I am now a Jedi, so trust me on this.
Why dis-associate, you are just playing by the WTS rules? How can you dis-associate anyway, you never thought you were baptised as a Watchtower Society member, you thought your dedication was to God, so why formally disassociate from something you did not formally join? If you still believe in God you still are a Jehovah's Witness, by want of a better term.
A simplier way is to consider your baptism annulled. When the pressure is on, such as meeting a person who asks how it is all going in your cong you can just say that you are no longer a JW. If they freak out thinking you are d/f say "Dont worry, you can talk to me, I annulled my baptism". That way you are a person of the world and can be talked to. I have been telling people I requested for my baptism to be annulled and so they still talk to me (since the announcement was "Paul is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses" they are not sure whether it was anulled, d/f or d/a).
If the elders catch up with you they will want you to put something in writing that you have disassociated yourself. Why bother. Just tell them to bugger off, you have annulled your baptism. They may d/f you but often they will just leave you alone.
If you must formalise it do not write a d/a letter, write one of anullment. They may accept it, or may disfellowship you, but at least you have the upper hand. You annulled it, you went against the procedure they want you to follow. And they may even decide to accept the annullment letter, in which case you can be spoken to as in theory you were never baptised.
Here is a sample layout with 3 main topics to discuss.
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Service Committee
Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of (...Australia)
(...2-4 Zouch Road)
(...Denham Court NSW 2565)
DATED:
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is to request that my baptism be annulled. This way I will no longer be considered as one of the congregation and avoided as one of the world. I would like to make it clear that I am in no way disassociating myself from any congregation, office or organization associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses.
This request for annulment is in order to remove myself from being considered part of any congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and particularly the xxx Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, it’s individual elders or it’s legal corporation, the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses or it’s legal corporations, The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Inc., The International Bible Students Association, The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society of xxx, or any other agency not here named, including all or any agents or assignees. I further request all agents and assignees cease and desist from harassment, stalking, slandering, and/or infringing on my rights.
My annulment is not due to a lack of faith in God; it is solely due to it coming to my attention that my baptism unknowingly included a commitment to an organization that is in effect no more than a legal entity run by men.
AS A MINOR
If applicable include that you were baptised as a minor so legally and scripturally your baptism is invalid
When I was baptized at the age of 15 I was not of legal age to make life’s most important decisions, including marriage, consumption of alcohol, voting and joining an army. Jesus himself was not baptized until the age of 30. Therefore I believe the Watchtower Society uses coercion of impressionable minors to build its ranks. I was misled into forming a contract with the Watchtower Society which binds me to the regulations of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Governing Body, under false pretences of it being “god’s spirit directed organization”.
UNDER FALSE PRETENCES
Mention some lies in Watchtower Articles just PRIOR to your baptism
My baptism and hence contract with the Watchtower Society and my entire life since was based in part on three lies the Watchtower Society uses to misrepresent itself as God’s organization;
* the apparent fact that these are the last days based on a dramatic increase in earthquakes
* that the Watchtower Society foretold 1914 as the start of the last days
* that Holy Spirit directs Watchtower Society doctrine and the appointment and disfellowshipping of brothers
The following quotes support that the statements made above were prevalent at the time of my baptism and they continue to be so.
I no longer have access to the Aid to bible Understanding that I studied constantly as a youth. However, the passage on earthquakes that greatly affected my life is contained now in Insight Into the Scriptures volume 1 p.669:
“Jesus foretold earthquakes in significant number and intensity as a feature of the sign of his presence. (Mt 24:3, 7, 8; Lu 21:11) Since 1914 C.E., there has been an increase in the number of earthquakes, resulting in much distress. With data obtained from the National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, supplemented by a number of standard reference works, a tabulation was made in 1984 that included only earthquakes that measured 7.5 or more on the Richter scale, or that resulted in destruction of five million dollars (U.S.) or more in property, or that caused 100 or more deaths. It was calculated that there had been 856 of such earthquakes during the 2,000 years before 1914. The same tabulation showed that in just 69 years following 1914 there were 605 of such quakes. These statistics are a means of indicating the extent of suffering from earthquakes during this period of history.”
