[djmcmath]

Baptism ... ok, here's the story. The word comes from the Greek word "baptidzo," which started out as a nautical term, actually. A ship that sunk was considered "baptidzo'd." It later came to mean "to identify with," and carried the connotation of immersion. So a ship that sunk had been immersed in the water and thus identified with the water. It is now described as "wet." A piece of broccoli "baptized" in cheese sauce is _identified_with_ the cheese sauce.

The symbology for Christians, originally, was that it was a statement of faith. You'd go out to a local waterway and get baptized to demonstrate that you were serious about this "following Jesus" thing. In the same way that you were now _identified_with_ the water, you were considered _identified_with_ Jesus. Initially, it was not considered a requirement for salvation, merely an outward sign of an inward decision.

400 years later, the church of Rome decided that it was required for salvation. You've gotta be dunked or you're not saved. It didn't take anybody too long to say, "But what about my baby? I obviously can't dunk my baby in that nasty water!" Thus came about the practice of sprinkling infants to get them saved. Note that this is in stark contrast to the early Christian teaching.

As time progressed, the church in Rome continued to slowly change the policy. I don't remember off the top of my head when the shift to periodic baptisms happened, but the more modern idea was that, since baptism was required for salvation, and salvation was something you lost every time you sinned (yes, the church in Rome was strongly Armenian), you had to get sprinkled every chance you could. Thus, at the entrace to every cathedral, you'll find a little hand-sized pool of holy water. It's just enough to dip a hand in and make the symbol of the cross, getting you saved once again. This is the modern evolution of baptism in the Catholic Church, and can be clearly seen in the evolution of baptistries over the years. Note, again, that this is entirely different than the early teaching.

It is not, BTW, a leftover from the OT. The Jews never practiced baptism. John (the baptist) was the first one to do that, and people thought he was crazy, so he had to live in the desert and eat locusts.

So should your son get baptized? Well, ask him. "Son, do you want to make a public statement of faith, identifying yourself with the followers of Jesus?" (shrug)