Man is a social animal. Both our bodies and souls are shaped by the other bodies and souls around us. We largely adopt the habits and beliefs of the people around us. This is true in proportion to how common a habit or belief is. This is why we sing “Be careful little eyes what you see” to our children.
This is why conservatives oppose same-sex “marriage” and sexual degeneracy. The public celebration of these things subverts and undermines chastity and marriage, even among those who were taught to honor chastity. “Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” Especially as that company is increasingly the dominant force in society, advertising, and politics. Because we are social animals, none of our individual habits affect only us individually. No habits of particular groups remain only within those groups. It’s no surprise that after the Supreme Court forced all the states to recognize same-sex unions as the same as real marriage, popular acceptance and celebration of sodomy and other degeneracies increased, even among communities who have traditionally rejected those things, and who even still formally reject them.
Marriage is supposed to be a stable institution that cultivates healthy sexuality, childbearing and rearing, and joyful companionship, as well as testify to the mystical union of Christ and His Church. We should be able to look at our own marriages and the marriages around us and see these commonalities. And seeing those characteristics in other marriages is helpful to our own! This is how baptism is supposed to work, too. Baptism is a testimony to you of God’s love for you. It’s His Word to you. It is supposed to ground you. It’s something solid God gives you to remind you to Whom you belong. According to the orthodox teaching, It’s no different if you were baptized as a baby in a Christian home or converted later in life. Further, when you see other Christians receiving baptism, it should remind you of your own; it should reinforce the testimony you’ve already received. The Church should constantly call to mind the promises we’ve been given in our baptisms.
But exposure, especially constant exposure, to Baptistic criticisms and practice subverts this. Where your baptism was sure and steady, a true window into Heaven through which you could see God’s smiling face, now it’s uncertain, unstable. “Was it real? Should I do it again?” When Baptists and their practice are socially accepted and displayed publicly, the man baptized as a baby has a great aid to his faith undermined. The Baptist practice becomes a stumbling block. As such, it would be way overstated and incorrect to say that the prevalence of Baptistic Christianity in America is the main driver of doubt and apostasy in American churches, even in those that practice infant baptism, but it’s not overstated to say that Baptistic Christianity does contribute to that problem, even in those that practice infant baptism.
I’m not claiming that if we recovered a uniform practice of infant baptism all of the Church’s problems would be solved. There are plenty of ways sin comes in and Satan destroys. But it would be a mighty blow against the Dark Powers if every man, woman, and child they met were marked – and knew they were marked – by the Light Himself.
A Pilgrim's Missives 