Posted by:
SusieQ#1
(
)
Date: July 07, 2011 02:07PM
no Mormons but lots of strong Christian believers, ministers in the family, etc.
The family saw to it that baptisms occurred in the local Christian Church when one of the ministers could be present to perform the baptism. I was baptized at age 10 when an adult relative had finished serving in the military after WW2. It was a matter of following in the footsteps of the family traditions. Nobody questioned it, it was acceptable as appropriate.
We didn't attend church regularly or have family prayers or Bible reading in the home, growing up.
Not everyone in our family was equally interested in attending and participating in church meetings and events. I was the most active member in my early teens on, probably because I had friends that were involved. Church was part of my social life. I had many opportunities to learn leadership skills also.
I was also a performing musician and had another completely different set of social friends.
As I was a young adult convert, married in the temple, living Mormonism fully, as believers, we baptized all of our children when they were eight years old as that was the expectation, just as my family growing up had expectations of baptism in their church of choice.
I have friends and relatives that are baptized members of the LDS Church (and other churches, of course), who do the same thing I experienced in my life: we followed the religious patterns and choices of the family. It was a serious and happy occasion.
I know I have no say-so, or power in what other parents do regarding their children's religious upbringing if there is one. It's their right to make choices they think are best at the time.
People are going to live by religious views that are not part of my personal life, and that's fine with me.
If I am invited to attend, I'll attend any religious ritual/ceremony.
I do know that some people think they have some entitlement or power to impose their religious choices on other people. I am confident that parents can and do, generally, take their responsibility about religious choices seriously.
Do some people occasionally impose their religious views on others inappropriately? Of course they do.
I think it's important to understand that Mormonism, generally, in most cases operates as a generational, religious, patriarchal tribe. The insiders behave in a certain manner that subscribes to the religious rituals and ceremonies established in generations past around the concept of the Eternal Family in the Celestial Kingdom.
That is the reason, in many cases, for exclusion.When someone leaves the religious tribe, they often receive the consequences of the family who are reacting out of rejection and betrayal. This often is the reason that some are very intrusive about keeping the "lost sheep" in the tribe.
Because of this kind of religious construct, there will, at times, be those who have a strong sense of entitlement to make sure that no family member is lost as it is a negative reflection on the whole family. Hence, the lines are sometimes blurred regarding appropriate contact.
As adults, I'm also convinced we can take care of our families and protect them from what we determine is unwanted contact, and intrusion.