Anger Over Parents Not Inviting Godmother's Boyfriend to Baptism: 'Rude'

A new mom has been heavily criticized for asking her friend to be godmother to her baby but refusing to invite her boyfriend to the baptism.

Christianity remains the main religion in the U.S. with estimates compiled by the Pew Research Center in 2021 finding that around 63 percent of the U.S. population are self-identified Christians.

However, there has been a noticeable decline in these figures, with the same Pew Research data noting that 75 percent of the U.S. adults considered themselves Christians a decade earlier in 2011.

It's also worth considering that while some may adhere to the ceremony surrounding the Christian faith, they may not necessarily be applying the principles of it to their everyday lives.

That certainly appears to be the case for one couple who have sparked controversy on Mumsnet after the mom took to the popular discussion forum to try and explain why they have decided not to invite their godmother's boyfriend to their young son's upcoming baptism.

According to the post, which was shared under the handle Dahlia5, the mom attempted to justify the snub by explaining that the godmother has only been with her boyfriend "for about a year" and "they don't live together."

Since they "haven't met him yet" and the couple are keen to "keep the guest list to a minimum" the boyfriend has therefore been omitted from proceedings.

However, that move has sparked anger, not least from Laura Windsor a leading etiquette consultant from The British School of Etiquette Excellence who told Newsweek that, in her view, it would not be "acceptable behavior" to not invite the boyfriend.

"Manners lie at the heart of etiquette, it's about the Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have others do to you," she said. "It's also about generosity of spirit—the opposite of selfishness—thinking about others, making people feel comfortable and at ease and not embarrassing others."

Windsor added: "The potential godmother chose her partner and by not accepting her partner it would appear as if they are snubbing her choice, not valuing her as an individual or her judgment."

That criticism was echoed by many on social media.

One Mumsnet user, writing as DownToTheSeaAgain asked: "You'd invite him if they were married so why not when they are in a non fleeting relationship?" Coraline353 added: "I think that you're inviting her to be a significant person in your son's life so it would be extremely rude not to invite her partner."

Womancanlift wrote: "If you trust this person to be your child's godparent, then surely you choose for their partner to also be in your child's life?"

Elsewhere, CornishGem1975 commented: "Take it as a great opportunity to meet him, if you're that close you want her to be godmother and therefore expect her to be in your child's life permanently it seems a bit off not to."

Newsweek was not able to verify the details of the case.

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