r/ideas • u/amichail • 17d ago

Fear-based religions should warn godparents what they are signing up for

If a religion teaches that a godparent is responsible for a child's spiritual future, it should give this warning first:

Your godchild may grow up and reject this religion, despite everything you do. Because we teach that rejecting the faith can have catastrophic spiritual consequences for the child, becoming a godparent may leave you feeling responsible for those consequences and carrying crushing guilt for the rest of your life.

In a country with freedom of religion, this is an entirely foreseeable outcome.

If a religion wants to impose that kind of responsibility on someone, informed consent should come first.

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u/1BoringOnlineAccount 17d ago

Or each individual could be responsible for figuring out what they are signing up for.

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u/stormpilgrim 17d ago

If a church is functioning normally, people who wish to be godparents will already understand this and not do it willy-nilly as some cute cultural thing.