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Archiver > APG > 2005-02 > 1107564414


From: Gordon Remington <>
Subject: Re: Religious wording (was [APG] Beginner's Software)
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 16:46:58 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <200502041948.j14Jm7ro021431@mail.rootsweb.com>


I use both PAF and Rootsmagic depending on the situation. I believe that both programs allow me to tailor the forms to my needs.

I believe the fields that show baptism or christening were originally included because many of the records used by persons of Western European Christian descent showed only a baptismal date as a substitute for a birth date.

In view of the demographic changes in those doing genealogy today, it would seem appropriate to start with a form that showed only the birth, marriage, and death fields and then to provide for adding baptism and other religious events as needed by the researcher. That way, the choice of including potentially offensive religious language would be up to the researcher.

Quakers have never baptized their children since the 1600s and still don't. As a practicing Quaker, however, I recognize the fact that as I move back in time, the lines that I am exploring will necessarily enbrace different religions/cultures. I would therefore tailor the family group sheet to the situation, i.e. the time, place, culture, and religion in which the family lived and breathed and what the records being used reflected.

There are sects, like the Baptists (in which I was raised and baptized by immersion at the age of 11) that believe in adult baptism, but to include that date as the baptismal date on a family group sheet without an explanation would be confusing. It is not a "vital event," but a "biographical event" that should be added according to the family's situation. For instance, my baptismal date of 6 April 1969 is only relevant as a biographical event until the date of my acceptance into membership in the Society of Friends - and would only be of interest to someone wanting to know more about me from a biographical standpoint.

On the other hand, since we are taught as genealogists that any record that puts an ancestor in time and place is "genealogical" - the fact that I was baptized on 6 April 1969 in Rochester, New York becomes relevant genealogically because it states where I was at that date. So an adult baptism in a family moving across the frontier, if there is a record of it, is genealogically relevant.

But what of the person who was baptized as a child but became an atheist as an adult? Should there be a field for "loss of faith?"

The more I think about, this kind of detailed information is better suited to the notes section of a genealogical program in which a chronology of life events is given. Neutral fields would seem a possible solution, with the option to add fields according to the researcher's needs.

This may not be the best solution, but it seems the fairest.

Lastly, I hope that none of what I have stated here regarding religious preferences is offensive to anyone reading this list. As a Quaker, the last thing I want to do is start a religious war on the APGLIST.

Gordon Remington
Salt Lake City




Eileen Polakoff <> wrote:Trevia,

I'm providing my own take on the wording that is inappropriate in PAF and
many other programs. For Jewish genealogists, and for Jews in general, the
act of baptism or christening is offensive. Therefore, seeing it on a
computer screen or report that is about your family is especially difficult.


I believe the point Gladys was trying to make (and I apolgize if it wasn't)
and one which I always look for in genealogical software is if you are able
to turn off or hide the words themselves. Even if you don't use the field
the wording often appears on the screen and may appear on reports even when
the field is not used. This is what is called "hard coded" I believe.
Fortunately most programs today allow you to change the fields so it never
appears anywhere. I am currently using a program to build a website on the
internet for a family and the word Christening was hard coded as a companion
word to the header Born. It said "Born/Christened" and it upset me every
time I looked at it. So I asked the programmer if he could change the hard
code for me on my version. His first response was that I could just ignore
the field. But when I explained it was hard coded as a header he understood
my problem and he was happy to change it for me.

This has nothing to do with LDS events such as sealing since most programs
have allowed hiding that for more than ten years. It is possible PAF has
changed its coding so that you can change the word Baptism or Christening to
something else or delete it entirely. It has been at least ten years since I
looked at the program.

Eileen

(Gladys... Please excuse me for jumping in on this if you meant something
else.)

............... [snip]

Gladys, I believe the appropriate word is [who are not Christians] Mormon.
Genealogy is a vital part of their religious works but others may not be
privy to it. Since I am not Mormon, hopefully someone else can answer ....
-- Trevia

......[snip]

However, for those of us who are not Christians, the inability to delete
certain religious event items from the family group sheet (haven't checked
recent version but assume that is still the case), makes it inappropriate
for some.
-- Gladys


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