# Do you think most people are baptised? Are you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498 "2007-05-10T02:37:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/21 "2007-05-10T06:45:53Z")
I believe I was, but my memory of the event is a little hazy. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/22 "2007-05-10T10:35:49Z")
I wasn’t baptised, but most kids in my family are. I tend to assume most people have been baptised. My Dad was raised Catholic, and my Mum Protestant. However my Dad is pretty anti-religion, which is probably why I wasn’t baptised. I’m an atheist, so don’t intend to have my children baptised either. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/23 "2007-05-10T11:07:07Z")
Nope. I was raised Quaker, which emphasizes adult “baptism” (commitment – no actual ceremony, with or without water, as far as I know, in joining a meeting). I continue to think that a religion should be chosen by someone old enough to understand the choice, not imposed on a baby – and since I don’t have any conception of heaven or hell in which having water splashed on one by a trained professional will make a difference, I don’t see a reason for it. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/24 "2007-05-10T11:10:28Z")
These are all great answers, some very interesting input. I believe I’m noticing a Catholicism link to assuming those around you are baptised. I know that in that church, it’s the crucial sacrament you wouldn’t do anything else in the church without, so maybe that’s why? I know it’s not exactly the same as baptism, but **RealityChuck** , is the mikvah immersion not an ‘acceptance into the faith’ kind of ritual? Or has it been altered over the years to fit societal pressures to become one, like the creation of \*\*bat \*\* mitzvahs to include girls when previously only boys were required to have one? I saw one instance where the infant girl’s naming ceremony was conducted at a mikvah and she was then immersed to be ‘brought into the faith’ in the eyes of those present. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/25 "2007-05-10T11:13:45Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Nope. I was raised Quaker, which emphasizes adult “baptism” (commitment – no actual ceremony, with or without water, as far as I know, in joining a meeting). I continue to think that a religion should be chosen by someone old enough to understand the choice, not imposed on a baby – and since I don’t have any conception of heaven or hell in which having water splashed on one by a trained professional will make a difference, I don’t see a reason for it. [/QUOTE] If you were at a family gathering/packed bookstore/office party and were asked to guess how many of the people around you were somehow consecrated into their faith, what would your guess be? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/26 "2007-05-10T11:13:51Z")
baptised. None of my kids are. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/27 "2007-05-10T11:17:06Z")
No, he’s a ridiculously ethnocentric Catholic. Catholics baptize their infants, but most Protestants christen their children and let them choose to baptize themselves at an age when they’re able to (usually when still a child, but just not an infant), making the baptism more meaningful. Most people here aren’t Catholic, so there’s no reason for him to assume that people he meets were baptized. And I never chose to be baptized, to my mother’s disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/28 "2007-05-10T11:26:18Z")
My son had a Shinto purification/protection ceremony at the local shrine. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/29 "2007-05-10T11:46:46Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] I was seventeen before I realized there were Christian sects that don’t baptise. The subject came up amongst friends at school and I was astonished to learn that one of my friends had never been, even though her family attended church more often than mine did. [/QUOTE] There are? :o My parents were missionaries and the old man has baptized all the grandkids and great grandkids except for mine. Maybe he did when I wasn’t looking during one of the summer trips… ---
**Author:** ![Bagistan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Bagistan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bagistan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/30 "2007-05-10T11:57:02Z")
As most Swedes I was baptised at infancy, confirmed at adolescence, and still a member of the largest Lutheran church in the world - the mighty Church of Sweden. My guess is that among my countrymen over 30 years of age 90 per cent is baptised, while under 30 only 50 per cent is baptised. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/31 "2007-05-10T12:03:30Z")
[QUOTE=China Guy] My parents were missionaries and the old man has baptized all the grandkids and great grandkids except for mine. Maybe he did when I wasn’t looking during one of the summer trips… [/QUOTE] That probably happened to me. I know that my aunt caught my grandmother baptizing her daughter (my cousin) in the kitchen sink when she was a baby, anyway, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that she probably did that with all of her heathen grandkids. (My mom and her four sisters were all raised very Catholic, but only one is still a member of the church.) So, I wouldn’t count that. No, I was not baptized. I do think this is somewhat unusual in the US. I grew up in the SF Bay Area, which I’ve read is the least religious part of the US, and although only a couple of my friends growing up came from actively religious families, almost all of them had been baptized into some church or another, which they never attended and knew nothing about. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/32 "2007-05-10T12:23:46Z")
