Heard the joke about the atheist and the Loch Ness Monster?
31.03.2009
This is not a joke. It's a true story. A British atheist called John Hunt wants the Church of England to "de-baptize" him because his parents made him "religious" when he was too young to decide for himself. You see, Hunt does not believe in God; but, as many people have pointed out, if God does not exist, then the baptism is meaningless and there's nothing the Church of England can do to help him.
This is not a true story. It's a joke. An atheist goes to Scotland and decides to swim across Loch Ness. Halfway across the lake, the Loch Ness Monster suddenly appears. The atheist panics and shouts, "Jesus, help me!" and the monster disappears.
Then, from somewhere in the Scottish skies, a deep voice says, "You don't believe in me, but now you are asking for my help?"
The atheist looks up and says, "Well, ten seconds ago, I didn't believe in the Loch Ness Monster either!"
etwa: enttaufen, die Taufe rückgängig machen
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COMMENTS
Why should a baptism be meanlingless although some God does not exist?
A baptism says first and foremost "You are now part of this congegration and of this church", and the question of God's existence does not enter into this meaning at all.
Because you are a logical person, I would ask you to consider this: By wanting to be "de-baptized" the atheists are recognizing baptism, otherwise why bother to be "de-baptized"? Logically, therefore, the wish to be "de-baptized" is an acknowledgement of God.
First of all, I did not say that the question of God's existence does not enter into the meaning of baptism in any form. What I did say is that is not the only and maybe not the most important meaning of baptism.
Baptism is for sure also an effect of believing in God; if it is an effect of God's existence is still an open question - the last time I checked at least. So, secondly, acknowledging that some people believe in God is by a long shot not the same thing as acknowledging the existence of God.
So, an atheist could acknowledge a meaning of baptism and acknowledge the fact that some people have faith in God (because some clearly do and say so), but at the same time he could not want to have any part in it.
So, the wish to be de-baptized just does not imply acknowledgement of God's existence, but only the expressed wish to officially be not associated anymore with a believe which he oder she does not share.
Baptism is for sure also an effect of believing in God; if it is an effect of God's existence is still an open question - the last time I checked at least. So, secondly, acknowledging that some people believe in God is by a long shot not the same thing as acknowledging the existence of God.
Well said. I agree to the point. Baptists subscribe to a theology of believer's baptism salvation through faith, the authority of the Bible, and the autonomy of the local church.