rampantlinguist answered your question: Baptism - Question for y’all
Fight it or… not commit to such a person at all. It’s too important for me so I talk it through much earlier into the relationship.

That’s the issue right there, isn’t it?  If both partners are believers at the start of the relationship, then one becomes a disbeliever, does that impact the decision-making process regarding the children?  Their marriage vows centered on a mutual belief in God…  this issue wasn’t something that they could have discussed or prepared for before they got married.

Hmm.

Baptism - Question for y’all

I have an atheist friend who is married to a Christian woman.  They had a child recently, and my friend has agreed to have the child baptized because it is of the utmost importance to his wife and her family (and his own family as well, actually).  I believe they think that if a child isn’t baptized and was to die, it hasn’t been “cleansed of original sin” and therefore wouldn’t be allowed into heaven or some such nonsense.  

This idea, frankly, makes me sick to my stomach.

I have flat out refused to allow my son or daughter to be baptized… a source of contention between me and my parents and my in-laws.  I understand my friend’s choice… he is deciding to keep the peace rather than fight about it, and the entire procedure is, of course, meaningless anyway.  I just know this particular ritual in the church is something I am not comfortable witnessing, and certainly would not be comfortable participating in, regardless of the reason.

So, the question - what would you do?  Would you go along with it to keep the peace?  Fight it?  Something else?  Thoughts?