Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ah, so it's really that you're all just offended. I get it now. Not confused. Offended. At least own that.

No, I will not cop to that. I've been to ceremonies at which an atheist and a Christian had a minister welcome a baby into the community without using any of the Christian ritual to do so. But the minister was someone who knew them and someone the atheist respected.

You want an officiant but you don't know what officiating would consist of.

So I will own that I think you have given no thought to what would be meaningful to you. And I think that makes you pretty silly.

not the OP

Anonymous wrote:Because you're dense and only seeing what you want to see.

I totally want to hear more about "spirituality" from you. Not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why shouldn't she be judged. Hmmm. She's wanting a ceremony to celebrate her child's birth. Yeah, you're right. She's awful. She wants to enjoy the day and have someone be the master of ceremonies. Man, what a shrew. She has a spiritual side without adhering to one religion. What an ass!! My god, you're right. She's the downfall of western civilization.
You might want to do a little soul searching. Yours seems to be missing.

She does? I don't see any belief system (not religious, just belief) that requires an outsider to be there.

Because you're dense and only seeing what you want to see.

Not that PP.

But we're all still waiting for you to explain why OP wants a celebrant she barely knows. If you think it's so obvious, go right ahead. Explain it to us. Explain the "spiritual" side a drive-by celebrant would add, apart from merely adding "formality" and devising rules about when and where people stand, sit and talk. While you're at it, explain why it wouldn't be more "spiritual" (whatever that means) for OP and spouse to talk about their baby, as opposed to a total stranger talking about their baby. Go ahead and tell us. Don't let anything stop you.

And you can stop with the "master of ceremonies" guess, because OP specifically came on earlier to say she doesn't want a master of ceremonies. You don't have a clue about what OP is thinking either, do you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why shouldn't she be judged. Hmmm. She's wanting a ceremony to celebrate her child's birth. Yeah, you're right. She's awful. She wants to enjoy the day and have someone be the master of ceremonies. Man, what a shrew. She has a spiritual side without adhering to one religion. What an ass!! My god, you're right. She's the downfall of western civilization.
You might want to do a little soul searching. Yours seems to be missing.

She does? I don't see any belief system (not religious, just belief) that requires an outsider to be there.

Because you're dense and only seeing what you want to see.

Anonymous wrote:

Why shouldn't she be judged. Hmmm. She's wanting a ceremony to celebrate her child's birth. Yeah, you're right. She's awful. She wants to enjoy the day and have someone be the master of ceremonies. Man, what a shrew. She has a spiritual side without adhering to one religion. What an ass!! My god, you're right. She's the downfall of western civilization.
You might want to do a little soul searching. Yours seems to be missing.

She does? I don't see any belief system (not religious, just belief) that requires an outsider to be there.

Anonymous wrote:Ah, so it's really that you're all just offended. I get it now. Not confused. Offended. At least own that.

No, I will not cop to that. I've been to ceremonies at which an atheist and a Christian had a minister welcome a baby into the community without using any of the Christian ritual to do so. But the minister was someone who knew them and someone the atheist respected.

You want an officiant but you don't know what officiating would consist of.

So I will own that I think you have given no thought to what would be meaningful to you. And I think that makes you pretty silly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK 15:35, why don't you explain what OP wants the celebrant to do. Because, you see, it's a little hard to recommend someone when you don't know what the heck that someone is going to have to do.

Like the other PP said, it's not negativity, it's confusion.

You're just confused by your negativity. It's not that hard to figure out what a ceremony would look like. Someone posted a link above of a person that does "baby blessings" and such. You're so stuck on what this should be in your limited mind that you can't fathom that someone wants to celebrate in a non-religiously structured way that still acknowledges what a great, happy event the birth of a child is. And they want someone up there to state it, maybe read some secular readings, maybe some poetry. I think she's been very clear on the feeling she's going for and the intention of the day. You're just too closed minded and negative and offended to see it other than what you think it should be.

See, you seem to expect "open-mindedness" and "tolerance" where none is really warranted.

I think some people legitimately take offense at others who want to appropriate various traditions that hold great solemnity in their own belief systems for some peculiar, random, and empty purpose. This is kind of like a vegetarian who eats fake meat -- what's the point? Why the poor imitation?

And you claim not to be judgmental. Wow.

See, I never claimed to to be judgmental. Hell yes, I judge this woman for this. Isn't that obvious? And for good reason. Why do you think she shouldn't be judged?

Why shouldn't she be judged. Hmmm. She's wanting a ceremony to celebrate her child's birth. Yeah, you're right. She's awful. She wants to enjoy the day and have someone be the master of ceremonies. Man, what a shrew. She has a spiritual side without adhering to one religion. What an ass!! My god, you're right. She's the downfall of western civilization.
You might want to do a little soul searching. Yours seems to be missing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, thanks for the judgement based on our religious beliefs. OP here. I put "baptism" in quotes because it's not what people would think of as a typical baptism. Yes, something more formal than a party to welcome her; something like a naming ceremony.

Yes, we are looking for secular officiants. Does anyone have any specific suggestions? I wouldn't mind someone who also does weddings, but I'm not really into paying a 'wedding price' (because meeting with this person over the phone or briefly in person once would be fine for me ).

