Why do they let Children Get Baptized?

by Dune 19 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  ithinkisee

  Recruitment. Simply recruitment.

  (under the guise of "spirituality")

  -ithinkisee
• 

  hallowedbethyname

  Look at Jesus. He was witnessing in the temple at 13, chilling with Pharisees and hell....he was God's Son.

  Why did he wait till his 30's to get baptized??

  Thats always puzzled me.

  JW's happily baptize children, at the mature ages of 9, 10, 11........because they are 'spiritually mature'........yeahhhhh.....right!!!

  IF they are baptized, you can control them, and if they do something bad, they can have their family/friends held at ransom.

  ITs the JW way.............Rules and control...........someone pass me the Kool-Aid!!

  HBTN
• 

  Dismembered

  It's a non-stop membership drive.

  Dismembered
• 

  metatron

  Arghh!!!! I've been screaming about this subject for years!

  If baptising children is wrong, why is baptising teenagers right?

  Isn't it obvious that teenagers generally aren't mature enough to find a life long marriage mate, choose a permanent career,

  or make other such momentous decisions? Why doesn't the Watchtower rise up to the elevated ethical level of the world

  and recognize that minors can't sign 'contracts'?

  metatron
• 

  bull01lay

  Why doesn't the Watchtower rise up to the elevated ethical level of the world

  and recognize that minors can't sign 'contracts'?

  I reckon that would really thin the numbers down in the yearbook, and possibly give a more accurate indication of active publishers....

  ... Can't have accurate information published though, can we!!

  Bull!
• 

  kid-A

  The answer is simple. A baptized dub has a lot more to lose by desertion than an unbaptized dub. Children that young have no real idea what they are getting themselves into, and the JWs know this. Baptism is a brilliant method of control. Like the radio-controlled ankle bracelets parolees wear, baptism is the ultimate form of invisible psychological imprisonment.

  So glad I read Nietzsche BEFORE baptism age!! LOL
• 

  lucifer

  I was only 11 when i was baptized to and when i had the meeting with the elders to see if i was doing it for the right reasons, i said all the answers i was taught to say, not really understanding the meaning, but just saying something i had memorized, I remember the main reason i wanted to do it was because as long as i could rmbr i wanted a delux bible, you know the ones with the leather-ish cover with my name stamped on it, but OF COURSE i HAD to get baptized before i was allowed one...I got my delux bible the day i was baptized
• 

  greendawn

  They were accusing the catholics for infant baptism but they do similar things now, 7-11 year old children are not infants but still they are nowhere near enough mature to make a well judged decision. Then those jw holy inquisition religious courts for "wrongdoers" are really terrible when teenagers are tried by them without anyone else present there.
• 

  Dune

  Thanx for the answers guys. And to answer Ocsrf. To tell you the truth, most of this stuff really doesnt phase me. When i see NGO and proof that the WTS has shares towards a weapons Manufacturer, its like my brain thinks of excuses for it. Most of my doubts have come from Doctrinal Falsehoods related to science (dinosaurs, evolution) and the fact that there is still a remnant when clearly all of them should be dead by now.
• 

  googlemagoogle

  When i see NGO and proof that the WTS has shares towards a weapons Manufacturer, its like my brain thinks of excuses for it. Most of my doubts have come from Doctrinal Falsehoods related to science (dinosaurs, evolution) and the fact that there is still a remnant when clearly all of them should be dead by now.
  
  same for me. i think the NGO issue and similar things are more interesting for long time JWs who conciously lived the 70's and 80's. for us younger people doctrinal issues and all the contradictions seem to be more interesting.
  
  as to baptism of children, i've always raged at that. had endless debates about it. if someone is viewed as not mature enough to marry, how could they possible be viewed as mature enough to get baptized. both are supposed to be life-changing and life-long decisions.
  
  but the reason is simple. somewhere i've read that most humans don't change their way of life very much after their mid to end twenties. if someone wasn't baptized until that age s/he most probably never will be.
  
  so they probably think it could have the opposite effect if they baptize them at a young age. sometimes this works. but fortunately mostly not.