This is a gross misrepresentation of facts. With research anyone can find that there have been a fairly constant number of earthquakes for thousands of years. There has been no increase in the number of earthquakes since 1914 or in the power of earthquakes. The 1900’s has not even had the most deaths from all earthquakes combined, the largest or the most destructive earthquakes.
The other concept that I found very important in committing my life to the Watchtower Society was the remarkable insight Russell had under God’s direction to understand bible prophecy in regards to 1914. This regularly is used as proof that Jehovah’s holy spirit was guiding his earthly organization through Russell and so a clear indicator of this being the only true religion. As stated in the Awake! 1973 January 22 p.8
”Of all men used by God to prophesy, Jesus is outstanding. Based on what he said, along with the words of Daniel and John, Jehovah's witnesses pointed to the year 1914, decades in advance, as marking the start of "the conclusion of the system of things."
When the Watchtower refers to the history of the doctrine of 1914 it generally does so by the used of misinformation, however I am sure you would be aware that the above quote is a very direct lie. In fact, nothing Russell pointed to about 1914 has come to pass. Russell believed that the last days started in 1799, Jesus rulership began in 1874 and 1914 was to conclude matters, it was never said to be the start, it was always said to be the end. It was not until the 1930’s that Rutherford overturned a large number of Russell’s teachings and date prophecies and put in place what now resembles the modern day Jehovah's Witnesses. This did not happen in 1919 which Watchtower publications now point to as the date when Jesus cleansed his temple.
The third point critical to my decision to be baptized is that the Watchtower publications imply that Holy Spirit directs the organization Jehovah’s Witnesses identify as represented by the Watchtower Society. This is in the area of doctrine, appointments and disfellowshipping. The only reason I was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses was that I relied on the statements that holy spirit does indeed direct the organization, if it does not why would anyone follow it? Statements such as the following are made;
Watchtower 1987 8/1 p.19
“Recommendations and appointments are made after prayer and under the guidance of the holy spirit. To such nonanointed elders Paul’s counsel applies with equal force: “Pay attention to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the holy spirit has appointed you overseers.”—Acts 20:28.”
pe chap. 23 p.195
No, being governed theocratically, they follow the example of the early governing body in Jerusalem, whose decisions were based on God’s Word and were made under the direction of holy spirit.”
In regards to doctrine the organization has a history of introducing wrong teachings, such as the dates mentioned previously, the meaning of pyramids, the requirement to worship Jesus up until the 1950’s and so on. They have also changed back to the original stance on a number of life and death issues such as the meaning of superior authorities and the use or organ transplants. None of these can be simply dismissed as new light, they were wrong doctrine introduced by the Watchtower Society and then discarded.
In regards to appointments the above quotes were similarly misleading. As you may personably be aware, I was in xxx congregation when xxx was appointed as an elder, despite the fact that he was having at that very time, and had been having for seven years, an adulterous affair whilst in Bethel. Where was the Holy Spirit in that appointment? I know of numerous such cases, such as xxx who was a practicing homosexual when he accepted his appointment as a Ministerial Servant in Parramatta congregation. I also know of numerous cases of people that continue to be brothers and sisters despite ongoing wrongdoing over many years. Why does the Holy Spirit not uncover such wrongdoing if it truly guides this organization alone?
TO GOD, NOT TO AN ORGANIZATION
Jesus said we are to be baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. That is who I made my dedication to, one that I will cherish for the remainer of my life. As a 16 year old I did not understand the implication that my baptism vow included “as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in association with God's spirit-directed organization?” (W85 6/1 p.30) I did not know that this meant I would become bound for life by a legal earthly organization that has built up a wealth of man made rules. How as a 16 year old could I make an informed decision that I was committing myself for life to an earthly organization when the very organization I trusted had no qualms about lying in areas that mattered most to me?
If I knew the above Watchtower statements to not be true, to not be from God, but rather carefully fabricated lies I would never have considered Jehovah's Witnesses to be accurately worshipping God and not have been baptized in association with this particular organization. Now that I am aware of these things I wish for my baptism to be annulled as what I was led to believe I was agreeing with was a misrepresentation of truth. I now wish to be given peace from further harassment in order to recover from the manipulation that I have suffered my entire life from trusting in the Watchtower Society and the mental anguish that it is now causing me and my extended family.
Kind Regards