Last month, a man named John Hunt won his battle to have his record of baptism removed from the church history. This raised some questions, and I hope you’ll tell me what you think.
First, some history.
I was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church as an infant. My mother was Catholic and my father was Protestant, but they agreed to compromise; before you knew it, the stain of original sin was removed from my soul. Or so they believed.
Today, I’m a godless heathen who doesn’t care whether I was baptized, initiated, confirmed, or whatever else. I have left religion behind and I do not believe in a spiritual reality. That baptism was for my parents; in my eyes, it had no effect on me.
Now back to Mr. Hunt. Why do non-theists care whether they were baptized or not? If you don’t believe in a spiritual realm, afterlife, or sin, why is baptism anything more than a splash or dunk of water? It’s an empty religious tradition, isn’t it? Why the fuss about removing it? The only reason I can dream up is that it affects your social status and you don’t want to be identified with that group for legal, political, or safety reasons.
I’m sorry folks, but you can’t undo the impact religion has had on your life; you can’t change your past. I don’t mind if one feels a personal drive to be de-baptized, but all I ask is why?
Chris on 
Bill the Heathen on 
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Just like my foreskin, my original sin is still intact.
Good article.
hehe, nice analogy.
Small derail, but I will mention that some men have foreskin restoration surgery. And woman have hymen restoration surgery. All quite odd to me.
hehe, nice analogy.
Small derail, but I will mention that some men have foreskin restoration surgery. And some women have hymen restoration surgery. All quite odd to me.
Yeah, i've read about the foreskin restoration. Luckily my parents did not mutilate my genitalia as a baby.
I know. TMI!
Nah, I'm all about honesty. My parents didn't mutilate me either!
Ha, that's a clever response.
I don't understand it either. I was also baptized in the Catholic church as an infant. That ritual means nothing to me now and a de-baptism would mean nothing to me now either. I suppose that it has more to do with making a statement.
In terms of the Catholic Church, they literally still count you amongst there members until you asked to be taken off, and I believe that is what the debaptism is about. You don’t want your name being used to support a corrupt institution when the Church starts lobbying for issues, and has an inflated membership count.
Oops, their*
Just found your blog today. The reason I wanted my unbaptism is because every year when the mormon conference is going on they announce how many members of record. I hate the fact that I was lied to for 30 years, and bought into all their crap, and the thought of my name being included as one of those members made me sick.