing how her mom would have them make resurrection cookies and her description seemed a little over much to be subjecting children to even hypothetically.

Reminds me of a friend who made an Easter cake. A green icing garden with an empty tomb. As if eating an icing grave would not be weird enough, the inside of the cake was red velvet 'like the blood of Jesus'. Some people just take things a little far...

[Drala]

This thread about resurrection cookies and Easter cake reminds me of a Catholic relative who, when "fasting" on shrimp (fish) during Fridays in Lent, commented how the pink flesh of the shrimp reminded her of baby Jesus, while the cocktail sauce was like his blood...

Yep, some people just take things a little far.

[Jana814]

I think that Abby and Bethany were pressured into getting baptized like stated above. Maybe they thought if they would do this grandpa would be happy and pay attention to them. 

[VelociRapture]

@lizzybeeNot overbearing at all. I'd be the same way if I had that experience. When done right, faith can be a beautiful gift - but it's so easy to abuse it and twist it for selfish purposes.

Our daughter is five months as well and we aren't having her baptized. This was apparently pretty surprising to my mom (Catholic) because she assumed we would. She's not thrilled, but she completely accepts that it's our decision to make. I just think it's funny she thought we would when we've made it pretty obvious we aren't religious. Lol!

If Velocibaby comes to us when she's older and says it's something important to her that she wants to do, that's fine with us. We'll sit right up front all excited for her. We just want it to be a choice she makes for herself, not something we decided for her.

[lizzybee]

Just now, VelociRapture said:

@lizzybeeIf Velocibaby comes to us when she's older and says it's something important to her that she wants to do, that's fine with us. We'll sit right up front all excited for her. We just want it to be a choice she makes for herself, not something we decided for her.

Absolutely. There's something very different about allowing a person to make important life decisions for themselves versus coercing them or making it for them when they're too young to critically think for themselves. My husband and I are religious people, but I don't support the practice of indoctrinating a child from the beginning with information that's too heavy for them to bear. Fundie's like to use the suitcase analogy when they describe why they shelter their kids, but why isn't it applicable to some of the aspects of the religion itself? Paul Waller, for example, is waaaay too small to be pondering his own sinful nature at his mother's encouragement.

The bible app for kids is also awful. I downloaded it to check it out and the old testament is just too old testamenty - "Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery and dipped his coat into goat's blood to convince their father he was dead." Nope nope nope.  

[Scrabblemaster]

21 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

JB baptised Amy in the Jordan river, with rats swimming by.

I thought you were kidding! And then I searched for that incident and I saw you were right! I cannot see that part of the episode anywhere but I saw Jim Bob lying in the Dead Sea with all his clothes on? I have no sound on my computer for now but I will have to watch at least the pieces I am able to watch soon! I will order some brain bleach to prevent severe damage, I think my sarcasm brain cells will get an overload when I can hear the comments...

[sawasdee]

Lapsed - VERY lapsed - Catholic here . I always understood baptism as my parents making sure that I was ok if I died young, but confirmation was when I accepted the faith I was born into - usually at between 10 and 14.

I understood confirmation as my confirming - ie agreeing with - my baptism. Isn't that what confirmation means?

[just_ordinary]

I think the Christian but not Catholic Churches in the USA seem to handle this very differently from Europe or Middle and South America.

On the rat babtism. Yes it is disgusting. But then it is the same as with the Hindus and the Ganges. I would not dip my finger in it but it is of great importance for their religion. The Jordan is the river where Jesus was baptised so her baptism would have been quite special (like degree from Harvard compared to one from a community college) if it wouldn't have been JB.

[VelociRapture]

13 minutes ago, sawasdee said:

Lapsed - VERY lapsed - Catholic here . I always understood baptism as my parents making sure that I was ok if I died young, but confirmation was when I accepted the faith I was born into - usually at between 10 and 14.

I understood confirmation as my confirming - ie agreeing with - my baptism. Isn't that what confirmation means?

Fellow lapsed Catholic. As far as I know you're correct.

Personally, Husband and I simply don't know what we believe ourselves and don't feel comfortable choosing to associate our baby with any religion for that reason. We feel it would be offensive and hypocritical to hedge our bets that way.

[sawasdee]

@VelociRaptureI was quoting my parents' beliefs, not mine! I totally agree with you!

[Four is Enough]

22 minutes ago, sawasdee said:

Lapsed - VERY lapsed - Catholic here . I always understood baptism as my parents making sure that I was ok if I died young, but confirmation was when I accepted the faith I was born into - usually at between 10 and 14.

I understood confirmation as my confirming - ie agreeing with - my baptism. Isn't that what confirmation means?

Yes, and that is why confirmation is so important among the Catholics. In Baptism of an infant, the parents are agreeing for the child and promising to raise the child in the Church formation. In Confirmation, the person is accepting that mantle for him/her self.

[marmalade]

On 5/11/2017 at 8:03 AM, Four is Enough said:

Do the Duggars even celebrate first birthdays? I don't remember ever seeing a first birthday party. So maybe it's not a big deal.

 

We were introduced to Sierra when Mikey's first b-day cake was a cakewreck. We also assumed that she did NOT make the resutlatnt rainbow cake. 

[Dandruff]

5 hours ago, SuhrEnity said:

Perhaps the Boob and Meechelle will reenact her life giving moment by dry humping for us

Not that they need a reason.

[candygirl200413]

So I always forget that I was baptized as a baby but my parents never really told us about it even though we were average church-goers. In middle school Sunday school my teachers I remember were really hellbent on those who were baptized as infants to get baptized but I was totally fine not being re-baptized. Now like 8-9 years later I still identify as a Christian but still don't want to be baptized or been asked again if I want to be baptized. If I have kids, I would probably do the same as my parents but never push it down my children's throats or anything of that nature.

[MadeItOut]

6 hours ago, foreign fundie said:

My friend experienced the opposite. I heard her say 'ouch' when she got in and she came out al red. Somebody had forgotten to turn on the cold. It was scalding hot. We Christians are so talented at messing up holy moments 

This is giving me nostalgia for the Methodist chapel I grew up in: one of our earliest Sunday school 'outings' to join communion, the kid next to me (all of about twelve and therefore leader by default) got his little glass, downed it like a pint and declared "ewwww, they've over watered the ribena". ...happy days.

[onekidanddone]

Mr One Kid is a lapsed Wiccan and I'm a Jew-ish Atheist so we are going to the pits of hell fire for sure.

[Mela99]

4 hours ago, marmalade said:

We were introduced to Sierra when Mikey's first b-day cake was a cakewreck. We also assumed that she did NOT make the resutlatnt rainbow cake. 

Which birthday was the one where Anna or Amy made some kind of ark cake?