The following was published in the May 15th Rocky Mountain News.  I guess I have some REAL ethical problems with the practices at this church.  I understand that Baptism is an overriding factor.  I also understand that this is not an honest way to proceed.  Unfortunately, this is becoming more typical of congregations as the Second Coming is perceived to approach.  There is a real element of disparation in this 'make it happen at any cost' style of theology.  I wonder where TRUST IN THE LORD fits into this equation?  Baptisms draw parents' ire -- Children at church carnival in Springs told they'd be killed by bee stings if they didn't submit to religious rite.  By Dick Foster -- Rocky Mountain News Southern Bureau  Colorado Springs -- Outraged parents say their children were lured to a church carnival and then baptixed without their permission by a Baptist minister.  Doxens of children, some as young as 8 years old and unaccompanied by their parents, thought they were going to a carnival at the Cornerstone Baptist Church, where there would be a big water fight, free balloons, squirt guns and candy.  Before that May 1 carnival was over, however, children were whisked into a room for religious instruction and told they should be baptized.  In many cases they consented, although they or their families are not of the Baptist faith.  The baptisms by the church have angered many parents, including Paulette Lamontagne, a Methodist and mother of twin 8-year-old girls who were baptized without her knowledge or consent.  'My understnading was they were going to a carnival.  I feel that's a false pretense,' said Lamontagne.  Her daughters said the minister told them they would be killed by bee stings if they were not baptized.  Cornerstone church officials defended their actions.  'We take our instructions from the word of God and God has commanded us to baptize converts.  No one can show me one passage in the Bible where it says that parental permission is required before a child is baptized,' said Dan Irwin, associate pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church.  Church officials did not tell parents their children would be baptized because 'they didn't ask,' Irwin said.  Many other parents also felt they were simply sending their children to a carnival at the invitation of their children's friends who were members of the Cornerstone Church.  Police said chhurch officials had broken on laws in baptizing the children, but indicated the parents could pursue civil action.  ------------------------------------------- Aren't these the same behaviors we condemn in the Hari Krishnas and other cults?  [I think the issues are more complex than the newspaper account mentions.  First, I'm not entirely sure that parental consent is absolutely required.  This would be extremely difficult, because of the clear commandment to obey parents.  But if an older child insisted on being baptized without their parents' consent, I might be willing to do it.  However this would be a serious step, and would warrant much careful discussion.  The problem I find here is not so much parental consent as that there was nobody's consent.  Whether you believe in infant baptism or not, baptism is supposed to be the sign of entry into a Christian community.  If there isn't a commitment from *somebody*, whether parent or child, and no intent to become part of the Church, the baptism appears to be a lie.  Furthermore, it is likely to raise serious practical problems.  What if the child is from a baptist tradition?  Normally when he reaches the age of decision, he would be expected to make a decision and be baptized.  But he already has been, by a church claiming to be a Baptist church.  So does he get rebaptized?  Neither answer is really very good.  If not, he's being robbed of an experience that should be very significant to his faith.