Pharaoh Archeologists search for unbaptized babies' grave. Shawn Pogatchink Associated Press (Yahoo News) February 10, 2009 Article found here
Durkheim Baptism is a collective ritual, in which the
infant begins the process of integration into society both by strengthening
collective beliefs and morals and by mutually bonding the participants, in this
case the children and the religious community. But when outside forces disrupt
this ritual, which already generates strong emotions it becomes problematic. The
issue at stake here is the status within a deeply religious society of a group
that because they did not undergo the necessary rituals lack recognition. The
group is children who have died without undergoing baptism. According to
beliefs of the community these children died with original sin and as such do
not merit burial on consecrated ground. However, due to changes within the
community itself the parents of the children who where interred in unmarked
graves, are demanding that church leaders apologize, identify the grave sites,
and include the land to the cemetery with new grave markings.