Baptize has only one meaning. Get a JP as they do weddings

To do what? At a wedding the JP serves a legal function. But from what I can gather, OP's event will have zero legal significance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK 15:35, why don't you explain what OP wants the celebrant to do. Because, you see, it's a little hard to recommend someone when you don't know what the heck that someone is going to have to do.

Like the other PP said, it's not negativity, it's confusion.

You're just confused by your negativity. It's not that hard to figure out what a ceremony would look like. Someone posted a link above of a person that does "baby blessings" and such. You're so stuck on what this should be in your limited mind that you can't fathom that someone wants to celebrate in a non-religiously structured way that still acknowledges what a great, happy event the birth of a child is. And they want someone up there to state it, maybe read some secular readings, maybe some poetry. I think she's been very clear on the feeling she's going for and the intention of the day. You're just too closed minded and negative and offended to see it other than what you think it should be.

See, you seem to expect "open-mindedness" and "tolerance" where none is really warranted.

I think some people legitimately take offense at others who want to appropriate various traditions that hold great solemnity in their own belief systems for some peculiar, random, and empty purpose. This is kind of like a vegetarian who eats fake meat -- what's the point? Why the poor imitation?

And you claim not to be judgmental. Wow.

See, I never claimed to to be judgmental. Hell yes, I judge this woman for this. Isn't that obvious? And for good reason. Why do you think she shouldn't be judged?

Anonymous wrote:Wow, thanks for the judgement based on our religious beliefs. OP here. I put "baptism" in quotes because it's not what people would think of as a typical baptism. Yes, something more formal than a party to welcome her; something like a naming ceremony.

Yes, we are looking for secular officiants. Does anyone have any specific suggestions? I wouldn't mind someone who also does weddings, but I'm not really into paying a 'wedding price' (because meeting with this person over the phone or briefly in person once would be fine for me ).

Baptize has only one meaning. Get a JP as they do weddings

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We want to have a jewish Bat Mitzvah but are not jewish. Don't judge me.

or

I enjoy wearing a Islamic Turban for fun but am not Islamic
Don't judge me.

or

I really like wearing Hijab's to the club and high tight miniskirts, it's really trendy!!
Don't judge me.
It's ok if against Christianity but not other religions![/quote]

So the only people who can have these ceremonies to welcome new babies are Jewish and/or Catholic?[/quote]

Once again: the only issue is that OP wants a celebrant she's never met, doesn't want to pay, and has no clear idea what this celebrant would do, ritual-wise. How is anyone supposed to respond to that?

So lots of people have said, supportively I think, that OP and partner should do a formal reading or something on their own. And skip the celebrant.

Calm down. You seem to be looking for a way to feel victimized.

Anonymous wrote:We want to have a jewish Bat Mitzvah but are not jewish. Don't judge me.

or

I enjoy wearing a Islamic Turban for fun but am not Islamic
Don't judge me.

or

I really like wearing Hijab's to the club and high tight miniskirts, it's really trendy!!
Don't judge me.
It's ok if against Christianity but not other religions!

Actually, I read OP's insensitivity as a sort of equal opportunity insensitivity. To me, it seems like she's given almost no thought to how she wants the ceremony to go or what sort of "meaning" a celebrant she barely knows is supposed to infuse into the ceremony. The result, predictably, is that she's offended some people and made others roll their eyes. But it's because of carelessness rather than a deliberate wish to mock others.

Anonymous wrote:Ah, so it's really that you're all just offended. I get it now. Not confused. Offended. At least own that.

OP should own her atheism. Stealing a baptism concept she doesn't believe in seems to fly in the face of atheism.

Anonymous wrote:We want to have a jewish Bat Mitzvah but are not jewish. Don't judge me.

or

I enjoy wearing a Islamic Turban for fun but am not Islamic
Don't judge me.

or

I really like wearing Hijab's to the club and high tight miniskirts, it's really trendy!!
Don't judge me.
It's ok if against Christianity but not other religions!

So the only people who can have these ceremonies to welcome new babies are Jewish and/or Catholic?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OK 15:35, why don't you explain what OP wants the celebrant to do. Because, you see, it's a little hard to recommend someone when you don't know what the heck that someone is going to have to do.

Like the other PP said, it's not negativity, it's confusion.

You're just confused by your negativity. It's not that hard to figure out what a ceremony would look like. Someone posted a link above of a person that does "baby blessings" and such. You're so stuck on what this should be in your limited mind that you can't fathom that someone wants to celebrate in a non-religiously structured way that still acknowledges what a great, happy event the birth of a child is. And they want someone up there to state it, maybe read some secular readings, maybe some poetry. I think she's been very clear on the feeling she's going for and the intention of the day. You're just too closed minded and negative and offended to see it other than what you think it should be.

See, you seem to expect "open-mindedness" and "tolerance" where none is really warranted.

I think some people legitimately take offense at others who want to appropriate various traditions that hold great solemnity in their own belief systems for some peculiar, random, and empty purpose. This is kind of like a vegetarian who eats fake meat -- what's the point? Why the poor imitation?

And you claim not to be judgmental. Wow.