Me and my girlfriend had our first son 3 months ago and though my girlfriend is not a declared atheist, she isn't religious either, but her family, particularily her father, are religious, catholic to be precise. Anyway, not long after our son was born, along came the thorny but obvious issue of getting our son christened.
Here is the issue, I am totally unsure whether I should take a stand and insist that my son not be christened as I get along very well with my girlfriends father, and though he knows I am an atheist he has never taken issue with me about it, but he has said numerous times that he expects that we will christen our son.
To be honest the rituals involved in christening/communion/confirmation mean nothing to me, and I am leaning towards agreeing to have the child christened just to maintain good relations with my father in law. I am not the slightest bit troubled about taking oaths or being part of the rituals as I know it's just nonsense, but I worry that if I give in and just go along with this for an easy life that it will send the message that I will always just give in whenever they make a demand on what they think we should do when raising our son.
I also live in Ireland, and it is a very catholic country with very few secular schools and I am unsure if we will be able to get a school placement for our son if he isn't christened. It's all weighing a little heavy on my mind lately, I'm not entirely sure what I will end up doing. Do any of you guys have any advice/opinions/suggestions or similar experiences?
Here is the issue, I am totally unsure whether I should take a stand and insist that my son not be christened as I get along very well with my girlfriends father, and though he knows I am an atheist he has never taken issue with me about it, but he has said numerous times that he expects that we will christen our son.
To be honest the rituals involved in christening/communion/confirmation mean nothing to me, and I am leaning towards agreeing to have the child christened just to maintain good relations with my father in law. I am not the slightest bit troubled about taking oaths or being part of the rituals as I know it's just nonsense, but I worry that if I give in and just go along with this for an easy life that it will send the message that I will always just give in whenever they make a demand on what they think we should do when raising our son.
I also live in Ireland, and it is a very catholic country with very few secular schools and I am unsure if we will be able to get a school placement for our son if he isn't christened. It's all weighing a little heavy on my mind lately, I'm not entirely sure what I will end up doing. Do any of you guys have any advice/opinions/suggestions or similar experiences?
