Over 100,000 Britons have downloaded a ‘Certifcate of Debaptism’ from the National Secular Society (NSS) in the UK to publicly demonstrate their separation from Christianity. The majority were baptized into the Church of England as infants and now as adults have decided to reject the church.
According to the article, similar movements are spreading to other countries, including a well organized move against Catholicism in Argentina.
Response: This is a rather sad development. This movement illustrates that the UK is in the middle of a major transition along with all of Europe that some have called ‘post-Christian’.
A generation ago all were baptized into the state churches as infants. Now as the secular and the atheist movements gain numbers and cultural credibility many adults are seeking to ‘divorce’ themselves from their former ‘Christian’ identity.
Now the UK is far more secular than it is ‘Christian’. Many are beginning to question the government support given to the Church of England. To justify the current expenditures, some churches in the UK are beginning to be used as public buildings like post offices along with worship.
The ‘Debaptism’ is said to be spreading to other countries. It is doubtful that it will gain much if any momentum in the USA since there’s no dominant State church that the majority was baptized into as infants. That is not to say that secularism is not making significant inroads into American culture.