Reading through Atheist blogs takes up a lot of my down time these days and today’s find was a post from Mojoey on being a godparent, which, he, in turn, had found on Reimann’s Cut by Gammagoblin.

After putting in my two cents on both blogs, I realize that they are quite significant to me. On Saturday, the 23rd, at 10 AM, I become a godparent to one of my best friends’ first child. Where Gammagoblin is undecided and Mojoey would respectfully decline, I accepted the role with no hesitation.

To me, being a godfather goes beyond any religious implications. Sure, it’s a Christian thing (or a mob thing), but that’s besides the point. From what I know of godparenting, it’s one’s acceptance of a role of surrogate parent to a child in the event that his/her biological parents are unable to fulfill that role themselves.

It’s something I’d do gladly for the people who do ask me. It’s just the right thing to do as far as I’m concerned. That even goes as far as my wife’s godchildren. It even goes as far as those who aren’t our godchildren. God’s got nothing to do with it. It’s my personal morality. If a friend or family member needs me, I’ll be there to assist in any way I can.

The “godparent” title is just a formality.

Does that mean that I should decline the offer, though? No. That simple formality, which will not hurt me one bit serves as an obligation and a promise. With that, the child and his/her parents know that I acknowledge and willingly take on the responsibility. It’s a way of reinforcing my role and letting them know that they shouldn’t hesitate in asking me for assistance.

I don’t think of it as being a “God”-parent, it’s semantics. It’s as Mojoey said, I’m being a “sponsor.”

Wouldn’t you do the same?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2008 at 6:30 am and is filed under Christians. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.