Baptism is an important event in a Christian's life. It is a simple ritual that marks a person as a member of the Christian community and/or church they are baptized in. Some churches hold that baptism is required in order to be saved, while others view it as symbolic act proving your commitment to God.

This is actually a hot button issue for some, as various denominations disagree on how it is to be done or even if it is to be done; Quakers, for example, don't practice baptism. Exactly what counts as a valid baptism depends on the church. Many churches will not allow a second baptism, and often consider another churches' baptism invalid.

The two forms the ritual takes are immersion and sprinkling. In the former, the person being baptized is dunked underwater and in the latter they are simply sprinkled with water. This may be done once or three times in a row. Depending on the church, this literally, symbolically or spiritually cleanses the person from the stain of sin.

Perhaps a more controversial issue than the role of baptism is whether or not infants and babies are to be baptized. Since some churches hold that baptism is a requirement of salvation, there are churches that hold that unbaptized children will not go to Heaven, making it rather important to baptize the child as soon as possible. On the other hand, there are churches that frown upon baptizing children, as a very young child or infant cannot possibly understand the importance of the event or the commitment being made.

The baptism of infants and toddlers has lead to a problematic situation. Most churches keep a list of everyone they have baptized, and many like to show off their list. The problem comes in when a person was baptized as an infant and once they grew up chose a different faith or became atheist. Some of these people are offended by having their name being used to promote a religion they do not believe in. Considering that the baptism of infants is already disputed, this tends to force the wedge further in.