Giving a child a blessing without permission......

[cougjunkie]

A friend of mine is a non-believer his daughter became very ill. His wife is an active member and asked her brother to give their daughter a blessing. My buddy was pretty upset by this because she did not ask him first. I told him it was harmless if he did not believe in it what is he worried about.

What do you guys think? I am especially curious to hear from the non-believers.

[KillerDog]

A friend of mine is a non-believer his daughter became very ill. His wife is an active member and asked her brother to give their daughter a blessing. My buddy was pretty upset by this because she did not ask him first. I told him it was harmless if he did not believe in it what is he worried about.

What do you guys think? I am especially curious to hear from the non-believers.

I don't see what the harm could possibly be. How is it different than a prayer? I guess if the dad had a real issue with olive oil that could explain his position but outside that I don't get it.

[FN Phat]

As a sign of respect for her husband, she should have told him first.

I also believe that a blessing from a father, whether or not is in good standing in the church, can do alot for the well-being of the child and the parents.

[jay santos]

A friend of mine is a non-believer his daughter became very ill. His wife is an active member and asked her brother to give their daughter a blessing. My buddy was pretty upset by this because she did not ask him first. I told him it was harmless if he did not believe in it what is he worried about.

What do you guys think? I am especially curious to hear from the non-believers.

Sounds like a power struggle between the husband and wife and totally unrelated to the actual issue. The non-believer husband is acting petty and his wife is probably being petty, too.

[falafel]

Is he a non-believer in anything, or just not a religious/spiritual person? I can see him being upset if he's an evangelical Christian. If he's SU, then there's no problem - its all just hogwash anyway.

[Moliere]

A friend of mine is a non-believer his daughter became very ill. His wife is an active member and asked her brother to give their daughter a blessing. My buddy was pretty upset by this because she did not ask him first. I told him it was harmless if he did not believe in it what is he worried about.

What do you guys think? I am especially curious to hear from the non-believers.

Obviously he's not entirely a non-believer as he apparently sees himself as the patriarch of the household.

[Borderline Divine]

As a non-believer

If my child was sick and someone other than me gave him a blessing, and that act could give my wife the slightest comfort, I'd be fine with it.

Even if my opinion is that the blessing will have no effect on my child.

[UtahDan]

If my child was sick and someone other than me gave him a blessing, and that act could give my wife the slightest comfort, I'd be fine with it.

Even if my opinion is that the blessing will have no effect on my child.

Agree.

[pellegrino]

If my child was sick and someone other than me gave him a blessing, and that act could give my wife the slightest comfort, I'd be fine with it.

Even if my opinion is that the blessing will have no effect on my child.

yeah, I think there's something else going on here, some back story that we're not aware of.

[Jarid in Cedar]

A friend of mine is a non-believer his daughter became very ill. His wife is an active member and asked her brother to give their daughter a blessing. My buddy was pretty upset by this because she did not ask him first. I told him it was harmless if he did not believe in it what is he worried about.

What do you guys think? I am especially curious to hear from the non-believers.

I would have to say he is being petty. If she feels that it will give the child comfort(and her comfort that she has done everything she can for her sick child), then I don't get the problem. Sounds like a power struggle more than anything.

[RobinFinderson]

I would have to say he is being petty. If she feels that it will give the child comfort(and her comfort that she has done everything she can for her sick child), then I don't get the problem. Sounds like a power struggle more than anything.

Let me illustrate where a problem could come up. Lets say the situation was different, and your wife had become a Wiccan. You felt that this was somewhat upsetting, but she seemed comforted by her new faith, so you rolled with it. One day your daughter gets sick, so your wife approaches her coven and asks for a blessing. A gaggle of lesbians *ahem* WICCANS comes over, encircles your daughter, shimmies provocatively and sprinkles her with a 'potion.' Your daughter soon begins to recover, and along with her returning health comes a new interest in making potions. One day your beautiful little daughter walks up to you with a little princess bottle full of water and she says, "Please daddy, drink this." You say, "What is it honey?" And she says, "A potion that will make you respect Mommy's and my religious beliefs."

Would that bug you?

[Surfah]

Let me illustrate where a problem could come up. Lets say the situation was different, and your wife had become a Wiccan. You felt that this was somewhat upsetting, but she seemed comforted by her new faith, so you rolled with it. One day your daughter gets sick, so your wife approaches her coven and asks for a blessing. A gaggle of lesbians *ahem* WICCANS comes over, encircles your daughter, shimmies provocatively and sprinkles her with a 'potion.' Your daughter soon begins to recover, and along with her returning health comes a new interest in making potions. One day your beautiful little daughter walks up to you with a little princess bottle full of water and she says, "Please daddy, drink this." You say, "What is it honey?" And she says, "A potion that will make you respect Mommy's and my religious beliefs."

Would that bug you?

[NorthwestUteFan]

One day your beautiful little daughter walks up to you with a little princess bottle full of water and she says, "Please daddy, drink this." You say, "What is it honey?" And she says, "A potion that will make you respect Mommy's and my religious beliefs."

"The trial is over, Socrates. Here is your Hemlock."

In all seriousness, I echo the

[BlueHair]

Your friend could still give his daughter a blessing without using offical church language or priesthood. It would be interesting to see what his wife's reaction would be to that. I agree with the others that this sounds more like a power struggle than anything else.