Baptism or Dedication?

Question

My boyfriend is Catholic and I'm Christian. He wants to have the baby baptized in the Catholic church but I would prefer if our baby is dedicated in the Christian church. I'm not sure how to compromise on this. We are also from different Native American tribes so our religious and cultural views are very different.

Answer

My husband is Catholic,  and I am non denominational Christian. I was born and raised Catholic though... I love the tradition that comes with Catholic  baptisms and that is what we decided we will do. The church I go to does not baptize anyone until they are old enough to make the decision on their own...we decided to baptize as a baby as Catholic and let our child make their decision  when they are old enough to decide of to stay Catholic or become non denominational or anything else really

Answer

A dedication and baptism are very different things. As a Catholic, he believes this is the welcoming of his child into the Church and invokes the Church to help raise your child as a Christian. Catholics also believe this sacrament takes original sin away from the child and gives them a clean slate so to speak. A dedication, from my understanding, is saying you're dedicating your child to God. A baptism would serve that purpose, but has far deeper meaning to it as well in the Catholic Church.

Answer

WWJD?