I once worked in the delivery room of a military hospital. A baby was born stillborn. The parents requested the baby be baptized. The ward was extremely busy and the nurse ordered me to do it. However I do not believe in infant baptism and it is against my religion.
What should I have done? Baptize the baby anyway so as not to cause emotional pain and suffering for the parents, or not do it? Which would have been the right thing to do?
2007-02-19 03:12:14 · 24 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I will not say whether I baptized the baby or not. That is between me and my conscience and I would be criticized either way. Also in the military one has the right to refuse to do something against their religion and that was not an issue for me.
I am wondering what other Christians think about this issue.
2007-02-19 04:02:17 · update #1
Thank you Dr. A N and Many Moons. Both your answers touched me deeply.
I have to agree with Fireball 2 that I should not have been put in that position.
2007-02-19 11:34:15 · update #2
#1, follow orders now, question 'em later. That's the military.
#2, to whom does the rite of baptism belong, man or God? If you didn't believe in what you were doing, and it had no effect, then that's all that happened. Nothing.
#3, if you baptized, than you facilitated the freedom of religious expression for others. On the battlefield, you provide last rites for dying soldiers, emergency baptisms, you pray the Lord's prayer, you recite the Koran, whether you believe any of the above or not.
#4, the stillborn's parents may or may not find out the "truth" about baptism until many years later. But that's irrelevant. If you baptized, you would have simply performed what a chaplains' assistant would have done.
2007-02-19 13:18:44 · answer #1 · answered by ccrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are correct that infant baptism is not scriptural, however, in your case I think that even though you did not believe in infant baptism, the right thing to do is to follow what your authority said you needed to do. Baptizing a dead baby will not have produced any spiritual results, however, it would not have caused anything bad to happen. If baptizing the baby is what would have made the grieving parents feel comfort....then I do not think it would have been a problem. There is a time to stand up for what you believe, but in this case, doing so would have not produced any real results for God.
2007-02-19 03:46:17 · answer #2 · answered by truthunfolded 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You did no harm to the infant by 'baptizing' him or her. If the parents believed in infant baptism, then you saved them much anguish. And if later, they find that the baptism was not necessary for their baby, they too will know there was no harm done.
I know as a Christian we are not to go against our conscience and yet we are to obey those who hold authority over us when it doesn't cause us to sin. I understand the emotional twists for you in this situation. I can also tell you I was on the other side of this same kind of emotional pain 11 years ago. I gave birth to a tiny stillborn baby girl. I was devastated, and when the nurse said she would bathe the baby and baptize her, neither my husband nor I could say anything. We know there is no need for infant baptism, but still the anguish felt caused us not to say "no." I felt odd about it for sometime after, but I soon realized that my baby was safe in the arms of Christ either way.
You were in a very tough, emotional situation, I just say, ask God for forgiveness for any wrong done on your part, and then forgive yourself.
Thank you for your tender heart.
2007-02-19 03:30:38 · answer #3 · answered by Many Moons 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It is not appropriate to baptize a stillborn baby because the baby is already dead. The sacraments are for those who are still living.
On the other hand, it is appropriate for a non-Catholic or even atheist to baptize someone if the person wishes to be baptized and is in imminent danger of death. It is not the faith of the person doing the Baptism that is crucial, but the faith of the person being baptized (or in the case of infants, the faith of the parents).
To baptize someone, simply pour water over ther head while saying "I baptize you in hte name of the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit"
Please contact me if you have any questions or comments.
Commander's suggestion of arguing the validity of infant baptism with grieving parents is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard.
2007-02-19 03:30:30 · answer #4 · answered by Sldgman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have been in similar situations a few times myself during a hospital internship, and I still relive the sadness all these years later. For premature babies who were born with a heartbeat but who would not survive more than minutes or hours, I did baptize the child if that was the parents desire.
For those who were stillborn with no heartbeat at all, I would do a baby dedication, using the same words as a baptism, except replacing the word 'baptize' with 'dedicate'. This served to ease a tiny bit of the parents' pain while still following my understanding of scripture. This would have been my recommendation to you, but would not blame you at all if you had done an actual baptism. I believe God cries with us over such losses and would understand the intentions behind a baptism.
Too long of a story to fully go into here, but one of the saddest moments of my life, was being called to the hospital room of a heroin-addict woman who had come in not even knowing she was pregnant, and couldn't care less. The baby had long before died from all the drugs and once surgically removed, smelled so foul the Dr. nearly passed out and so it had to be placed in a sealed biohazard bucket. It was so tragic and heartbreaking. The worst part for me, was there was no one in this world, no mother, no family, NO ONE to mourn this child, until I realized that was why God had brought me there. To mourn for His child. Together with one nurse, I dedicated that unborn child of God and mourned it's tragically short life. I still mourn that child to this day.
2007-02-19 04:28:05 · answer #5 · answered by A N 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Think about it this way, would it hurt you to baptize the infant and comfort the parents? Would god condemn you for comforting parents in pain and shock? Would it change what would happen to the infant?
Understand, I'm an atheist, but if there was a god, surely they would rather see comfort extended than allowing the parents the grief of their child's death and the feeling that the infant was damned. It may even open up doors for conversations that allow you to share your beliefs.
2007-02-19 03:27:00 · answer #6 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Infant baptism is a Catholic thing.
The Bible gives an illustration of baptism.
Acts 8:36 And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said^, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"
Acts 8:37
The person here has the choice by believing Jesus is the Son of God.
A baby can not make that decision. That is why you do not see any infant baptisms in the Bible. It is a decision that is made by an adult thinking and understanding person. A person who can make a choice.
2007-02-19 03:26:32 · answer #7 · answered by chris p 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I would take the opportunity to share the truth about what the Word of God says about infant baptisms and if they still insisted that the child be baptized, I guess I would!!
2007-02-19 03:24:04 · answer #8 · answered by Commander 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Baptize.
2007-02-19 03:21:35 · answer #9 · answered by Xpi 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Baptize the child for the sake of the child's parent's peace of mind. Arguing theology is inapproproate after a a couple has lost their child.
2007-02-19 03:21:42 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