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U.S. Atheists Reportedly Using Hair Dryers to 'De-Baptize'
"American atheists lined up to be "de-baptized" in a ritual using a hair dryer, according to a report Friday on U.S. late-night news program "Nightline." Leading atheist Edwin Kagin blasted his fellow non-believers with the hair dryer to symbolically dry up the holy water sprinkled on their heads in days past. The styling tool was emblazoned with a label reading "Reason and Truth." Kagin believes parents are wrong to baptize their children before they are able to make their own choices, even slamming some religious education as "child abuse." He said the blast of hot air was a way for adults to undo what their parents had done."
Well, this is just so rife with opportunities to share the truth and also to clear up some misconceptions. First, I agree with Mr Kagin that parents are wrong to baptize their children when they are too young to decide for themselves. Infant baptism, sprinkling, is a corruption of the ordinance of baptism. Baptism is what a person does after they have come to believe in Jesus as the Sacrifice for their sins, and after they have repented of their sins and asked Jesus to forgive them. Believing on Jesus is a free choice for all, but no one who is an infant can consciously and purposefully make that choice.
Baptism is an outward expression of the changed life in a person, a change that begins immediately after believing. That's because the Holy Spirit is sent as a deposit of the guarantee of the eternal life to come, and the person is then sealed. From that moment on, no one can snatch them from God's hand, they are His forever.
Infant sprinkling is more of a dedication, an outward expression of the parents to demonstrate their intent to live Godly lives for their children and to raise them in the faith. It has no direct bearing on the child as far as salvation goes. You are only saved when you are born again, (John 3:3).
Further, before we all get our backs up, some religious education IS child abuse. No one can say that what happened in Jonestown Guyana, the feeding of cyanide to children in a mass suicide, wasn't child abuse. There are other cults that also force children into emotional, sexual, or psychological servitude. Islam comes to mind here, here, here, and so on. That last link was a report on Muslim child suicide bombers. Adults inculcate their children into hate, strap an explosive flak jacket on a 9-year-old, and blow him up, and American atheists are worried about some water sprinkled on them 20 years ago? I would hope that mature Americans would have a greater perspective on the world's real problems.
Left, de-baptism ceremony in 2008.
This report from July 18, 2010 asks, "What if you were baptized when you were an infant and decided to leave the faith later? According to the laws of many Christian religions, your baptism can never be reversed. That doesn’t sit well with many who have left Christianity." Here's a newsflash: most people who are baptised were never saved to begin with, including every baby that was ever baptised. If you aren't saved, you can't get UN-saved. Why? There is no such thing as an ex-Christian.
This gentleman who runs a blog called "Goosing The Antithesis", attended a "Freethought Convention: in 2008, and got de-baptised there. He wrote:
I predict he is absolutely right. See, the problem is what he wrote here, "I have debated the issue of god-belief for a long time but honestly it was mostly an intellectual exercise for me. ... The best proof of that is that no one really believes in God. How could you? It's impossible to even conceptualize the idea of God, and you can't believe in what you can't conceptualize." He's right. But you don't come to faith by understanding God, he is beyond understanding. The mistake many make is denying God because they can't understand Him.
But do we believe in aerodynamics even though we don't understand it? That the lumbering, heavier than air jet, will lift off prior to the end of the runway? Yes. Gravity? Yes. Space-time, fourth dimensions? Yes. We can't conceptualize hyperdimensions but we still believe in them. Therefore this attitude of 'God is unknowable therefore he doesn't exist" is backward and tragic.
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) And besides, His attributes do exist and can be conceptualized, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Rom 1:20)
You cannot intellectualize God. But you can conceptualize sin. Sin is what keeps us from heaven and is exactly the thing that we need to recognize before coming to a saving relationship with Jesus and subsequent baptism. Sin is something that we see, hear, feel, smell, and touch. It is present, evident, and real. It not only can be conceptualized, it is personal and is the biggest problem in a person's life. Until and unless a person recognizes his own sin as a rebellion against a Holy God, no amount of water will save them, and no amount of hair drying will either.
Do these people actually think that a hair dryer would reverse the promises of eternal life made by God upon submission to Him in baptism? Really? They must be out of their free thinking minds if they think one iota of an act they perform could or would neutralize anything God has done. But that's exactly why they go for de-baptism, because to them, baptism is an act of man, it's man telling God what to do with their gift to Him of being baptized. Instead, to a saved Christian, it is a sacred ordinance and a demonstration of obedient submission to a sovereign and powerful God. But to atheists, baptism centers around themselves, therefore de-baptism centers around themselves. Therefore both acts are null.
The tragedy is that their actions will have a devastating effect on their lives, and I am talking about their lives for all eternity. Life doesn't end at death. Rejecting God in this outward fashion only pushes these misguided and deceived people further into the lying arms of satan. Satan loves to get people to believe that God does not exist. He loves to tell people that baptism is not anything important. He loves to let people think that when you die, your life ends. It doesn't. God is real, and He loves each and every person on the earth and every person whoever lived. If you are not with God, you are against him, meaning, with satan. There is no middle ground. Every person going under the hair dryer is actually deluded by the greatest liar that ever lived. Fortunately, since the hair dryer is only a hair dryer, there is always a chance for every person to come out from under the lying influence of satan and walk in the Light with Jesus. As long as you draw breath there is a chance for you to be saved. Stop conceptualizing, and start believing! And if or when they get saved and become born again, the baptism pool will be filled for them, and joy at their submission to Jesus will be sung from one end of heaven to another.
