Comments on: Are Bulgarians Hypocritical Christians: The atheist mother and the torturous baptism

By: Demetrios Kehagias

Demetrios Kehagias — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 06:08:27 +0000

I read your blog about the baptismal experience and I was utterly dismayed at what I read. I can see that the sacrament itself was NEVER properly explained and I can understand what leads up to the conclusions (which in my opinion) are incorrect. The old adage that, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. Never was more true. It is normal for the children to cry as much as they did. I have experienced this phenomena repeatedly. When you have someone who is not a member of the family in the children’s face, I don’t expect them to be happy instead I expect them to react as they did. He (the priest) needed to reassure everyone that this is normal because he is a stranger to these children. He cannot shorten the service because they are crying (Orthodoxy Christianity is steeped in tradition which dates back to Christ himself). One other note is we must realize that even though we as humans are imperfect, Christ and His church are perfect because it is not mankind who created the church but God who set the format of how the worship is to be done.

I also just wanted to thank you for taking the time of sharing your experience with us because not many people are willing to stand up and say, “this is how this experience affected myself and my family”.

+Demetrios

P.S. Feel free to contact me if I can be of service in any way.

By: zikata

zikata — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:01:01 +0000

Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I’m glad we don’t have religious schools in Bulgaria, but I’ve heard that in the old days, they did have corporal punishment. I agree that there is nothing educational in slapping or pulling student’s ears, be it by a teacher or a nun.

I read the article about the drowned baby, and I’m speechless! The baby was six weeks old! At that age, they can’t even sit upright; why would you put a newborn through such a complicated ceremony?! Both the parents and the priest are to blame for the tragedy.

By: Katley

Katley — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:12:38 +0000

That christening must have been horrible to watch. Those poor babies must have suffered. And for what?

I, too have had bad experiences with religion, although much different than yours.

I grew up in a religious family, and went to Sunday School from the time I was in second grade.

The nuns there were brutal, especially with the boys, and used corporal punishment on them, usually with a ruler, or a pointer.

My husband had a bad experience at his mother’s funeral mass, when he was reprimanded by the priest in front of the congregation, for not holding out his hands to receive communion. (Back in the day, the priest placed the wafer in the person’s mouth).

And then I went to Rome, and saw all that glitter and glitz that was the Vatican. Far from making me more religious, seeing the Holy City turned me away from religion altogether. The reason for that? Priests are supposed to take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and the opulent surroundings where the cardinals lived were the ultimate in hypocrisy. There are so many who do without, and here are these cardinals living in luxury.

BTW I was raised Roman Catholic. There have been a lot of scandals in the news about priests abusing children (usually altar boys).

I read something recently about a child drowning while being baptized. It happened in Romania. A tragedy that never should have been.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/news/world/2010/07/28/14855316.html

I don’t practice religion now, nor does my family. It would be hypocrisy to do so.

God created the world, but Man created religion.