With Soap, Baptism Is a Good Thing

I recently read an article on the Denver Post with the headline: "Springs church, school clash over proselytizing." Apparently, representatives of the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Colorado Springs tried to lure a seventh grader into a van. This church has previously been charged with baptizing children without permission. Students at other nearby schools have also been approached by church members and other members have been preaching the Bible on school grounds.

After this incident, the school district sent home letters to all the parents and met with the church's leaders to complain about church members coming all school grounds, but all this did was force them onto the sidewalk. Once they are off school grounds, it is up to the parents to take legal action against them.

Part of this church's doctrinal statement is "We believe the church is a local, separated body of believers who are sent forth into the world to get people saved, baptized and added to the church." Obviously, they believe so strongly that they are willing to risk kidnapping and other felonies (it is my understanding that Baptists use the full immersion technique) to deliver the first sacrament.

I am very tolerant of and curious about religion (just ask the Mormons who had to describe their church in detail for almost two hours when they knocked at my door - I wonder why they never came back after they said they would?), but this is going way too far. They should hold a mixer or do philanthropy in the community in order to attract new members, not frighten children and dunk them unwillingly.

Religion is slowly but surely fading away in America. The latest survey by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life indicates that 16.1% of Americans are unaffiliated with any particular faith. Among Americans 18-29 years of age, the number is 31%. This makes for a smaller pool for churches to recruit from and a very competitive marketplace. Moreover, church doctrine is losing hold over its congregation. For example, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll, slightly more Catholics favor legalized abortion in most or all cases than do not, despite the firm belief of the Catholic church that abortion is a grave evil. Pope Benedict himself said "The so-called traditional churches look like they are dying."

Eventually the religious unaffiliated will become a force in American social life and politics (if they haven't already). At 16.1%, this group represents a larger portion of the population than Latinos (14%), African-Americans (13%), and Asians (5%) and is the second largest religious group to Catholics (23%). Maybe the Cornerstone Baptist Church sees the writing on the wall and is trying to keep themselves relevant. Unfortunately for them, the Pew survey also shows that 44% reject the religion placed on them in childhood.

Title quote comes from Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)