One of the purposes of the new prisoner ritual is to get the prisoner into a new frame of mind. On the outside, the prisoner was a person, with rights, freedoms and the right to live as he wanted. In prison, he is not. He lives as the prison wishes him to live, he wears what they want him to wear and he does what they want him to do. Haircut, prison number, removal of clothes and personal posessions are a de-humanising experience. The prisoner symbolically loses his individuality and becomes simply a prisoner. One amongst many identically dressed numbers. He is being punished by society by removal of his self determination. This is why i believe that on leaving prison some kind of ritual to reverse this could be a good idea. A ritual that returns the prisoners clothes, welcomes him to civil society and returns his freedom might drive the point home that the ex-prisoner has finished his punishment and mind act as a reminder that although he is no longer being punished, if he re-offends, the liberties returned to him can be taken away again.

Note that the military has a similar system. New recruits get their number, uniform and haircut. They leave behind the civilian them and ritually become the soldier.

And to Larry. Rituals actually serve no real function beyond what the people involved take away from them. Rituals don’t have to be religious, most aren’t. Someone mentioned birthdays, there is a cake, with candles which you blow out while making a wish. No one actually expects this wish to come true because of the ritual, its just a nice way to mark your age and the passing of time and to make a hope for the next year. Birthdays with the cakes and candles are rarely done alone, one tends to invite friends and family and this is the strength of the ritual. It brings those loved ones together and renews the ties that bind them by shared participation in the ritual.

Now many atheists are deeply affected by their religious past, I’m not and felt no particular need to mark my departure from my faith with any kind of ritual. But to someone whos life has been intimately tied to the church, leaving it as an atheist is a huge event and worthy of being marked somehow. A ritual doesn’t remove any kind of divine blessing or sanction, it is simply a way for the atheist to declare their severance from their old faith. It clearly marks the before and the after and is a good excuse for a knees up.

I think its an excellent idea for those that would like it. Again its not for me, but i had a very mild religious upbringing and left the church early.

It’s not so much that, in the case of a de-bat-mitzvah or de-baptism, we are trying to actually undo the ritual; but, instead, we are providing ourselves with a chance to throw off the robes that we had been wrapped in unwittingly.

Certainly, there is no actual substance, physically, to the ritual itself; but there is something emotionally fulfilling to it, I think, and that’s all that matters.

I would encourage you to read “Deeply into the Bone” by Grimes. It’s a great book and explains that we need rituals about graduation, marriage, de-bat-mitzvahs, divorce, etc. because rituals perform a very important psychological and social function.

Perhaps it’s her family she needs to convince that she’s gotten rid of something? And that she’s serious about this?

Great point

I don’t see her actions as being ‘illogical’ or necessarily giving credence to religious rituals…..I see it as simply making a statement using the same ‘construct’ that made her feel dishonest in the first place.

And as Heidi just said, perhaps a part of it is that such an action would be something that would make her family/parents ‘take it seriously’.

Just as a bat mitzvah marks an important ‘turning point’ or change in status, a DE-bat-mitzvah can have the same symbolic relevance to the person in question.

I do understand some peoples’ feeling that such an action is ‘silly’ or ‘cute’, but if you take the time to look past the superficially ‘retaliatory’ aspect, I think you may also be able to appreciate that such a ritual can be truly meaningful to those who engage in them.