So I'm allowed to say anything, ask anything, post anything? Am I? This is quite exciting. I don't think my writing skills are nearly as beautiful as you regular composers and neither am i computer technified enough to add video clips and all that but none the less I shall enjoy this.
So here are a few of my thoughts....
Had a lovely weekend. Caleb was really good, which is the main thing. Tom (Bettany) is such a wondeful host that I feel like I've had a little holiday away from the daily, dailyness of all that my life is at the moment. Not that I want to complain about that daily, dailyness - I quite like it actually.
So I'm wondering why Jake wants Alex to have God parents - or the secular version at least? What does it mean? What will they do? I'm don't really get God parents either, so this really surprises me.
My next thought/question again goes to you Jake. Its something I've been pondering on for a little while and perhaps if I had had the opportunity would have been brave enough to ask you in person... will you tell me about your experiences that led you to decide to become a Christian when you were a little boy. I'm sure I can remember you practising your testimony for when you got baptised and you saying something about being on the toilet? And will you tell me, when it was, how it was, that you decided that you actually weren't one really. I feel like it's never been talked about, why is that? is it because I've just not asked or is it a bit of a taboo subject?
Monday, 3 March 2008
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4 comments:
Hey Liz, thanks for your post. I think it's brave of you to ask those questions and you'll have to forgive me if I just answer the first of them here. I'll email you the others, as I'm not quite ready to bare my soul to the online world just yet - and I have my professional profile to think of! You must realise, though, that my answers probably aren't going to make you very happy. These days, I'm afraid to say, I'm almost certainly as committed to my Humanism as you are to your Christianity.
On the issue of Godparents though - here's the definition of 'Godfather' from Dictionary.com:
-noun
1. a man who serves as sponsor for a child at baptism.
2. any male sponsor or guardian.
3. (often initial capital letter) a powerful leader, esp. of the Mafia.
4. a person who is regarded as the originator or principal shaper of a movement, school of thought, art form, industry, or the like: the godfather of abstract expressionism.
-verb (used with object)
5. to act as godfather to; be sponsor or protector for.
We're obviously going with option number 2 rather than number 3!
I think the main reason we're going to be doing it is basically because we like the idea and don't really see why Anglicans and Catholics should have exclusive rights to a concept which seems, to me at least, to have alot going for it in terms of bonding and bringing people together. The same goes for the Christening Ceremony too.
We might call it a 'naming day' and call the Godparents, 'supporting adults' or 'mentors' but the idea of coming together to celebrate a life, and to connect that life with other lives, predates Christianity or any other organised religion I'm sure, and has the potential to serve a number of useful social functions, for both ourselves and our baby.
There is a deeper truth in here somewhere also, and that's the conviction that people of faith often (not always!) claim for themselves privileged or exclusive access to the spiritual and ethical universe, through their particular faith-based lens.
If I say I'm an atheist, I'm frequently met with an incredulous, "Well, what do you believe in then?!". Even the term, 'non-believer', carries with it a negative connotation which is quite at odds with my own experience of how rich and sophisticated a spiritual and moral life it is possible to have without invoking a creator or saviour or prophet.
As it is, the community of friends and family that Sarah, Alex and I share, is replete with belief, faith and spirituality, and simply because we choose not to be witnesses (on Alex's naming day) to some recognised faith or world-view, doesn't mean we don't have one to witness about. For us it's about establishing that actually we do take a position in these matters, and that position should be recognised and respected just as much as if we were members of a church or other organised group.
I agree with Jake even though he is a heathen infidel.
Thanks for your post Liz! Excellent work!
This is what The Bettany Blog is all about, letting it all hang out in a moral, familial and a spiritual stylee!
Well, that and sharing trailers of the upcoming Star Trek movie and stuff...
Thank you Jake (and Ollie),
I hope I get an invte to the naming day, I'd like to come - as long as there are no happy clappy heathens there, they're a bit much.
I shall look forward to reading my email!
And Ollie, look out for more honest questions!
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