People seem to have gotten really out of control when it comes to religion.
So many people want to impose their beliefs on others.
It’s especially problematic in families.
Can’t we all believe what we want and just get along?
Case in point…
Redditor wanted to discuss their experience and get some feedback. So naturally, they came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
They asked:
“AITA if I refuse to ‘de-baptize’ my aunt?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“My parents believe in the freedom of choosing one’s own religion.”
“My mother was raised Catholic, while my father believes in a God without participating in any church.”
“I (14) honestly do not care too much about the topic.”
“To the dismay of my aunt.”
“During my childhood, she constantly tried to pressure my mother into getting me baptized.”
“Whenever I visited them, she would try to push Christianity on me.”
“She would read the bible to me and take me to her church – among other things.”
“This made me very uncomfortable to the point where I did not want to visit anymore.”
“I recently developed an interest in herbs and plants.”
This somehow convinced her, that I practice witchery.”
“Now she constantly switches between trying to ‘save’ me and making a point of avoiding me.”
“Most of the family thinks her silly – but like always, when she is acting crazy, everyone just accepts it.”
“Since I did not budge, she focused on my brother (5).”
“He is friends with my cousin (6) and therefore spends a lot of time at their house.”
“On his latest visit, my aunt decided to make an appointment with a priest, forge my mother’s signature, and get my brother baptized.”
“After my brother told my mother about the incident (which my aunt told him not to do), she confronted my aunt on her next visit.”
“My aunt proudly confessed to having ‘saved’ my brother and a screaming match ensued.”
“As I already mentioned, my parents strongly believe, that everyone should be able to choose their own beliefs and not join a church until one is old enough to make an informed decision.”
“To summarize my aunt’s words: she could not believe that our mother was wilfully condemning us to hell and that it was no wonder I had become a satanic witch.”
“She HAD TO act because my mother obviously couldn’t be brought to her senses and someone had to save the boy.”
“In a moment of anger, I went to my room to get one of my pots.”
“I have one pot in the shape of a skull and filled it with water.”
“While they were still screaming at each other, I poured the water over her.”
“Then I declared her to be now baptized a witch and the lawful wife of Satan.”
“I will be honest, I enjoyed the expressions of shock and then panic on her face.”
“She told me to undo what I did. I refused.”
“Once she realized, she could not convince me, she stormed out of the house.”
“Now, she told the whole family about it and my grandparents and other relatives have been bombarding my mother with hateful messages.”
“My mother says she understands why I did what I did, but that I need to ‘undo’ it to keep the peace.”
“I am supposed to make a show of ‘de-baptizing’ her and declaring her Christian again.”
“I am just tired of everybody constantly talking about religions and fed up with my aunt and everybody’s endurance of her.”
“If she can just go around and baptize my brother, why can’t I do the same to her?”
“AITA if I do not comply with my parent’s wishes?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA?:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared our OP WAS the A**hole.
Let’s hear some thoughts…
“I really hope this is true, because it’s hilarious.”
“Tell her to go get rebaptized if she’s so worried, and carry on being a delightfully weird person.”
“The world needs way more of us.”
“NTA. (Actually, this is one of those YTA but justified situations. I’m not mad.)”
“If your aunt really cared, she’d go straight to her priest to have it ‘fixed.'”
“She doesn’t care that you ‘baptized’ her, she wants to force you to publicly back down.”
“Also, if your parents tell someone higher in the pecking order of the church that the priest who baptized your brother did so without your parent’s permission, everyone involved is going to be in big trouble.” ~ rainyreminder
“NTA. The priest definitely has a right to know, too.”
‘They want baptisms to be consensual, and frown upon randomly baptizing unwilling minors.”
“I’m so sorry your aunt is acting this way; I’m guessing she drank the Kool-Aid and it was strong.”
“I’ve heard of people being removed from their congregation for this same shenanigans.”
“So you might want to give people a heads up (like close family members) if that turns out to be the case.”
“She sounds like the kind of crazy that needs to regale the whole family tree with her version of events in which she is the perpetual victim.”
“Also, I hope you’re enjoying your plants!”
“It’s great to see another generation of gardeners, and, from one gardener to another, should she decide to darken your doorstep again, grab some garden twine, gather some herbs in a bundle, and throw that bad boy in her general direction.”
“For bonus points, hide it in her bag or car for her to discover later.”
“The possibilities are endless! Have fun, OP.” ~ RogueSlytherin
“I absolutely adore your dark sense of humor LOL!”
“Yes she will be in trouble for lying to the church.”
“Im still laughing at the image of you dousing her with unholy water lol!”
“You’ve prob never seen the old 70s movie Carrie based on the Stephen King novel but her mother is a crazy Bible freak like your aunt.”
“I live in the ‘Bible Belt’ of the US and we call bible zealots ‘bible thumpers.'”
“Jokes aside, hope you and your family can get some peace from this drama.”
“No one should be forced into religion.” ~ ButterflyWings71
“Literally my thought – it’s like your aunt believes in non-consensual religious practices, and so naturally, even though she didn’t agree to be baptized, she’s still a witch because of some water. NTA.” ~ Laramila
“But first, she needs to explain how a 14-year-old armed with a skull-shaped pot, tap water, and smarta**ery is more powerful than Jesus.”
“How can baptism possibly be a sacrament if anybody can just undo it?”
“Also, she’s going to be in MAJOR trouble over getting your brother baptized if the priest who did it finds out.”
“That’s very, very not allowed.”
“NTA and I love it.” ~ PhoebeEBrown
“For sure NTA.”
“As someone who was raised very Catholic and now doesn’t give one, your patents absolutely have the right mindset and your aunt sounds insane.”
“I think you handled that situation perfectly and I’d suggest performing more satanic rituals in her presence and see if she bursts into flames.”
“If she does I’d love an update.” ~ InfiniteClassic7960
“NTA. You are one funny jellybean, full kudos to you.”
“Perhaps she should have remembered that what goes around, comes around. And sometimes it goes splash.” ~ TimTam_the_Enchanter
OP came back with some thoughts…
“Edit: First of all: thank you for all the helpful replies and the awards.”
“This got way more attention than I would have thought.”
“I wanted to give an update to the whole thing…”
“Apparently, neither the baptism of my brother, nor the priest itself were legitimate.”
“The dude is not even registered as a priest and is just someone she found online.”
“He, with my aunt, and my grandmother held a small unofficial ceremony.”
My grandmother confessed this to my grandfather once the drama started and he now told my mother.”
“The whole thing is rather weird and my grandfather told my mother to report the ‘priest,’ but my mother just wants to leave the whole story behind us.”
“Since his baptism does not have any real effect on my brother, she sees this as an easy solution to get her sister off her back.”
“We are just happy my brother is not actually baptized.”
“Also, good news is, my mother no longer wants me to ‘de-baptize’ my aunt and finally accepted that she is simply crazy.”
“She will try to talk with my grandmother tomorrow, since she is not as crazy as my aunt and can hopefully convince her of leaving me alone.”
“According to my grandfather, my aunt told the story of me baptizing her very different, which is why my relatives were on her side.”
“Despite all the hilarious suggestions on how I could continue to scare my aunt, I will not do anything like that.”
“I will just wait and see how things go from here.”
Well OP… Reddit seems to see you as a hero.
Everyone’s religious choice is personal and intimate.
And no one has the right to impose their beliefs on anyone.
Your choice to not further “terrorize” your Aunt shows your wisdom beyond your age.
Good on you.