Thanks for sharing your ideas. I especially appreciate the thoughts about being baptised as a minor , and the change in the questions for baptism . If confronted I will surely use this reasoning to my advantage .Whether or not the BOE will agree is another thing.
Do not Disassociate, Anull your baptism
by jwfacts 83 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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willyloman
I appreciate where your head is at, but...In the Watchtower world, writing a letter opting out of the club equals Disassociation. Period. You can spin it all you want, but it won't matter. Here's the deal:
They will not read your letter. They will not discuss it. They will not think about it.
They will already have pigeon-holed it as a letter of disassociation before they even open it! When they do open it, they will scan it to look for the part that says you don't want to be a JW anymore, then they will stash it in the locked files, fill out the necessary paperwork, and read your name to the congregation.
You can accomplish the exact same thing by NOT writing a letter, telling them to kiss your ass if they ask for one, and telling all your soon-to-be-former-friends at the KH that you annulled your baptism. That may make you feel better, but not one dub in a thousand will "get" the distinction. They won't be able to see paste the blinking "apostate" sign on your forehead.
Here's a better way to piss off the elders: Totally ignore them! Don't play by their silly rules. They hate being dismissed as inconsequential. It's the one thing that hurts them the most.
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SickofLies
IHMO, just don't go to meetings anymore if you don't want to be around JW and still be able to talk to them. To me this is not the real issue, people that CHOSE to DA or annul themselves are the lucky ones, because they get a choice. I've been D'Fed before when I first got married because I had sex with my wife before our marriage, I had to spend the entire first year of our marriage not being able to talk to either of our parents. To me that is the real crime, people who are shuned because of some stupid man made rules that have no roots in the bibles message of forgiveness and love.
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stillAwitness
They will not read your letter. They will not discuss it. They will not think about it.
This is what I have heard to be the case. I remember a talk was once given that instructed the con. to not read letters written by JW's that include any points that refute "bible" teachings and to immedietly discard them. After the first line, sounds to me you'd be screwed. But I would probably try having my baptism annulled if I was angry and fed up enough to the point where I just did not care anymore. I was a minor at that time and all I remember during the review of the questions was to "smile and nod and maybe mom will finally get off my back"
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stillAwitness
By the way jwfacts.. out of all the anti-jw sites out there I use yours the most often. Its on my favorites list. Its clear, simple and easy for an outsider to understand. Good show, my friend
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hijack
Jwfacts
It sounds as if you are a 10% jdub . When quitting the jdubs just never go back to the meetings agian!. I mean cold turkey. Have no more association with your former jdub friends as they will shun you anyway. Stop FENCE SITTING . You can not be an ex dub and still write letters to the WTS saying you wnat your baptizm annuled. GET REAL Get out of her if you do not want to share in her plagues.
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atypical
jwfacts, I think your letter is good. I'm surprised how much crap you are getting for being helpful. Everyone's situation is different. Those who were able to DA and move on, I think that's great. There are also some of us that have to walk a thin line in order to preserve some of our close relationships.
Since the watchtower places so much liability on anyone who has been baptized at any age, I think the annullment is a great idea. I know I wouldn't be able to pull it off because I regular pioneered for several years and auxilliary pioneered quite a few times after that, but for some it could be the perfect way out.
Cheers,
Atypical
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jwfacts
Thanks for the compliment Stilla, damn, you beat me to Jedi by a couple of days.
Atypical, your letter was not playing by the rules and I am sure it felt good writing it.
As some of you mentioned, of all methods the most effective way is just to stop going and refuse to meet with the elders. I have a friend who was hounded for 12 months by the elders without ever being able to get hold of her. Her family stood by her and would pretend she was not home. When she finally answered the phone one day and they were on the other end she told them very straight never to call her again. Since that they have left her alone without any public announcement. By refusing to put anything in writing and not saying anything to incriminate yourself there is little they can do.
However everyones circumstance is different so you do need to do things in the best way possible for what is a bad situation however it pans out. -
rwagoner
Finally Free --- THANK YOU ! I have been saying the same thing for years. I don't think DAing is playing by anyone's rules but my own. I disassociated MYSELF....
atypical - I like jwfacts minor baptism argument too but as far as a letter of annulment for adults personally i don't think that's helpful...why...because it accomplishes nothing....it is basically the same as a disassociation.
I wrote a letter stating that I did not wish to be considered a JW any longer...it was nothing about a lack of belief in God...just did not agree with jw beliefs and practices.
There is no mechanism in place within the jw's to annul a baptism...you are either one of them or you are an outsider. To ask for your baptism to be annulled is the same as saying you no longer wish to be considered a jw.
If calling it an annulment makes you feel better about it then great but the way the org and its members treat you should not be different...they don't differentiate whether you left because you DA'd or you left with a non-existent "baptism annulment"...YOU WERE ONE OF THEM...AND YOU LEFT.
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Gretchen956
Why do anything at all? The only power those men have is the power you give them. I did not DF or DA, and I'll be damned if I'll have my baptism annulled either. They can do anything they want, it doesn't concern me. As I have said before and I will say again and again, they are just a bunch of silly old men in bad suits playing god. And not doing a very good job of it, either.
Sherry