h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Baptism of infants is a common practice in Catholic Italy. Even non-practicing Catholics will have their children baptized, mostly out of social conformity. The ceremony usually involves a church, some holy water and a screaming infant. Friends and family are invited and the kid receives a lot of ugly jewellery it will never use (mind you, I still use a brooch that was given me by my great-grandmother).

Baptism of this kind is, of course, forced on the child; there is a small movement of people in Italy who are promoting the renunciation of baptism, as they believe they did not choose it of their free will. These people usually have issues with the Catholic Church's alleged repressive policies and attitudes.

The Catholic Baptism is a means of introducing the child into the community of believers. Which of course sounds a bit outdated today, when most parents know the gender and name of the child way before it is born, and spend a lot of time boring other people with blurry scans of what is supposed to be a fetus, which force everybody to go "Ooooh" and "Aaaah", although it's a lot like looking at a stereogram.

All in all, if I ever have kids, I think I'll pass on the baptism.

Of course, "Baptism" by sprinkling holy water on an infant is not Biblical Baptism.

You find for me one example... just one... where a baby was sprinkled in the Bible. I dare you.

I bet there is none: simply because the Christian faith, in its inception, was practiced by adults.

Simple as that.