Religious Parental Transmission and the Importance of Authenticity

Abstract

Abstract During the last decades, European historic churches have experienced a decline in the number of baptisms. This paper maps, describes, and analyses existing relevant empirical research from the Norwegian context by focusing on the social-economic transformation of the society and how it has impacted upon the parents’ generation and the transmission of Christian tradition. The paper examines empirical studies of parents who are themselves baptized in the Church of Norway but have opted out of infant baptism for their child. The paper argues that this practice refers jointly to consumption and the subjectivation of worldviews. The parents’ narratives give the child a strong voice. They emphasize the child’s authenticity and the child’s right to make his/her own decisions. Embedded in consumption norms, the parents relate to a plural market of religious and secular alternatives where the child is viewed as a future actor for positive encounters and critical views.