I was Anglican. I was baptised when I was six months old. My husband was raised non-religiously, and got baptised just before our wedding. Anglicans baptise babies. So do (I believe) Lutherans, and maybe Prebyterians and Congregationalists. And Eastern Orthodox of different stripes. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/33 "2007-05-10T12:31:05Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] I’m Jewish. What is that “baptized” you talk about? [/QUOTE] For baptisim, read “dip in the [Mikvah](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikvah)” - similar practice for a similar purpose (at its root). Me - baptised as an infant My daughter was baptised as a baby as well, but not after some soul-searching as to whether we should let her make the decision for herself at some later date. In the end we chose to concentrate of the “welcome to the family” aspect of the ceremony rather than the “my sins have been washed away” aspect. Grim ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/34 "2007-05-10T12:36:37Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] Since you didn’t address your question specifically to Christians, I’d have to say I suspect that an overwhelming majority of the planet’s population has **not** been baptized. [/QUOTE] I’m with you, **Noone Special**. But I’m not posting here to be a pedantic jerk (or, at least, that’s not the main reason I’m posting.) Scroll about a third of the way down on [this page](https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/xx.html) to see what proportion of the world’s population is Christian. For those of you who don’t want to click and scroll through lots of text, here’s the relevant quote: [quote] Christians 33.03% (of which Roman Catholics 17.33%, Protestants 5.8%, Orthodox 3.42%, Anglicans 1.23%), Muslims 20.12%, Hindus 13.34%, Buddhists 5.89%, Sikhs 0.39%, Jews 0.23%, other religions 12.61%, non-religious 12.03%, atheists 2.36% (2004 est.) [hijack] I wonder how the CIA defines each of these religious (or non-religious) groups.[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/35 "2007-05-10T13:04:31Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] Smartass answer: Does swimming in Lake Galilee and in the Jordan River count? 😛 Not-so-smartass answer: Since you didn’t address your question specifically to Christians, I’d have to say I suspect that an overwhelming majority of the planet’s population has **not** been baptized. [/QUOTE] That depends on how you define baptism; other religons have practices that could be defined as such. From the [Wikipedia article on baptism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism) : > [@](#): > > **Non-Christian religions** > Many cultures practice or have practiced rites similar to Christian baptism, including the ancient Egyptian, the Hebraic/Jewish, the Babylonian, the Mayan, and the Norse cultures. The modern Japanese practice of Miyamairi is not entirely dissimilar. In some, such evidence may be archaeological and descriptive in nature, rather than a modern practice. > > **Mandaean baptism** > Mandaeans, who abhor[citation needed] Jesus and Moses as false prophets, revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism. > > **Sikh baptism ceremony** > Main article: Amrit Sanskar > The Sikh baptism ceremony, dating to 1699, was established when the religion’s tenth leader (Guru Gobind Singh) baptized 5 followers of his faith and then was baptized himself by his followers. The Sikh baptism ceremony is called Amrit Sanchar or Khande di Pahul. > > \< snip \> > > **Islam** > Islam recommends a sort of washing called Ghosol (Arabic word means washing) which should include the washing of the whole body in special order or immersion of the whole body in a river for instance. This Ghosol is required for an adult when adopting Islam, after each sexual intercourse or a wetdream or a menstrual cycle. Also is required to be done for dead bodies. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/36 "2007-05-10T13:24:49Z")
[QUOTE=Nawth Chucka] If you were at a family gathering/packed bookstore/office party and were asked to guess how many of the people around you were somehow consecrated into their faith, what would your guess be? [/QUOTE] Consecrated to _their_ faith (adult baptism) or consecrated to _a_ faith (infant baptism)? Either way – way too low, undoubtedly. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/37 "2007-05-10T13:35:28Z")
I come from a pretty religious Southern Baptist family, but their belief is that a person should choose baptism willingly. So it was left up to me, and I never chose it. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/38 "2007-05-10T13:40:41Z")
Although I’m no longer a Christian, I was baptized (by my grandfather, a minister) and confirmed in the United Church. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/39 "2007-05-10T13:59:45Z")
I’m a Baptist; I was baptised when I was 17. I don’t usually think about whether or not other people were, and it wouldn’t affect my opinion of them either way. ---
**Author:** ![frog\_princess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6bbea6/32.png) [@frog\_princess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frog_princess)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2007, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498/40 "2007-05-10T14:03:47Z")
I was not baptised. My husband was at 2 days old because he was not expected to survive the night. We have not baptised our children, instead leaving it up to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-most-people-are-baptised-are-you/403498.md?page=3)