It seems to garner more controversy in the US, though I have had some interesting chats with baptists here in Australia too.
For mine, there are two reasons why I happily baptised my baby (actually, there are lots, but these are two big ones)
Firstly, I would say I am an advocate of the normative principle over the regulative principle. That is to say, if the Bible doesn’t prohibit something, generally I might be comfortable in doing it. The Bible doesn’t cover what it means to baptise children, and I think it is a reasonable thing to do, so away I go.

Secondly, I think there is a sense of community that we see in the Bible that we have lost in the modern day world. In the first instance you have the patriarchs of families declaring their whole family Christian & then being baptised in the Bible. Secondly, there is an expectation that the children of a person will be brought up in the tradition of their parents. Baptism for me is an expression that the child is mine, will be brought up as a Christian. Pumpkin may make a decision to go another way when she is an adult, but that is no different than any other adult who has been baptised who then choose another path.

Of course, it is also a tradition of the Anglican church & has been a traditional practice of the church as a whole for at least a millenium & most likely a fair bit more!

Anyway, I know most of my readers are more interested in the pictures (if you haven’t already seen them on facebook) so here they are!

Here we are making promises about our faith & how we intend to bring up our bub. From left to right it is Matty, Simone, Rosemary, Me, Shona & the Pumpkin.

Splash and Dash? I’d be just as happy with full emersion. Happy to baptise this way too!

Here is the pumpkin about to open a present from her Aunty Bec.

I was really happy with this pic, but have to admit that it was a fluke to have her face reflected in the bowl.

Pumpkin’s concentration on her very first sugary delight is topped only by her enthusiasm in the following picture.

A passion is born! I hope she follows in her father’s footsteps, falling in love with photography. I’ll be happy if she doesn’t inherit my sweet tooth though…

Twitter has been a real phenomenon for many people.

There was that big race to see which star could manage to get a million followers, a million people who wanted to know all about how much BBQ sauce they put on their steak, how long the queue was at the bank or any other kind of mindless minutiae from their lives.

I’ve always preferred actual blogs for that reason. People usually think a little more about what they’re saying and you have a delightful insight, not just into their preference in condiments, but into all those things that are important in their lives.

It was some of famous bloggers that got me interested in being online. It’s endlessly fascinating to see how the life of [Wil Wheaton](http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/), has changed and grown since his early days as [Wesley Crusher](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Crusher) and [Gordie Lachance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_by_Me_(film))
For all of my hopes, gaining an insight into the lives of the rich and famous, I never thought I would get the chance to read a blog by the great [Thomas Cranmer.](http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/)

Apparently being burned at the stake in 1556 wasn’t enough to keep him down, and now he has lots of spare time to comment on politics and theology. According to Dan (who passed the link on to me) he even has an email conversation with Richard Dawkins!

Will the wonders of the internet ever end?

*Calvin:* Hobbes, do you think our morality is defined by our actions, or what’s in our hearts?
*Hobbes:* I think our actions SHOW what’s in our hearts…
*Calvin:* (after a moment’s contemplation) I resent that!!!

I love so much about the cartoon. I own a bunch of the collections & I re-read them every year or so. In particular, I like the fact that Bill Watterson engages with big questions about the nature of existence, art & theology. For example, the dialogue above (Watterson was quite outspoken about his thoughts on merchandising & copyright, so I won’t breach by posting the actual cartoon) really cuts to the heart of human nature!

We like to think we are good. People generally appeal to “the good inside,” but really, when you look at our actions nationally, and personally, one realises that we really are quite immoral people.

I guess it’s symmetrical to see Calvin the cartoon actually supporting his [namesake’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calvin) theological viewpoint!

I was reading a blog the other day & the writer had made the statement that she could “never be a part of an organised religion.”
It made me wonder, would you want to be a part of a disorganised one?