De-Baptism and Renouncing Religion Ceremony
At the recent Pride festival here in Kelowna, KASHA had a tent for conducting de-baptism and renouncing religion ceremonies. We weren’t sure how people would respond to this invitation of releasing themselves from the shackles of religious belief, but it was a resounding success.
Many people came to get de-baptized, or renounce their religion, if they hadn’t been baptized, as a ceremonial unchaining of the restraints by religious dogma. There was joy, laughter and a feeling of being liberated by those who underwent the ceremony.
As well, many people came to see what KASHA was about and how they could join KASHA.
Here is a video of one of the ceremonies. Video of de-baptism ceremony
Click HERE for the material we used to conduct the booth.
The following is the ceremony that we performed.
Ask participant their first name.
RING HANDBELL
“HEAR YE, HEAR YE…
(KASHA partner wave bubbles over participant, head to feet)
As a free-thinking human, ___1st name_____
now rejects all religious pledges and promises designed to restrict autonomy, sexual or otherwise.
__(name)__, please follow my actions:
In the name of:
- LOGIC (touch your head),
- LOVE (cross arms over chest),
- and LIBERATION (open arms wide),
I now declare __(name)__ to be fully DE-BAPTIZED! (toss some celebratory something)
GO YE, INTO THE WORLD, AND SPREAD SOME CONSENSUAL LOVE!
