Baptism removes the stain of original sin from the soul, and allows the child to go immediately to Heaven, if the child dies before it has a chance to sin. So Baptism is not nothing.
That's not my point at all. My point is that many people in Catholic countries have their children baptized simply because it's the thing you do -- not out of religious obligation or removing original sin.
I should've worded it differently, and that's a mea culpa on my part, though. If they won't raise the children in the Faith (like my own civilly-married, gone to Mass about 4 times this decade parents), then what is the point?
The cultural Catholic, considering the abysmal state of global catechesis, probably doesn't even believe in original sin. And please, everyone, let's start a new thread. Let's not derail this any further.