"American atheists lined up to be "de-baptized" in a ritual using a hair dryer, according to a report Friday on U.S. late-night news program "Nightline." Leading atheist Edwin Kagin blasted his fellow non-believers with the hair dryer to symbolically dry up the holy water sprinkled on their heads in days past. The styling tool was emblazoned with a label reading "Reason and Truth." Kagin believes parents are wrong to baptize their children before they are able to make their own choices, even slamming some religious education as "child abuse." He said the blast of hot air was a way for adults to undo what their parents had done."
Well, this is just so rife with opportunities to share the truth and also to clear up some misconceptions. First, I agree with Mr Kagin that parents are wrong to baptize their children when they are too young to decide for themselves. Infant baptism, sprinkling, is a corruption of the ordinance of baptism. Baptism is what a person does after they have come to believe in Jesus as the Sacrifice for their sins, and after they have repented of their sins and asked Jesus to forgive them. Believing on Jesus is a free choice for all, but no one who is an infant can consciously and purposefully make that choice.
Baptism is an outward expression of the changed life in a person, a change that begins immediately after believing. That's because the Holy Spirit is sent as a deposit of the guarantee of the eternal life to come, and the person is then sealed. From that moment on, no one can snatch them from God's hand, they are His forever.
Infant sprinkling is more of a dedication, an outward expression of the parents to demonstrate their intent to live Godly lives for their children and to raise them in the faith. It has no direct bearing on the child as far as salvation goes. You are only saved when you are born again, (John 3:3).
Further, before we all get our backs up, some religious education IS child abuse. No one can say that what happened in Jonestown Guyana, the feeding of cyanide to children in a mass suicide, wasn't child abuse. There are other cults that also force children into emotional, sexual, or psychological servitude. Islam comes to mind here, here, here, and so on. That last link was a report on Muslim child suicide bombers. Adults inculcate their children into hate, strap an explosive flak jacket on a 9-year-old, and blow him up, and American atheists are worried about some water sprinkled on them 20 years ago? I would hope that mature Americans would have a greater perspective on the world's real problems.
Left, de-baptism ceremony in 2008.This report from July 18, 2010 asks, "What if you were baptized when you were an infant and decided to leave the faith later? According to the laws of many Christian religions, your baptism can never be reversed. That doesn’t sit well with many who have left Christianity." Here's a newsflash: most people who are baptised were never saved to begin with, including every baby that was ever baptised. If you aren't saved, you can't get UN-saved. Why? There is no such thing as an ex-Christian.
This gentleman who runs a blog called "Goosing The Antithesis", attended a "Freethought Convention: in 2008, and got de-baptised there. He wrote:
"I predict that my "de-baptism" (walking under a hair-dryer) will have precisely the same effect as my actual baptism."
I predict he is absolutely right. See, the problem is what he wrote here, "I have debated the issue of god-belief for a long time but honestly it was mostly an intellectual exercise for me. ... The best proof of that is that no one really believes in God. How could you? It's impossible to even conceptualize the idea of God, and you can't believe in what you can't conceptualize." He's right. But you don't come to faith by understanding God, he is beyond understanding. The mistake many make is denying God because they can't understand Him.
But do we believe in aerodynamics even though we don't understand it? That the lumbering, heavier than air jet, will lift off prior to the end of the runway? Yes. Gravity? Yes. Space-time, fourth dimensions? Yes. We can't conceptualize hyperdimensions but we still believe in them. Therefore this attitude of 'God is unknowable therefore he doesn't exist" is backward and tragic."Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1) And besides, His attributes do exist and can be conceptualized, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Rom 1:20)
You cannot intellectualize God. But you can conceptualize sin. Sin is what keeps us from heaven and is exactly the thing that we need to recognize before coming to a saving relationship with Jesus and subsequent baptism. Sin is something that we see, hear, feel, smell, and touch. It is present, evident, and real. It not only can be conceptualized, it is personal and is the biggest problem in a person's life. Until and unless a person recognizes his own sin as a rebellion against a Holy God, no amount of water will save them, and no amount of hair drying will either.
Do these people actually think that a hair dryer would reverse the promises of eternal life made by God upon submission to Him in baptism? Really? They must be out of their free thinking minds if they think one iota of an act they perform could or would neutralize anything God has done. But that's exactly why they go for de-baptism, because to them, baptism is an act of man, it's man telling God what to do with their gift to Him of being baptized. Instead, to a saved Christian, it is a sacred ordinance and a demonstration of obedient submission to a sovereign and powerful God. But to atheists, baptism centers around themselves, therefore de-baptism centers around themselves. Therefore both acts are null.
The tragedy is that their actions will have a devastating effect on their lives, and I am talking about their lives for all eternity. Life doesn't end at death. Rejecting God in this outward fashion only pushes these misguided and deceived people further into the lying arms of satan. Satan loves to get people to believe that God does not exist. He loves to tell people that baptism is not anything important. He loves to let people think that when you die, your life ends. It doesn't. God is real, and He loves each and every person on the earth and every person whoever lived. If you are not with God, you are against him, meaning, with satan. There is no middle ground. Every person going under the hair dryer is actually deluded by the greatest liar that ever lived. Fortunately, since the hair dryer is only a hair dryer, there is always a chance for every person to come out from under the lying influence of satan and walk in the Light with Jesus. As long as you draw breath there is a chance for you to be saved. Stop conceptualizing, and start believing! And if or when they get saved and become born again, the baptism pool will be filled for them, and joy at their submission to Jesus will be sung from one end of heaven to another.
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