I suppose one’s symbolism is as good as another’s but still, this strikes me as a bit silly. (It is better than what I thought when I read the headline, however, which was that they were standing outside of services and “drying” people off as they left the church.)
U.S. Atheists Reportedly Using Hair Dryers to ‘De-Baptize’
American atheists lined up to be “de-baptized” in a ritual using a hair dryer, according to a report Friday on U.S. late-night news program “Nightline.”
Leading atheist Edwin Kagin blasted his fellow non-believers with the hair dryer to symbolically dry up the holy water sprinkled on their heads in days past. The styling tool was emblazoned with a label reading “Reason and Truth.”
Kagin believes parents are wrong to baptize their children before they are able to make their own choices, even slamming some religious eduction as “child abuse.” He said the blast of hot air was a way for adults to undo what their parents had done.
This, of course, follows along Richard Dawkins’ argument that people raising their children within their own faith is a kind of abuse. There is a certain logic to it, where is the choice in that child’s faith? Is not raising a child to be a Muslim or a Christian nothing more than indoctrination? Many would see that as a positive approach to child rearing. But the question of choice and free will opens up other theological debates, some of which we are wrestling with anew in a household with a child very much making up their own mind about certain matters. We have alluded to this debate already…
(Now to do some work!)
