The Growing Trend to "De-Baptize"

Both the Catholic Church and Christianist oriented churches have done much to give religion and Christianity a very ugly, although accurate face. The main tenants come across as based on hate, fear and prejudice and bigotry. The result is that in America, the fast growing religious segment is made up of those who check the "no religion" box on surveys. In Europe among Catholics, a new movement consists of those opting to be "de-baptized" and formally end their membership in the Church which has proven to be a thoroughly morally bankrupt institution with the protection of child rapist by the Church hierarchy the norm rather than the exception. I will concede that I myself contacted the bishop of the diocese in which I reside and demanded that my name be formally removed from Church membership and that I be placed on a list of "do not contact," Why would I want to be part of an institution whose leadership makes Mafia leaders look pious in comparison? Articles in both Opposing Views and the Huffington Post look at the growing exodus of Catholics from the Church. Here are highlights from the HuffPo piece:

PARIS (RNS) A decade ago, Rene Lebouvier requested that his local Catholic church erase his name from the baptismal register. The church noted his demands on the margins of its records and the chapter was closed.

But the clergy abuse scandals rocking Europe, coupled with Pope Benedict XVI's conservative stances on contraception, hardened Lebouvier's views. Last October, a court in Normandy ruled in favor of his lawsuit to have his name permanently deleted from church records -- making the 71-year-old retiree the first Frenchman to be officially "de-baptized."

Lebouvier's case is among a growing wave of de-baptisms in Europe, one of the most visible manifestations of the continent's secular drift. Websites offering informal de-baptism certificates have mushroomed. Other Christians are formally breaking from the church by opting out of state church taxes.

[E]xperts and secular activists count the numbers of de-baptisms in the tens of thousands. It's a phenomenon that has touched Protestant as well as Catholic communities.

Still, Lebouvier's case may create a precedent. The local bishop of Coutances, Stanislas Lalanne, has appealed the court ruling, a process that could take years. . . . if Lebouvier wins, de-baptism could become standard practice here, and trigger copycat lawsuits across Europe. "The church is afraid the movement might amplify," said Marc Blondel, president of the Paris-based National Federation of Freethinkers, who says he will launch another de-baptism drive if Lebouvier prevails.

In neighboring Belgium, which has been hit hard by the church sex scandals, de-baptism requests in the French-speaking region alone soared to roughly 2,000 in 2010, compared to 66 two years earlier, according to the Brussels Federation of Friends of Secular Morality. The numbers of people reportedly leaving the Dutch church reportedly shot up 25 percent.

In Britain, a de-baptism certificate offered as a joke by the National Secular Society has since turned serious after tens of thousands of people downloaded it.

In Germany, a record 181,000 Catholics formally split from the Catholic Church in 2011 -- the first time that Catholic defections outpaced Protestants leaving. Rather than requesting de-baptisms, Germans fill out government paperwork saying they no longer want to pay church taxes. . . . they don't want to be connected with the church hierarchy,"

The bigger worry, experts say, are plummeting rates of new baptisms. Half a century ago, for example, 90 percent of French children were baptized, said Sorbonne University religion professor Philippe Portier. Today, roughly one in three are. The church considers de-baptisms a very marginal phenomena and its strategy right now is to resist it," Portier said. "It is much more active when it comes to reversing the drop in (new) baptisms. . .

The Catholic Church has brought these growing defections upon itself through the hierarchy's immorality and the Church's efforts to cling to 13th century science and beliefs. Nothing sends a message to the corrupt Church leaders than having members of the laity "vote with their feet." I hope the "de-baptism" trend grows and that new baptisms continue to plummet. Only then will a toxic institution perhaps begin to reform itself. I hope more sheeple in the pews in America will open their eyes and likewise formally exit the Church.