IF your best friend asked you to be a godparent (in the & relationship part)

hocus pocus?...ouch

hmm..well its more of a gesture these days isnt it..people are choose 'god parents'/aunties/uncles for their kids even if they arnt religious..i suppose it depends how religious/ how seriously the parents believe in that aspect of it


also..its a privilage to be asked that..if you dont really want to do it..then im sure someone else would love to

i take it these are good friends...why dont they know your stance on religion?..

a tricky one...

Would you go through with the theatre of it all (EVEN if you havent been christened yourself)

If your best friend asked you to be godparent to their new baby, and you morally object to the forcing of religion upon kids, and find the whole concept of religion morally bankrupt and fully disagree with the hocus-pocus and theatre of it all... what would you do?

Would you go through with the theatre of it all (EVEN if you havent been christened yourself)

or would you just tell your friend what you think?

Why not ask them exactly what the ceremony entails?

If it's a full on service with prayers and promises to lead by example in religion terms, then I'd politely decline. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable lying to people, particularly as there will be people with strong faith in attendance.

But if it is really just a naming ceremony and they're using the term godparent as there isn't really a secular equivilent, then I'd go for it.


I'm sure they'll understand either way.

Why not ask them exactly what the ceremony entails?

If it's a full on service with prayers and promises to lead by example in religion terms, then I'd politely decline. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable lying to people, particularly as there will be people with strong faith in attendance.

But if it is really just a naming ceremony and they're using the term godparent as there isn't really a secular equivilent, then I'd go for it.


I'm sure they'll understand either way.

hocus pocus?...ouch

hmm..well its more of a gesture these days isnt it..people are choose 'god parents'/aunties/uncles for their kids even if they arnt religious..i suppose it depends how religious/ how seriously the parents believe in that aspect of it


also..its a privilage to be asked that..if you dont really want to do it..then im sure someone else would love to

i take it these are good friends...why dont they know your stance on religion?..

a tricky one...

Why not ask them exactly what the ceremony entails?

If it's a full on service with prayers and promises to lead by example in religion terms, then I'd politely decline. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable lying to people, particularly as there will be people with strong faith in attendance.

But if it is really just a naming ceremony and they're using the term godparent as there isn't really a secular equivilent, then I'd go for it.


I'm sure they'll understand either way.

Remember that being a god parent isn't just about guiding the child towards religion, its about supporting them and providing advice, and all the nice things that you can do with them, without having the responsibility of it being your own kid (Taking them to the zoo and silly things like that to recapture your own childhood )

Sorry if this has aready been said, but your not allowed to be a godparent if you are not baptised.

Tell your friend your objections and exactly what you're prepared to do in the role. Then, by all means, go for it! I'm from an atheist family with 2 atheist godparents (both living abroad) - but my godmother is [corniness] one of by best friends [/corniness], and while she's taught me absolutely nothing about God (I think she's Jewish anyway) she HAS taught me how to take the neck off a bottle of champagne with a heavy knife and lots of other similarly important stuff!

First, thanks to everyone thats replied.




its not going to be a naming ceremony, when i originally agreed i thought it would be, but now its going to be a full on religious thing so that he can get married in church when hes older.




With regard to this, its my best friends child. I'm going the be there for it anyway, all the other things you mentioned can be done and would be done as a matter of fact, without even thinking about it. Its what you do.

Being a god parent, i assumed means that if anything happens to them i'd look out for their child. which is what I'd do anyway, but its also ment to be about religious guidence and things, I dont have a problem lying to the vicar/priest whomever saying that I was baptised/christened when I wasnt.

What I do have a problem with, is going through all the circus myself, I really dont think I could reconcile going somewhere and being judged by someone who has no idea what life in the real world is like.

For example, what can a priest tell anyone about love and things, when they're not allowed due to their religion to get married or fall in love?
No wonder a lot of their sexual desires are expressed in deviant ways.

The prejudice of religion I really have a thing about.

Someone may repent their sins so they can goto heaven, but they've still sinned.

Someone may live a sinfree life, but if they dont believe in a particular religion then they're looked at worse than the person who repented.


Myself, I pefer to be agnostic, but it isnt even agnostic.

I believe that the ancient religions with multiple gods are more likely to be true if anything is... and that these multiple gods, if anything, if they even exist are more likely to be mans first interpretation of aliens. (and i consider that highly unlikely... but its on the more believeable scale than an all-seeing all knowing god)

I could deal with it if they wanted to endoctrine their child into the buddist faith or something like that, being spiritual, or teaching someone to be spiritual is one thing, but following something that inflicts standards of living on others, or forcing a child into something that causes it to make value judgements on others, is nothing but wrong in my eyes, and this is why I morally object to it.

But then, its my best mate...





That could be my way out of it, but I have no concern about lying. They can not prove that I have not been baptised. Its just reconciling my own thoughts about it all.

For example, what can a priest tell anyone about love and things, when they're not allowed due to their religion to get married or fall in love?
No wonder a lot of their sexual desires are expressed in deviant ways.

If your best friend asked you to be godparent to their new baby, and you morally object to the forcing of religion upon kids, and find the whole concept of religion morally bankrupt and fully disagree with the hocus-pocus and theatre of it all... what would you do?

Would you go through with the theatre of it all (EVEN if you havent been christened yourself)

or would you just tell your friend what you think?