The Godfather? Spare me.

Isn't it an oxymoron when your godfather is an atheist? My ex-boyfriend's ex-girlfriend and her husband chose him as the godfather for their son, who is now a teenager. His godfatherly obligation is essentially showing up at one of the child's football games a couple of times a season. Apart from that, no Christian rearing is or has ever occurred.

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the godparent is supposed to fulfill the religious upbringing of the child in the event the child's natural parents are unable or incapable of raising the child in the proper religious tradition. The godparent should assist in encouraging the child to live as a Christian. Should this child lose his parents, God forbid, what sort of message will the godfather deliver in raising this person to be a practicing Christian, when he does not believe that God exists?

I found this definition of a godparent online:

"A Godparent: One who stands surety for another in the rite of Christian baptism. In the modern baptism of an infant or child, the godparent or godparents make profession of faith for the person being baptized (the godchild) and assume an obligation to serve as proxies for the parents if the parents are either unable or neglect to provide for the religious training of the child, in fulfillment of baptismal promises. In churches mandating a a sponsor, only one godparent is required; two (in most churches, of different sex) are permitted. Many Protestant denominations permit but do not require godparents to join the infant's natural parents as sponsors. In the Roman Catholic church, godparents must be of the Catholic faith."

Perhaps the choice of godparent by the ex-girlfriend and her husband was more symbolic than logical. And it certainly gives my ex-boyfriend something else by which to stroke his ego, because he's such a good person.

Boggles the mind.

"You think you're radical, but you're not so radical. In fact, you're just fanatical. A fanatical fuck."