this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2024
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My sister wanted me to be the Godfather to her children. She considered it a "gift."
I'm an atheist. I told her explicitly "Hey, you remember I'm an atheist, right?" Part of this whole Godfather business is making a promise to raise them religiously if their parent dies. I thought I was being considerate and kind by being honest that I did not want to be a Godfather because I could not in good conscience make such a promise.
Nope, I'm the bad guy, not the person who knew I was atheist and decided to not respect that at all anyway by asking me to be a Godfather to begin with.
You could just call yourself a Sparent.
Even that aside, what kind of gift is "You'll have to take care of my kids if I die."?
God parents are supposed to care for the children, if the parents die. I think you shouldn’t overthink it. If you’re willing to fill that role, then raise the kids however you think is best. Accept the role gracefully as it is an honor and your sister is showing she loves and trusts you. Leave it at that.
As atheists, we have to acknowledge that most of the world isn’t yet on our level of thinking, but also that we don’t really have similar “concepts” for religious traditions that serve certain societal needs. God parents do serve a societal function. As an atheist, I can acknowledge that, accept that role, and play the part for those I love.
Yeah my siblings and friends also know i am an atheist, but that hasn't stopped us from naming each other godparents. It is just a promise to look after the child if something happens to the parents. I also try to make some monetary investment for the children
We solved this by having oddparents instead of godparents.
Only if oddparents is prepended by fairly
E: spelling is hard
Love it
Was that their expectation of you, or just a common religious interpretation?
I know plenty of people who use the term and have no care for the religious history of it.
She's religious, that was the expectation.