What's so Godly about it?

I was having a chat with a Malay friend on MSN last night, and he was telling me about the events of his week. One of them was about meeting his "godbrother".

Him: "I went to meet my Godbrother..."
Me: [cutting him off] "Is there such a thing as godsiblings in Islam?"
Him: "...if you know what that is."
Me: "Well, I have Godparents, so of course I do."
Him: "What does it mean to you?"
Me: "In Christianity, a couple is appointed by your parents to be your Godparents at your Baptism..."
Him: "Oh, well, for me it's different..."

He went on explaining extensively about how his mother is really close to his godbrother's mother, and how close he is to his godbrother (etc, etc...) which is why that person is his godbrother. Whatever.

I don't think I am being biased towards my religion when I say that that is an inappropriate term. I don't appreciate the use of the word "God" such liberally in something that doesn't have anything to do with religion, or anything official, for that matter.

Wikipedia explains 'godparents' as:

A godparent, in Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather and a female godparent is a godmother.

Traditionally, the godparents were counted informally responsible for ensuring that the child's religious education was carried out, and for caring for the child should it be orphaned. Today the latter duty is the most commonly recognized duty of a godparent. This is not a legal duty, and should the parents seriously intend the godparents to act as foster parents in case of their death, this must be legally specified through the usual means (such as a will).

A godparent may be related to the child, such as an uncle or an aunt, or may simply be a friend of the family. Usually someone very close to the family is chosen; in some cultures, the word for "godparent of one's child" is used for any, or certain, very close friends. This is the meaning of the Spanish compadre and comadre, the French commère and compère, and the archaic meaning of the English word gossip (from godsib, "god-sibling").

Still, alot of people these days use that term freely with anyone they platonically feel close to. In my observation, I have also noticed the favourite Chinese term of khai mui [adopted sister] and khai kor [adopted brother] that is over-used especially among the younger generation. These terms have somewhat of the same application to the non-religious version of godsiblings. These 'adopted siblings' are not really adopted, per se. Call it a verbal agreement, non-official, and just for fun. It's funny how I find that a khai kor would mostly end up dating a khai mui in the end. Call it unofficial incest, then. Just for fun, right?

My friend asked, "So if I introduce my godbrother to my friends as my 'brother', they might get confused and think that he really is my brother. How then?"

My reply to that would be, "Who friggin' cares?!"

No, seriously, whatever happened to the plain good old-fashioned, "Hey everyone, meet so-and-so, he's like a brother to me".

By the way, newsflash, having a godsibling does NOT necessarily mean that he/she is especially close to you. I'm guessing a majority of people out there do not even form an unbreakable bond between their own blood-siblings.